January 05, 2009

How the city hurts your brain ...And what you can do about it.
posted by homunculus 15 years ago
  • Very interesting articles. I skimmed a headline earlier today, can't remember where now, that said breast cancer numbers are somehow linked to light pollution. Who'd live in a city, eh?
  • Here in French cities (and I imagine in other "old world" countries as well; plus China had something similar with their traditional homes), blocks of apartment buildings are often built around inner courtyards that you can't see from the streets. You can see them in this satellite view of Nice, for instance. I have a ground-floor apartment with an inner courtyard, and despite living in city center, all I can hear from my garden patio are birds and church bells... it's lovely.
  • I've been drunkenly banging on about my own half-arsed version of this forever so am looking forward to reading these homunculus.
  • Amen!!! I am so happy to read these articles and find my own feelings confirmed - by Science! I lived in cities for the first 34 years of my life. Three years ago I cashed in everything the city has to offer - employment opportunities, shopping, corner coffee shops, nearby friends - for affordable housing, clean air, and overall quality of life. I never looked back. I stand outside on my porch and look at the woods and watch the little birds at their suet feeder. I remember having lunch with coworkers in the courtyard of an office building in downtown Seattle, where we had to speak VERY LOUDLY TO BE HEARD OVER THE TRAFFIC. And I wonder, How could I have lived like that for so long?