laura Wrote:
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> unfortunately i live in a large city in the south
> of england...(portsmouth, hampshire)
> and i take for granted what living in a city
> means..

I used to live in Portland, Oregon. It's been called one of the most livable cities in the US and it was beautiful there.
>
> two mins from a convenience store thats open 24/7
> but way over priced..abag of sugar is 98p)...about
> $1.50

We have the overpriced convenience stores as well. In fact, even the grocery stores are overpriced. Our monthly grocery bill (for a family of four) is about $900+. It's about twice as high as normal.

> light pollution

lol, we have light pollution as well. You have to leave town to see all the stars, otherwise it's just like any other night sky most nights.

> crowds

This town is the shopping hub for at least 60 miles radius and for the nearby reservations. On the weekends, there are places where you just don't go because they are swamped. It's why the local comedians call the Walmart here the "Gallup Chapter House".

> exhaust fumes..(constantly)

Actually, it can get rather fumey here as well. It's a rural area and therefore, the air quality laws for cars don't apply.

> noise...(its never , ever quiet)

lol , this is a train town. Trains run through it 24/7. You get tremendous booms from train loading/unloading, screeching brakes and horns blowing every other minute. It's really pretty noisy here. Window Rock, AZ was quiet. I loved it.

> cant park my car outside my own house....or even
> in my street sometimes

We have a driveway, thankfully and if we need more room, well, we can just blend in with the neighbors, I suppose, and park in the yard.

> traffic is such a big problem here that its

The roads here are very outdated for the area. The traffic isn't nearly as bad as city rush hour traffic but it can still be pretty frustrating because the roads aren't broad enough for two cars passing each other alot of the time.

> quicker to cycle everywhere than drive..

Better for you too.

> not safe out alone after about eight in the
> evening

It's not safe out here when it gets dark either. Usually things to worry about for one thing along with some very traditional baddies as well.

> never being able to answer the door at home unless
> i know who it is..

Install a peephole.

> never answer the phone unless i know who it
> is....

Not any different here really though we use caller id.
>
> i for one..would much rather live your way
> stphanie...than mine.....

You'd rather see hungry little faces every time you pick up your kids from school (because there are no schoolbuses)? Or know that the little kid that has been picking on your kid so badly is living in a motel, subjected to seeing domestic violence all the time and probably didn't have dinner that night? I think the worst thing is the lack of action that occurs in this town. It's a small community and, therefore, you'd think that people would act like a community to get together and help those who are way less fortunate. The even sadder part is that there are a high number of millionaires living in this area as well. They are the ones marking up the prices of food, sometimes two-fold, as well as services. They don't shop here. They go to Albuquerque. This town is like a trap. I guess the best way to explain it is that there are foodstamps available here as well as a Navajo Nation run food program called WIC that works like foodstamps as well. Even with these programs working in conjunction, there are still way too many malnourished children out here. You'd think that there wouldn't be with these programs in place, wouldn't you? I have talked a great deal with the woman who owns the home that we are renting. She isn't "local" either and yet is in the "upper class" out here. She talks about how horrendous these people are. Several of them complained bitterly about losing money because this store or that came into town, making them lose their business. She always points out to them that they wouldn't be losing so much business if they hadn't been overpricing everything that they sold and building the enimity of the community against them. It's very true. Not all of these people are bad. Ellis Tanner is well loved by the community because he really gives back in many ways. Some have a conscience but most of these land and business owners do not.

I really should take some pictures of the area. Some of the homes are not much better than shacks in town and contrast it with some images of the mansions resting on the butte above town...It's pretty appalling.

Stephanie





In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil.--Ralph Waldo Emerson