Quote:
Originally Posted by Soldim
I have lived both in the US and in several Western European countries and would have to frankly say that many big towns in the US are cultural deserts even when compared to rather smallish European cities, let alone places like Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam or Zurich. From what I have heard and read left and right I do not seem to be the only persons with that perception and would claim this cultural differences is rather an established fact than anecdotal evidence. What these European places have in common is that many, if not all, of their cultural endeavors are either subsidized, protected in some way or both. Hence, your statement that it's dying cultures that protect themselves seems somewhat far-fetched to me.
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+1. I am from Paris, also living abroad, but can assure you that the cultural life in many, many other and much smaller cities in Europe is better than what I have seen in Houston, Dallas, Miami, Washington D.C, even Chicago and L.A. (those are the towns I stayed in for each two to three months periods).
San Francisco and New York are the two exceptions that, as we know, "confirment la règle".