And just like that, I realized something about that single variable, air conditioning, and the impact it had on the United States. It drove us off our porches and inside our homes. Instead of hanging out in the cool night air and chatting with our neighbors like we used to do, we don’t know them, don’t understand them, and probably view them with a certain degree of suspicion. This modern invention that made our hot, muggy houses somewhat bearable had an ominous side effect: it split us like atoms. It entombed us inside our climate-controlled houses and apartments. It cut us off from one another as effectively as racial segregation, and we never once considered the consequences.
A friend of mine would sometimes comment on his drug dealing, hippie days in Chicago during the '60's and '70's. The surest way of getting laid was telling some woman he had AC in his bedroom.
I never had AC in my places in (greater) Los Angeles. Usually it was enough to have one big fan set up in a window in exhaust mode, and then open the other windows to allow air to flow through. I remember one night when it was too hot for even that, and I spent a few hours hanging out at a bar (I want to say it was the John Barleycorn, but I may be confusing that with Chicago) reading Jean van Heijenoort's "From Frege to Gödel", which was its own kind of conversation starter.
These days, where I live becomes unendurably hot -- hotter inside than out -- once the temps hit the mid '80's, especially if there's any sun out. And all my neighbors are die-hard Trumpista fascists; I don't *want* to talk to them, even if the option was available.
LOL! You're excused from having to talk to the Trumpistas, I promise. But you and I both know if some kind of disaster were to strike--a flood, say--and your place was still standing, you KNOW you'd take them in. I know your heart. Don't try to deny it.
You're not wrong, but I'd submit that air conditioning isn't the only culprit. American car culture has created a society that requires us to drive everywhere for everything. Walk to the corner store? WHAT corner store? It's been put out of business by a GIGANTICO big box (IF YOU CAN'T GET IT HERE, YOU DON'T NEED IT, COMRADE)...but it's five miles away, and so you need a car to get there. The same holds true for virtually every need that must be met. American neighborhoods are designed around cars, not people. Air conditioning merely applied the coup de grace.
RIGHT YOU ARE. And again I say that for every great invention we come up with, three other problems are automatically created. So it is with air conditioning. So it is with cars. Both are necessary. But at what price?
Phoenix was a small city until air-conditioning came here, probably in the late 50’s. Then they started building houses like crazy, as land was cheap. Of course, the American West has limited water, so now the West is overpopulated for the amount of water there is, not to mention the increase in wildfires that are getting harder to control.
Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, California, and Arizona have a water rights pact regarding water from the Colorado River. It’s somewhat complicated, and the state of Colorado has very old laws grandfathered in from the earliest settlers’ families along the river. I believe each state will institute restrictions, as California just did. Many cities, including Phoenix, also get water form other sources such as the Verde River, and in underground storage, as well. When my wife and I talk about possibly moving north to a wetter climate, we at least know that Phoenix has been dealing with, and preparing for, excess heat and possible water shortages for years, whereas most the Northwest has not. It’s hard to know where to go, as we believe climate change will affect the whole planet in somewhat unpredictable ways.
I wish you weren't right about that. With all my heart, I wish it. Unfortunately, there is nowhere to go. Not now. Nowhere free of poverty and the crime that poverty invariably brings. Nowhere that isn't being impacted by climate change. Sometimes I think the best thing to do is to watch Kardashians reruns and try not to look outside your own window.
I remember, during summer nights in Morocco - where most people don't have air conditioning - we would all head out to a large stretch of grass along a major road. Scores of families were out, many bringing tea pots and blankets. It was so fun! Kids running and playing, people chatting, of course until the wee hours. So fun!
That's a charming picture you describe! Imagine anything like that happening in Houston! In my old neighborhood, we'd sometimes have block parties, but it's not the same. At all. I know you know what I'm talking about.
I belong in Italy obviously. I do not have air conditioning, never had it as a kid and still don’t have it to this day. Give me the warm air, we wait all year for summer, why do we cool it down like winter?!?
