Why I like living in Spain.

[BigInch]

One reason why I like living in Spain/Europe. There are a few others, but this is one of the more compelling. OK, I guess it is my week to catch up on Ted Talks.

http://www.ted.com/talks/james_howard_kunstler_dissects_suburbia.html

We will design everything from now on using only S.I. units ... except for the pipe diameter. Unk. British engineer

 

[SomptingGuy]

Spain bebefits from EU handouts, but doesn't bother obeying the rules. Like France really.

- Steve

 

[BigInch]

That's called politics.

We are more connected to everyone in the world than we've ever been before, except to the person sitting next to us. Lisa Gansky

 

[Skogsgurra]

Understand you very well, B.I. And that's why I like to live close one of the little cities in Sweden. This one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora,_Sweden

Not much written in English about this well-preserved little city. And that may be a good thing. With too many tourists, I think the city will lose.

I live not far from Nora but my place is soo rural you cannot even start to imagine how rural it is.

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

--------------------------------------
Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.

 

[waross]

I like rural life.
I overheard a discussion concerning the population of our little Hamlet. Both population estimates were less than 20. The head count takes a big jump during school hours and church sevices.
We actually live 11 miles out of "town" so our family of five does not impact the population of the Hamlet.
There used to be a hamlet called Silver Heights. Most maps don't show Silver Heights, but some maps show the location about a mile south of the intersection where the Silver Heights store was before it burned down. Some maps show the location as about a mile south where the Silver Heights post office was in a farm house for a year or so generations ago. Some maps show the location west of there where the Silver Heights section house would have been built but a change in government stopped forever the building of the railway. The remains of the Silver Heights school are about three and a half miles south east. There is a sign on the highway pointing down a side road: "Silver Heights 11 KM" but no indication when you get there. We don't actually live in Silver Heights but a few miles south east, only about a mile from the ruins of the old Silver Heights school.
I love it here. My five year old took his pony to kindergarten last year for show and tell. Try that in the city.
I have to go now. William wants to ride his pony. He can saddle up with no problem but needs some help with the bridle and bit.
See you later friends.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[Pud]

I have a friend who is Spanish and lives in the NE of England. He originates from Granada.

Guess what? He loves being in England! He likes the climate! (cool, wet and windy). Never go back and live in Spain, although his English wife would move to Spain tomorrow.

Funny old World...

H

http://www.tynevalleyplastics.co.uk

It seems to me you have confused a safe drinking limit with what I like to call "lunch"

 

[BigInch]

He could get the same or worse weather in Galicia, as I imagine he knows very well.

I don't think he moved away from Granada because of the lack of public spaces as Granada has many very attractive plazas every few blocks. Perhaps he does not like the heat in the summer, but Granada is relatively high (3000 meter mountain not far away) and does not get anywhere near as hot as Murcia, Almeria, Sevilla, Madrid, or Cordoba and it actually gets pretty cold there in winter, often freezing and sometimes snow. Perhaps its actually warmer in NE England in the winter. And when you have lived a long time where it doesn't rain too much, I think one tends to like it. I spend a lot of time in Arabia and when it does rain in Malaga, I sit on the balcony and enjoy it too.

Anyway, most places in England have many attractive public spaces where one can go sit outside, admire the architecture, a canal, a church or two and the rest of the surroundings, and enjoy a pint with your friends. Granted there are some of the suburbs somewhat similar to the US types that probably found their origins in quick tract construction after the WWII bombs, but even still, most don't seem to be so sterile as they appear to be in the States.

Gunnar, Actually I can imagine. I've been there, well up as far as Nord Cape anyway, and still managed to find a "Norwigian" Army patrol to share some beer and a taste of dried dear heart with, but you're right... a whole lot of nothing around there.

We are more connected to everyone in the world than we've ever been before, except to the person sitting next to us. Lisa Gansky

 

[JStephen]

I couldn't help but think, as the guy in the video was whining about the uglness of our outdoors, that the very room he was talking in exhibited all of that same ugliness indoors. The next step is to get an interior designer to come in and whine about the ugly room and how nobody would really care about that room.

Just remember when you complain about the US as compared to Europe, that this country was founded primarily by Europeans who willing left their "sense of space" habitat and came here to build smiley face water towers, etc.

 

[stanier]

BigInch,

I had the privilege of working with Spanish engineers from Acciona Agua on the Adelaide desalination project. They were knowledgeable and great fun to work with.

