"One need never leave the confines of New York to get all the greenery one wishes--I can't even enjoy a blade of grass unless I know there's a subway handy, or a record store or some other sign that people do not totally _regret_ life."
from a poem by Frank O'Hara, quoted in Christina Wodke's gleanings mailout. I'm posting as part of an occasional series, perhaps to be labelled "Why the countryside sucks", of "Why city life rules" or something equally erudite (my purposefully dumb oppositional thinking there is essentially just in furious response to the barrage of blustering bullshit from Middle England).
The latest issue of Blueprint has a strong, fact-packed article on reengineering the UK countryside (essentially, large-scale industrialised farming is not much of an option anymore and hasn't been since WW2) - a well-made component from an ongoing debate, including realistic, fervent, even entertaining arguments, and a good deal of dissent from a vocal powerful minority. Sadly, it seems perceptible cultural change here will be measured in generations rather than months.
