Does your city services work for you?

Just wanna discuss this. Does your city services work for you. Services such as police, medical, fire, etc. Are fast, efficient and are always on time? Are they there who you need them?>

Basel Invests in Art & Architecture

Cultural riches
Prosperous Swiss city invests in art and architecture
ERIC CONVEY
19 February 2006

BASEL, Switzerland - Watches. Secret bank accounts. Cheese with holes. Chocolate that's to die for. That's what this country is famous for.

But in this city along the hilly banks of the Rhine River, another commodity is far more visible: science. And success in that field has led to another attraction: art and architecture.

Basel is profoundly shaped by its life sciences industry and by the cultural treasures it has brought.

Nestled hard up against France and Germany, Basel is home today to many of the world's biggest pharmacology concerns, including Novartis - which has its world research headquarters in Cambridge (Basel thinks of Boston as a sister city) - and Roche.

Striking architecture, especially of the modern variety, is most visible in the sprawling campuses of the pharmaceutical companies.

The Novartis campus, for instance, is high above the river. A former manufacturing site, it has grown into a sprawling complex of offices, and is still growing. Executives expect to double the 5,000- person work force over the next 10 to 15 years. The exterior walls of the modern glass structure are decorated with translucent panels that transform the building itself into a work of art. Sculpture animates the grounds.

When you explore the city's history you begin to understand the intellectual underpinnings that allowed the rise of the pharmaceutical industry.

In the mid-1400s, Catholic and Orthodox Christians held one of the many councils of the era in Basel. Like their modern counterparts, the scholars needed paper. That spawned a printing and book trade industry that thrived here for hundreds of years.

In 1529, the Reformation hit Basel and the city became officially Protestant. Hugenots arrived soon after and brought with them silk- dyeing skills. Colored ribbons were the specialty. The city's richly decorated cathedral dates to this time.

The leaps from manufacturing pigments to manufacturing chemicals to producing drugs were not big ones.

All the work with chemicals took its toll on this stretch of the Rhine, but the river was cleaned up years ago. As one local explained, the river used to smell, but "Now you can swim in it."

Several bridges span the river in Basel, but driving across is the boring way. Far more fun is to ride one of the small boats that are attached to cables and slowly propelled along by the river's current, as they have been for more than 100 years.

A number of residences, ranging from 15th century houses to 19th century mansions, line the roads high above the river. And they can be viewed on riverboat tours that run the Rhine and back. The trips last several hours and offer views of the countryside as well.

A significant portion of the wealth generated in Basel over the years went into institutions dealing with the visual arts. (For all those left-brainers, the thriving arts scene, painting and sculpture in particular, keeps the right brain firing.)

There are dozens of museums in town. The link of art and industry is no more obvious than at the Tinguely Museum, an extraordinarily fun expanse of sculptures at the Roche Headquarters. (When's the last time you stopped by a U.S. corporate headquarters to examine the company's art collection?).

Other must-dos for art lovers are Foundation Beyeler museum on the outskirts of the city and the Kunstmuseum Basel downtown.

Unlike most museums, the Foundation Breyeler is the kind of place an art aficionado and a novice can enjoy equally. Getting there by street car is easy and the pleasant grounds and stunning ship- shaped building designed by Renzo Piano, justify the trip, as do the world-class special exhibitions. The 200-piece permanent collection (once a private collection) includes Cezanne, Picasso, Rousseau, Mondrian, Klee, Matisse and more.

The expansive Kunstmuseum is the city's impressive museum of fine arts. Highlights include works from 1400 to 1600 and from the 19 th and 20th centuries including Cubism (Picasso et al) and post-1950s American art (Warhol et al). The courtyard boasts Rodin and Caldor and inside you will also find works by such names as Gauguin, Van Gogh, Klee and Giacometti.

As big as art is year-round in Basel, it all but consumes the city each summer for the annual Art Basel (for information about this year's event, June 14-18, log on to www.artbasel.com ). International artists numbering more than 2,000 as well as dealers, patrons and fans come to town for this World's Fair of the arts world.

Basel's residents really cut loose for the annual Carnival, Fasnacht, featuring elaborate, costumed, all-night street celebrations, this year March 6-8 (more at www.fasnachts-comite.ch/ english.html).

The city's hospitality industry is first class and the industrious yet friendly locals make visitors feel at home. The Swissotel Le Plaza Basel (winter rates are from about $190 per night; www.swissotel.com ) served up a comfortable guest room that included a small table, chair and drawing supplies for our 2-year- old.