I guess its the peole who make a place great to live in. unfortunately Sydney has an influx of peoples with different cultures than Australian. The flavour of the city is changing. Increases in crime are apparent, in particular gun crime. Fsmily illness prevents our move to the country or Queensland where Australian cultural values still exist.

We hope to get to Spain for a holiday. Any particular area we should spend our time? We would like to explore food and wine areas.

"Sharing knowledge is the way to immortality"
His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

http://waterhammer.hopout.com.au/

 

[KENAT]

Damn stanier, how bad has it got that the descendants of a bunch of ex-cons are concerned about their culture.;-)

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[stanier]

As descendants of convicts, thieves, vagabonds and the militia we know about bad behaviour. So when we see it we dont like it! A bit like reformed smokers and drinkers condemining others I suppose.

We were used to discipline. There was a clear divide between the baddies and goodies. Now there are shades of grey. We have politicians jailed for pedophilia, accused of credit card rorts, etc etc. The judiciary let people off for gross crimes in the name of rehabilitation. Judges even get caught cheating traffic fines and are sent to prison.

The Prime Minister tells huge lies about the introduction of a carbon tax. What an example to set.

"Sharing knowledge is the way to immortality"
His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

http://waterhammer.hopout.com.au/

 

[patprimmer]

Was that a core promise or a non core promise she set the precedent on.

Regards
Pat
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[cswilson]

Finally had a chance to watch this -- at least most of this. As with most rants against suburbia, he never once mentions children, and raising children is the chief reason most people live in the suburbs.

I love partaking of the cafe society in Europe (and the parts of the US that have it), but I have a hard time picturing myself raising my kids in those places. Could you make a case that this is why the European birthrate is so far below replacement levels?

 

[IRstuff]

Birthrates seem to correlate with standard of living. Once a country gets "developed," and people have enough to eat, etc., making babies to ensure genetic survival diminishes.

The US is in the same boat except that it continually gets new immigrants, who tend to have more kids, coupled with the fact that there's still a sizable chunk of the country that believes that they have a divine mandate to crank out babies.

So, either poor countries or those with divine mandates:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/peo_pop_gro_rat-people-population-growth-rate

Nonetheless, the bulk of developed European countries still have positive population growth rates, with the exception of Germany. So, even with 0.574% growth rate, Spain's population would double in about 120 years.

TTFN

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[cswilson]

IRStuff:

The more relevant page from that site is the fertility-rate page:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/peo_tot_fer_rat-people-total-fertility-rate

Population growth rate lags about a generation behind fertility rate due to "demographic inertia". According to the site, the US has a fertility rate of 2.06 per woman, higher than any European country, and just enough to maintain population long term without immigration.

Spain's fertility rate is 1.46 per woman, which long-term means a halving of the population in two generations. If Spain's population is still growing, it is because today's childbearing generation is larger than their parent's generation, so still may be creating babies faster than their parents die off (that's the demographic inertia effect) and because of net immigration. It would be interesting to see the rate of change of the population growth rate. I would wager it is strongly negative.

All of southern Europe -- the PIGS countries that are in so much financial trouble -- are at 1.5 or below. I don't think the two facts are unrelated.

Northern Europe's fertility rates are generally above those of Southern Europe. I would rate Northern Europe as more developed than Southern Europe -- is there still a sizable chunk of their population still believes they have a divine mandate to crank out babies? (Because their fertility rates were lower a generation ago, their present growth rate is lower than in Southern Europe.)

 

[IRstuff]

Thanks, I didn't think to look for that, but that table emphasizes my point even better. How does a country like Niger deal with a 7.6 children per woman, and that's an AVERAGE?

While having lots of babies might have been a good survival adaption when infant mortality might have been 80%, it's insane for a country that's poor. The dilution of resources and money makes poverty even worse.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[cswilson]

I was comparing various developed countries, and it appears to me that the relationship turns around there. The US has been the most developed country (by material standards, at least), followed by northern Europe, followed by southern Europe, followed by eastern Europe (ex Soviet block). The US has the highest birthrate, then northern Europe, then southern Europe, then eastern Europe.

By the way, it's probably still true in countries like Niger that most children born do not survive to adulthood.

 

[MintJulep]

You've forgotten Asia in your comparison.

Japan is certainly a developed country, but it is also the only country in the world with a declining population.

 

[MintJulep]

Ok, apparently not.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/peo_pop_gro_rat-people-population-growth-rate

 

[IRstuff]

It's weird that so many of the former Iron Curtain countries are declining in population.

TTFN

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Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize