Jet lag’s a bitch.
So is typing blog posts on a phone. I left the laptop at home this trip, so this will be a short one. Staying in a London flat, in a part of town full of flats, I’m struck by just how different, culturally, it must be to grow up in this environment compared to my own home town in Seattle…and how that would color one’s approach to the gaming hobby.
In Seattle, families of even modest incomes (that is, the place where I see the D&D hobby tending to “land”) tend to gravitate towards dwelling in houses, not “flats” or apartments. Apartments and condos are homes for singles or couples, or (in the case of families) parents with really young children. But families with children over the “toddler” age…even single parents…start looking for a “house” space, something with more room, more space, some yard. It is a very “American” way of life…the backyard barbecue kind of thing…which I will admit probably doesn’t pertain to ALL Americans (including ones who grew up in the densest parts of cities like Chicago and New York). But even in a moderate sized city, like Seattle, there are residential neighborhoods and, of course, suburbs.
But perhaps I’m just being idiotic again…there’s plenty of England that doesn’t look like London. Yeah, most likely I’m just being silly. I’m going to blame the jet lag. I’ll think smarter in a day or two.
Cheers!
My mother-in-law lives in a detatched house. It's become a rarity in Korea, even in the smaller cities. They just keep building more and more giant apartment complexes over the bulldozed neighborhoods that used to have houses.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I imagine similar stuff from Korea, given that its population density is even greater than England (507 per square km instead of 438). The US is much less dense (still under 100 per square km).
DeleteJeez…US is actually only 33 per square km (I was looking at square MILEs before). Lots o space…even if you leave Alaska out. Seattle, for example, has one quarter the density of London.
DeleteWell, you have arrived in the UK at the hottest part of the year and the most interesting part of the year. Hope you enjoy the election.
ReplyDeleteJust doing London or going elsewhere?
Staying in London for a couple more days before heading to the continent. Going up to Bath and Salisbury tomorrow, but just for a day trip.
DeleteFamily is all asleep at the moment…I’m getting ready to watch England-Slovenia.
; )
In general, yes, our houses are smaller than yours, and are closer to neighbouring houses. Out in the country you'll get bigger gardens, but the houses tend to still be smaller; the average US family home would be considered "fancy" here, at least in terms of space and rooms.
ReplyDeleteFlats are more common, again because there's not much space here. Even in smaller, more remote communities you'll probably still see (small) blocks of flats.
But that's all in general. There are huge houses here, and houses with massive garden spaces, just as there are plenty of small houses with tiny plots in the US. And of course London is, as you say, very different.
I think the differences come from a combination of not having as much space, and most communities being unplanned gatherings of homes that have just grown over centuries.
I think there’s a lot of accuracy to that last bit. Hard to tell what the US (let alone Seattle) will look like in another 800 years.
DeleteAs a kid who's first home was a single wide. I'm not sure there is much difference in size than a flat.
ReplyDeleteSingle wide “communities” have their own cultural differences that (I’d guess) might also shape gaming differences, even more so.
DeleteBut it’s hard for me to judge, having not grown up with that myself. I had not a grandfather and a great grandmother (and a couple of family friends I only saw a couple times a year) who had that living experience, but that wasn’t mine.
The reason modern English dwellings are so small is not primarily because of population density, it's because planning regulations introduced after the Second World War (for example, the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act) make it very difficult to build anything.
ReplyDeleteLondon and other major cities are surrounded by a "green belt" on which houses cannot be built. Since 1938 London has grown 2% in extent. In the same period, Paris has tripled in size!
In addition to the green belts, large areas of England and Wales are National Parks or National Landscapes where building is restricted. There are numerous other laws designed to protect the environment that make building difficult. And the English planning system also makes it easy for people or organisations to stop new buildings by objecting to them.
This wouldn't be a problem if the population was shrinking, like Japan's population. But despite declining birth rates, our population is growing fast due to high levels of immigration. Of course, most new immigrants want to live in big cities such as London.
Politicians will say we need more houses, but will then say that the new houses must be in "appropriate areas" i.e. not in the areas where their constituents live. Existing homeowners are NIMBYs, and some will very actively oppose new housebuilding (because it will increase traffic, ruin their nice views and lower the value of their houses). English politicians don't want to annoy these people, so they will oppose all attempts to reform the planning system generally, or build anything near where their voters live specifically.
If you want to read more about this topic:
https://worksinprogress.co/issue/why-britain-doesnt-build/
That makes a lot of sense. Spent thirteen hours today touring Windsor, Salisbury, Bath, Lacock, and the English countryside…lovely, rolling swaths of green, and little in the way of development/urban sprawl. The approach to ‘controlled density’ (if that’s a thing) is very different from the American way of bulldozing the landscape and vomiting people all over it.
DeleteThere are, of course, pros and cons to both…but my original point was (mainly) to question how this kind of living might change one’s approach to the social interaction of RP gaming. Maybe it doesn’t. But it’s interesting (to me) to think about.
Let me know if you're visit Hamburg :-) . It's only 95 F on the terrace.
ReplyDeleteNot this trip, man. But I’m hoping to visit Germany in 2025.
Delete; )