In this prosperous city shopping is first-class, too. And there are numerous fun surprises tucked away. We found one shoe store, for instance, with a children's slide that runs from the ground floor to the basement. And of course there is no shortage of chocolate shops, with delicious fare ranging from the inexpensive to the exotic. (Bad Swiss chocolate, it turns out, is better than good American chocolate. And great Swiss chocolate is out of this world.)

Like any Swiss city, Basel has plenty of restaurants that give meat - beef especially - prominence on their menus. But many also offer a good variety of vegetable dishes, even vegetarian options. Fondue is a must-do here. Meal prices cover a broad range, with a very nice dinner for two costing about $100 before wine.

In part because English is the dominant language in modern science, and also because Switzerland like most European countries takes language instruction for children seriously, moving through Basel is easy for an American. (When English failed, the remnants of high school French proved adequate.) A convenient and clean tram system, meanwhile, made moving around a breeze.

For more information, go to www.baseltourismus.ch .>

Contemporary Urban Plazas

What are some of the most modern urban plazas across the world?

For example, I think Stadtlounge in St. Gallen, Switzerland is very contemporary.>

Urban Parks

What are the largest urban parks in the world?

A top 20 would be great, if anyone has the info. >

In what ways is Chicago different from NYC?

I was planning to visit Chicago for the first time this summer, but unfortunately will have to put off the trip. Having only lived on the coasts and overseas, I never really gave much thought to the city until coming to this website. It seems like an interesting place, and I have to say my curiosity is piqued.

But from the photos, I have to say it reminds me a lot of NYC. The skyscraper district of midtown or downtown, and the outskirts of Queens or Brooklyn. From photos, (and certainly from visiting) one can get a sense of how for instance SF, Boston, LA, Miami and Washington are all quite different from NY. In what ways would you say the look or feel of Chicago is unique?>

150 Biggest Agglomerations in world Jan. 2006

this is a list of the 150 biggest agglos in 2006 ;it includes agglos. over 1 million pop. ;the source is citypopulation de :
what do you think about this list !?---

1.) Tokyo 34.200.000
2.) Mexico city 22.800.000
3.) Seoul 22.300.000
4.) New York City 21.900.000
5.) Sao Paulo 20.200.000
6.) Bombay 19.850.000
7.) Delhi 19.700.000
8.) Shanghai 18.150.000
9.) Los Angeles 18.000.000
10.) Osaka 16.800.000
11.) Jakarta 16.550.000
12.) Calcutta 15.650.000
13.) Cairo 15.600.000
14.) Manila 14.950.000
15 .) Karatschi 14.300.000
16.) Moskva 13.750.000
17.) Buenos Aires 13.450.000
18.) Dacca 13.250.000
19.) Rio de Janeiro 12.150.000
20.) Bejing 12.100.000
21.) London 12.000.000
22.) Tehran 11.850.000
23.) Istanbul 11.500.000
24.) Lagos 11.100.000
25.) shenzen 10.700.000
26.) Paris 9.950.000
27.) Chicago 9.750.000
28.) Canton 9.550.000
29.) Chungking 9.350.000
30.) Wuhan 9.100.000
31.) Lima 8.550.000
32.) Bangkok 8.450.000
33.) bogota 8.350.000
34.) washington 8.150.000
35.) Nagoya 8.050.000
36.) Madras 7.600.000
37.) Lahore 7.550.000
38.) Hongkok 7.400.000
39.) Johannesburg 7.400.000
40.) San Francisco 7.250.000
41.) Bangalore 7.100.000
42.) Kinshasa 7.000.000
43.) Taipeh 6.950.000
44.) Hyderabad 6.700.000
45.) Tientsen 6.350.000
46.) Dallas 6.000.000
47 Philadelhia 6.000.000
48,) Santiago de Ch. 5.900.000
49.) Detroit 5.800.000
50.) Ruhr area 5.800.000
51.) Boston 5.700.000
52.) Khartum 5.650.000
53.) Ahmadabad 5.600.000
54.) Belo Horizonte 5.600.000
55.) madrid 5.600.000
56.) Bagdad 5.550.000
57.) Miami 5.550.000
58.)Houston 5.400.000
59.) Saigon 5.400.000
60.) Toronto 5.400.000
61.) Sankt Petersburg RSS 5.250.000
62.) Atlanta 5.100.000
63.) Alexandria 5.000.000
64.) Caracas 4.700.000
65.) Sigapore 4.650.000
66.) Riad 4.550.000
67.) Shenyang 4.550.000
68.) Rangyun 4.500.000
69.) Pune 4.450.000
70,) Guadalajara 4.350.000
71.) Sydney 4.350.000
72.) Chittagong 4.300.000
73.) Kuala Lumpur 4.300.000
74.) Berlin 4.200.000
75.) Algier 4.150.000
76.) Porto Alegre 4.150.000
77.) Abidjan 4.100.000
78.) Monterry 3.950.000
79.) Phoenix 3.900.000
80.) Casablanca 3.850.000
81.) Milano 3.850.000
82.) Barcelona 3.800.000

