'The Economist' to New York City: "You Are Neither Special Nor Good"
The latest issue of the most prestigious British rag this side of Hello! features a special report about cities, and guess what? They are more popular than ever. Turns out that starting around now (maybe a little while go, also maybe not yet) more than half the people on the planet live in cities for the first time in human history.
Think that's not important? Perhaps it's not. But neither are you, catdog! Way back in smaller times, about a hundred years ago, when only 13% of people enjoyed the sights and smells of urban life, city dwellers could take comfort in being among the lucky few. Now this fad of grouping populations in space, a leitmotif of human civilization for millennia, has gone utterly mainstream; that is to say, totally passé. When rebellious youngsters rebel now, they'll have to run from New York, to the sad stereotypicality of the suburbs in order to flout expectations and such. Maybe this is why kids like Park Slope now?
Adding insult to injury, the Economist's "Top 50 Most Livable Cities" list, compiled by the mysterious and frightening "Economist Intelligence Unit," indicates that Houston and Reykjavik are both better than New York. Also? Detroit!
