are you referring to european ghettos when you say 'historic urban districts'?
of course the architect loves yerop.
all my life i've avoided europe and its multitudes of terribleness. both the us and canada independently have more area than europe, and combined they have over double the area, and half the population. no one seriously says go to europe to go see natural wonder because they can't compete with north america. they say it because they think european culture is somehow better, and i tire of the sneering about it as the european culture they experience going to touristy areas where the european peasants can't afford. europe is expensive, small, and urban. all my fore bearers who ever set foot there thought it best to leave, for a better life in america. the only ones who went back did it only to go kill some of them to get them to chill the f**k out, the rest have never gone back, even for a visit. only people who have gone to europe in my entire extended family (who are not my fore bearers) are my rich narcissist uncle who likes to one up everyone with talk about how amazing his life is and doesn't even talk about europe when he talks about what amazing places he's been he's talking about the carribean or asia, a family of yuppies, and the only other one is the only person in my family who i think could possibly be gay (he was studying to be a priest so...) which all together is really a ringing endorsement of the place
look one day i might go. i might not, it's just not important. there's far more valuable things i can spend my time and money on. i've been saving up for quite some time for an alaskan vacation (i want to spend a month, along with a cruise) and i'm not going to take f**k europe over alaska. that's insane. and my smaller trips? my gf wants to go to new england, to see puffins and whales and walden and the place of my birth. yeah there's some urban crap there but i can drive and go hiking in the white mountains which i haven't done in a dog's age. these are more important. i read plenty about the horrors of european culture in history books i don't need to experience it to know it is awful
Americans learn only from catastrophe and not from experience. -- Theodore Roosevelt
My life has become a single, ongoing revelation that I haven’t been cynical enough.