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10 October 2006

Maybe its just me, but I love this kind of stuff. In 1924 Karel Capek for the Guardian writes about life in "Londons miles and miles of grimy houses, hopeless streets, a superfluity of children, gin palaces and Christian shelters."
Ooh, I love that kind of stuff, too. Thanks!
posted by cmonkey 10 October | 15:47
That's a fun read, funmonkey. Reminds me of a lot of the US social reform stuff of the late 19th and early 20th centuries -- Jacob Riis, Upton Sinclair, Jane Addams.
posted by mudpuppie 10 October | 15:48
Sometimes you're better off dead
There's gun in your hand and it's pointing at your head
You think you're mad, too unstable
Kicking in chairs and knocking down tables
In a restaurant in a West End town
Call the police, there's a madman around
Running down underground to a dive bar
In a West End town

In a West End town, a dead end world
The East End boys and West End girls
In a West End town, a dead end world
The East End boys and West End girls
West End girls

Too many shadows, whispering voices
Faces on posters, too many choices
If, when, why, what?
How much have you got?
Have you got it, do you get it, if so, how often?
And which do you choose, a hard or soft option?
(How much do you need?)

In a West End town, a dead end world
The East End boys and West End girls
In a West End town, a dead end world
The East End boys and West End girls
West End girls
West End girls

(How much do you need?)

In a West End town, a dead end world
The East End boys and West End girls
Oooh West End town, a dead end world
East End boys, West End Girls
West End girls

You've got a heart of glass or a heart of stone
Just you wait 'til I get you home
We've got no future, we've got no past
Here today, built to last
In every city, in every nation
From Lake Geneva to the Finland station
(How far have you been?)

In a West End town, a dead end world
The East End boys and West End girls
A West End town, a dead end world
East End Boys, West End girls
West End girls

West End girls

West End girls
(How far have you been?)

Girls
East End boys
And West End girls
And West End girls
(... forever)
And West End girls
(How far have you been?)

East End boys
The West End girls
The West End boys
And West End girls

The West End girls
The West End boys
The West End girls
posted by pieisexactlythree 10 October | 16:18
Hmm. Can't decide if you posted that in the wrong thread or not, Pie.
posted by mudpuppie 10 October | 16:24
The guardian article is really great, btw. It reminds me of when I rant about suburbs, and puts it in perspective. The birth of suburbs was in part the result of utopian schemes to liberate people from these industrial revolutionary urban purgatories. This is the imperative expressed in Ebenezer Howard's 1898 book "Garden Cities of Tomorrow" which still influences urban planning practice today. Too bad it didn't work out so well.
posted by pieisexactlythree 10 October | 16:40
Pet Shop Boys (such an iconic cover for the era) West End Girls is a great tune and I offer this video (warning Youtube) as a diversion from this thread.
posted by funmonkey1 10 October | 16:43
Ebenezer Howard, btw, is also pretty much directly responsible for "common interest developments," which constitute almost 100% of new housing developments and something like 65% of older developments. The CID laws are what give a homeowners' association the power to tell you which paint colors are acceptable and let them place a lien on your house for not keeping your lawn mowed.

In the US, these regulations are a direct descendant of restrictive racial covenants. Frederick Law Olmstead was instrumental in popularizing such neighorhoods; St. Francis Wood in SF was one of his earliest and is still in existence today.

**Just wrote an article about all this.
posted by mudpuppie 10 October | 16:45
The CID laws AKA CC&R's?

Was Letchworth a CID?
posted by pieisexactlythree 10 October | 17:01
The very existence of CC&Rs is authorized by state legislation, otherwise they'd have no teeth. So yeah, CC&Rs. But, fundamentally, I'm referring to state laws that enable CIDs.

Not familiar with Letchworth. But googling it makes it sound really interesting.
posted by mudpuppie 10 October | 19:02
"The very existence of CC&Rs is authorized by state legislation, otherwise they'd have no teeth."

This made me laugh. Because I read it out of context using the Recent Comments filter and thought immediately of Credence Clearwater Revival. Being authorized to get dentures via state legislation. "Better gum through the jungle..."
No. I'm not on medication. Why?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson 10 October | 19:11
I just signed up to be a Bone Marrow donor! || What metachatter or celebrity would you like to be for Halloween?

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