Quake3World

I've heard much anecdotal evidence that air conditioning isn't common in a lot of European countries. The US used to be the same way, which meant that most suburban homes had large porches where the family would sit in the evenings to escape the heat inside the house.
Now, as A/C has become commonplace, porches have pretty much become a thing of the past, and neighborhoods have become far less social. Used to be that folks would go for walks and actually talk to their neighbors, which doesn't really happen often these days.
So, my question is: Do European homes have porches and the social interactions that go along with them?

i personally dont believe that air cond caused the comunication breakdown betweest niebors.

everybody is out all the time here espeasially in the evenings.

but i do see and talk to alot jus sittin on my swing thing i have out front now that you mention it.

but i'd like to hear what euros say nevertheless

It may not be be the only reason, but I think it's a pretty big factor.

heh i realized that it kinda had some truth so i edited me post

plus young areas have lots of kids playing so that brings peeps out maybe

people in europe don't stay at home after sunset.

but there are things similiar to porches and they're used.

Well im in Canada, but im 110% European.
And I own a house and lands there.

So i'm a euro.

And Canadian, so I can compare.

I can tell you AC's have nothing to with that.
Not a thing.

It is just that Europe has more culture, north anerica feels like bleach.
Pdople there are social, friendly. They share so mutch in common.

North America is all about materialism. With a bottle of bleach.

Europe has tradition and culture.

tbh the house is where i'm escaping from the heat right now. it's pretty cool in here, even without AC

there are no porches to speak of in UK, at least not big enough to accommodate a love seat. shame really

We've just got air-con in work, but our (large, open plan) office would generally hit high-90s in the summer. Constant 76 now.

you can't have something like this in the us. it's a celebration directly in the center of the city with about 30.000 visitors.

Pext wrote:

you can't have something like this in the us. it's a celebration directly in the center of the city with about 30.000 visitors.

THAT'S what I am talking about.
THAT'S my Europe!

Pext wrote:
you can't have something like this in the us. it's a celebration directly in the center of the city with about 30.000 visitors.

I don't follow...
Why can't you have that in the US?

damn, we never have anything like that in the US in the middle of our cities

where are you iowa city? 30,000 would be about half the population right??

prince1000 wrote:where are you iowa city? 30,000 would be about half the population right??

In the summer, yeah.. in the fall the area is closer to 100K

Pext wrote:
you can't have something like this in the us. it's a celebration directly in the center of the city with about 30.000 visitors.

yeah explain wtf ur talking about...why couldn't we?...

and lets not even mention new orleans (mardi gras) every street in the heart of the city is jam packed with people and floats.

Turbine wrote:Well im in Canada, but im 110% European.
And I own a house and lands there.

So i'm a euro.

And Canadian, so I can compare.

I can tell you AC's have nothing to with that.
Not a thing.

It is just that Europe has more culture, north anerica feels like bleach.
Pdople there are social, friendly. They share so mutch in common.

North America is all about materialism. With a bottle of bleach.

Europe has tradition and culture.

bit of a generalization, and i cant speak for canada as ive not spent much time outside of toronto, but you're kind of right, except americans have a lot in common as well. i agree we as a population are in general not nearly as social as europeans unless you delve into the communities within the larger communities or those that are being re-developed. it's there but you have to look closely.

nyc is one of the most social cities on the planet.

My home town of 10K has a yearly fair that draws 60K on the weekends and a quarter million over 9 days

on another note, I don't think AC has much to do with the social interaction in neighborhoods , I think it's a shift of the social culture in the US in general that has changed alot.

riddla wrote:I guess I need to call the organizers of our 20+ yr running annual City Stages event which draws around 200k people and tell them its off now because Pext said it doesn't happen in the US. lol.

nah, but you could stop being such a defensive and reactionary twat on the internet.

i think based on this thread alone that americans and europeans are equal in their lack of knowledge of each others respective cultures or the lack thereof...

Hmmm.... we've got a fair coming up soon that draws 100-200K people each day.

And a festival just ended last week that had 500K attendance...

Yeah, but judging by your IP, your city is the one of the largest north of Chicago

i kind of agree with the extreme materialness tho

seems alot of people have to have a ton of plasmas and super rims to be happy.

even instead of good food or their kids needs.

even then it becomes about how good they are cause of that stuff

are you calling americans consumer whores?