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So you're saying, for instance, if you go for a walk in Manhattan, you'll be more likely to talk to strangers?

I've never lived in Manhattan, but I have visited there many times, I would definitely say that walking the sidewalks and parks there, it's mostly anonymous, with less stranger conversation that say the US suburbs.

HN is a really interesting comments site. Maybe this is true of most internet comments sites. I'm not sure because this is the only place on the web were I have ever made comments. But it seems like there is a large demographic that just wants to disagree.

Before you start making comparisons, I'd recommend actually going to China and seeing.

If you just want to look at wikipedia, this is a fairly typical modern Chinese city:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chongqing

Yes, very dense, and I can't speak to the public place usage by a broad segment of the population there. But there is no city in the US like this, or any other modern Chinese city.

In general I find the public places in the US to be largely abandoned.

Another related aspect: there are not many publicly visible homeless in China:

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202606/1363620.shtml

Making public parks and other places more attractive...

 help



i have only spent a day or so in manhattan but i have lived more than a year in some US suburbs and i don't have the same experience. i have also lived in china for more than a decade, so i believe i am qualified to make that comparison. when i said you have to go out of your way to avoid meeting people i was speaking from personal experience. something i have actually done as i was seeking new routes for my daily walk in a chinese city.

and as european i can also tell you that i am most certainly more likely to talk to someone in manhattan than i would in a european city for example.




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