83.) ANKARA 3.750.000
84.) Recife 3.750.000
85.) Seattle 3.750.000
86.) Pusan 3.700.000
87.) melbourne 3.700.000
88.) Surat 3.700.000
89.) Montreal 3.650.000
90.) Brasilia 3.600.000
91.) Pjonjang 3.600.000
92.) Xian 3.600.000
93.) Athens 3.500.000
94.) Durban 3.500.000
95.) fortaleza 3.500.000
96.) Nanjing 3.500.000
97.) Salvador 3 .500.000
98.) Medelin 3.450.000
99.) Harbin 3.400.000
100.) Minneapolis 3.400.000
101.) Kano 3.350.000
102 .) Roma 3.350.000
103.) Capetown 3.300.000
104.) Curitiba 3.300.000
105.) Chengdu 3.250.000
106.) Kanpur 3.250.000
107.) Kiew 3.250.000
108.) accra 3.200.000
109.) Kabul 3.150.000
110.) Tel Aviv 3.150.000
111.) Amman 3.100.000
112.) Bandung 3.100.000
113.) Changchun 3.100.000
114.) Jiddah 3.100.000
115.) Napoli 3.100.000
116.) adis abeba 3.050.000
117.) Dar Es Salam 3.050.000
118.) dongguan 3.050.000
119.) San Diego 3.050.000
120.) Ibadan 3.000.000
121.) Nairobi 3.000.000
122.) Santo Domingo 3.000.000
123.) Surabaya 3.000.000
124.) Faisalabad 2.950.000
125.) Jaipur 2.950.000
126.) Dalian 2.900.000
127.) Kaosiung 2.900.000
128.) Lisboa 2.900.000
129.) Cleveland 2.850.000
130.) Damascus 2.850.000
131.) Katowice 2.850.000
132.) Rawalpindi 2.850.000
133.) San Juan 2.850.000
134.) Daegu 2.800.000
135.) Izmir 2.800.000
136.) St Louis 2.800.000
137.) Campinas 2.750.000
138.) Haleppo 2.750.000
139) Luanda 2.750.000
140.) Lucknow 2.750.000
141.) Cali 2.700.000
142) Denver 2.700.000
143.) Medan 2.700.000
14.4) Kunming 2.650.000
145.) Mashad 2.650.000
146.) Stuttgart 2.650.000
147.) Tampa 2.650.000
148.) Birmingham GB 2.600.000
149.) Hamburg 2.600.000
150.) Hangzou 2.600.000>

World-class U.S. cities OTHER than NY, LA

Maybe, second world-class lol. But aside from the very expensive NY, LA and all the usual ones, are there any U.S. cities that come somewhat close to offering everything that these cities do but at a lower price and more liveable environment? (things like culture, status, nightlife, excellent shopping/dining etc.) Obviously none are going to match the top cities, but there has to be a few "next best".

I haven't been around too much but I'd have to go with Houston, Dallas or Las Vegas.
I've heard of Dallas referred to as a "Mini L.A." it's known for it's restaurants and shopping and has the "big-spender" image. Nightlife seems to be a little lacking but hey I don't live there so who knows.
Houston is the 4th largest city (assuming this is still correct) so it's got that going for it, both of these cities have some massive and very impressive skylines too... if anything they at least LOOK the part. They also offer a very very low cost of living.

Las Vegas is a little different but there's no denying that EVERYONE knows Vegas, turn on the travel channel.. when are they NOT airing something on Vegas? I think this is as close as it gets to the "feel" of one of the major glamour cities. Vegas gets a lot of important events and a lot of coverage, like NY there always seems to be something going on around town. Cost of living is also reasonable, I hear property prices are going up now but at least they still have no income tax. Aside from the glamour I don't know what other things the city offers or how liveable it is though.

What are yours?>