GetUrban wrote: Wed Mar 13, 2019 5:46 pm
I actually have a large framed poster-sized print of that Ernst Haas photo I posted above. It's amazing how many things you can find in the photo that spark childhood memories of all those familiar brands of things. Some of the old highways that used run through Arkansas in the Bentonville-Rogers-Fayetteville strips had similar visual clutter. They've built by-passes around the old strips now. It brings back memories of long family road trips way back when.
I think I'll probably consider retiring in ALBQ, Tucson, or maybe elsewhere in the SW too, just to get away from the hard winters here in Omaha.
You grew up in that Bentonville, AR area string of cities? Or, did you mean you just took road trips there? Which boulevard was the main one with all the signs? Just curious, as the "sister" towns are kind of in that scattered pattern.
I do love that print. That's a "busy picture" if I've ever seen one. I'm wondering if he is looking up towards the mountains or towards the valley in that shot? (I think the mountains.) And, how did the black sky come about? (I almost wonder if it was a heavy rain storm, and that was taken with the bright sun on the backside of the storm shining on all the signs, making the storm look really black. Then, the whole photo was manipulated. The photo does look taken after rain to me -- of course.)
Tuscon is almost like a "low desert Albuquerque" in a way. I've been there several times. Phoenix is probably more "me", but I can appreciate Tuscon's SW charms. Its a little odd, but all SW cities are a bit odd, I think -- Phoenix and Vegas seeming the most normal. El Paso is definitely odd, yet it intrigues me kinda. You might enjoy Las Cruces, NM -- not too far north of El Paso. It's not that big, but that's a decent, growing retirement area, too. I spent about a month there once. I did like it, to a degree. You may like St George, UT or Mesquite, NV, too. They are nice. (St. George is the first town you see a desert palm tree in when driving from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas.) There's also Santa Fe, Palm Springs. Grand Junction, CO is surrounded by beautiful red rock & juniper country -- yet can get some winter.
St. George:
https://www.zionnationalpark.com/wp-con ... 24x630.jpg
Mesquite:
https://ap.rdcpix.com/2102215794/a57f0a ... 70_q80.jpg
El Paso:
https://www.motherjones.com/wp-content/ ... .jpg?w=990
Las Cruces:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ntains.jpg
Tuscon:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XccGmiYUusI/maxresdefault.jpg
Another Tuscon:
https://poetry.arizona.edu/sites/poetry ... hevron.jpg
One of Tuscon that shows how "desert quirky" and dusty it is:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5071/5897 ... e3a4_b.jpg
Growing up, my stepdad's job almost transferred us to Tuscon, and I was disappointed that it didn't work out, because he had a local real estate book I flipped through, and I was dreaming of living in some CA-style tract home w/ desert mountains behind it. Now, those things aren't that big of a deal to me anymore. And, as an adult, visiting it finally years later, I realized that it was probably better that it didn't work out back then. That would have been a big, big change from Omaha -- one I'm not sure I would have liked as a youngster. The town's a little weird and dusty, plus I would have missed all my Omaha peeps. I would like it better now, I think, as an adult. Its different & extreme in some ways, feeling somewhat like "partly Mexico", but its surely "authentic Southern Arizona." Phoenix is more American-seeming and "Plasticville." There's probably a little more green grass & "normal trees" around in ALBQ than Tuscon, with the higher elevation.
That solo suburban ALBQ building is seen a movie. While seeing it, I kept thinking "I know that building. Where is that?" The city had yuccas and rock and mountains in the backdrop. It was supposed to be El Paso, but I knew better inside -- although deserty El Paso was believable. Of course, it was ALBQ when I looked up the filming locations. They were filming this "Desert Sands Hotel", which is no longer there, and you can see that noted building right there:
https://i2.wp.com/www.route66news.com/w ... wk-min.jpg (I totally appreciate those funky, old retro signs -- especially when they involve desert flora. That is one of the best I've ever seen. Here's another:
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3382/326 ... 16b6_b.jpg And, another:
https://media.gettyimages.com/videos/sh ... ?s=640x640)
Cermak: Chicagoland, eh? Always loved Chicago -- in fact, was obsessed about it growing up. When I was a kid, our Omaha neighbors moved to Schaumburg, IL -- and I was always drawn to that Chicago suburb since. Almost jealous, as they lived in a really neat cosmo home, and their two kids attended an artsy high school downtown -- taking the train into the mighty city everyday, enjoying the view of a huge skyline, "living the dream" while I was left back in Omaha. They even offered to let me go live with them, but my parents wouldn't let it happen -- of course. (It almost makes me wonder if I had "skyscrapers in my eyes" even over my family. Lol. Honestly, I don't think I would have gone, even though I wanted Chicago BAD -- so bad it hurt.) We visited them one summer, and I went to Woodfield Mall. So, that's "my burb" now when I visit the city. I stay out in that area, then go downtown from there, and I visit Woodfield Mall. In fact, the hotel I stay at in that area has this view of Chicago from the work out room:
https://www.arlingtoncardinal.com/wordp ... NE-595.jpg Opposed to staying right downtown, there's something neat about staying way out in the suburbs, at a far distance from downtown, the same distance Downtown Omaha is to Fremont, and looking at the powerful skyline/city center from 35 miles away.
https://www.ahpd.org/assets/1/6/winter_fun.jpg
(By the way, they ended up moving back to Omaha years later. "Omaha tends to draw people back" I've heard it said, and that seems to be true a lot.)
When you moved to Omaha in the mid 80's, I imagine it must have looked so small to you. Yet, maybe that was what you wanted... Maybe you wanted a break from the big "rat race" of the Chicagoland metro.
One thing that is nice, is that we can talk about everything from New York to Chicago to Omaha to Wichita to Albuquerque to Tuscon, and we're not hung up on how big a city is, or how tall their buildings are, or how many malls and freeways they have. It doesn't really matter. We both appreciate Chicago, and we both appreciate Wichita, and we both appreciate Albuquerque -- as simply American cities of different size & element.
I can get pushed out because I'm "too much" for some. Then, an observer of me comes suddenly swooping in to "fill my shoes." People are always more accepting of the new one, because their feathers aren't truly ruffled by them. (Yawn) I can count on it every time.