Summers can get pretty intense here, but you totally belong in Italy! In fact, I'd wager that were it not for the mind-numbing and wildly inefficient bureaucracy, everybody would be in Italy ;-)
A friend of mine would sometimes comment on his drug dealing, hippie days in Chicago during the '60's and '70's. The surest way of getting laid was telling some woman he had AC in his bedroom.
I never had AC in my places in (greater) Los Angeles. Usually it was enough to have one big fan set up in a window in exhaust mode, and then open the other windows to allow air to flow through. I remember one night when it was too hot for even that, and I spent a few hours hanging out at a bar (I want to say it was the John Barleycorn, but I may be confusing that with Chicago) reading Jean van Heijenoort's "From Frege to Gödel", which was its own kind of conversation starter.
These days, where I live becomes unendurably hot -- hotter inside than out -- once the temps hit the mid '80's, especially if there's any sun out. And all my neighbors are die-hard Trumpista fascists; I don't *want* to talk to them, even if the option was available.
LOL! You're excused from having to talk to the Trumpistas, I promise. But you and I both know if some kind of disaster were to strike--a flood, say--and your place was still standing, you KNOW you'd take them in. I know your heart. Don't try to deny it.
You're not wrong, but I'd submit that air conditioning isn't the only culprit. American car culture has created a society that requires us to drive everywhere for everything. Walk to the corner store? WHAT corner store? It's been put out of business by a GIGANTICO big box (IF YOU CAN'T GET IT HERE, YOU DON'T NEED IT, COMRADE)...but it's five miles away, and so you need a car to get there. The same holds true for virtually every need that must be met. American neighborhoods are designed around cars, not people. Air conditioning merely applied the coup de grace.
RIGHT YOU ARE. And again I say that for every great invention we come up with, three other problems are automatically created. So it is with air conditioning. So it is with cars. Both are necessary. But at what price?
At the price that we too often don’t fully understand the cost until we’re so far along we can’t imagine life without whatever “it” is.
Phoenix was a small city until air-conditioning came here, probably in the late 50’s. Then they started building houses like crazy, as land was cheap. Of course, the American West has limited water, so now the West is overpopulated for the amount of water there is, not to mention the increase in wildfires that are getting harder to control.
Interesting! So that's why Phoenix has mushroomed! Question. California steals its water from Nevada. Where does Arizona steal its water from?
I love the Painted Desert. I dream about it.
Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, California, and Arizona have a water rights pact regarding water from the Colorado River. It’s somewhat complicated, and the state of Colorado has very old laws grandfathered in from the earliest settlers’ families along the river. I believe each state will institute restrictions, as California just did. Many cities, including Phoenix, also get water form other sources such as the Verde River, and in underground storage, as well. When my wife and I talk about possibly moving north to a wetter climate, we at least know that Phoenix has been dealing with, and preparing for, excess heat and possible water shortages for years, whereas most the Northwest has not. It’s hard to know where to go, as we believe climate change will affect the whole planet in somewhat unpredictable ways.
I wish you weren't right about that. With all my heart, I wish it. Unfortunately, there is nowhere to go. Not now. Nowhere free of poverty and the crime that poverty invariably brings. Nowhere that isn't being impacted by climate change. Sometimes I think the best thing to do is to watch Kardashians reruns and try not to look outside your own window.
I remember, during summer nights in Morocco - where most people don't have air conditioning - we would all head out to a large stretch of grass along a major road. Scores of families were out, many bringing tea pots and blankets. It was so fun! Kids running and playing, people chatting, of course until the wee hours. So fun!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AapC30kL0yQ
That's a charming picture you describe! Imagine anything like that happening in Houston! In my old neighborhood, we'd sometimes have block parties, but it's not the same. At all. I know you know what I'm talking about.
I belong in Italy obviously. I do not have air conditioning, never had it as a kid and still don’t have it to this day. Give me the warm air, we wait all year for summer, why do we cool it down like winter?!?
Summers can get pretty intense here, but you totally belong in Italy! In fact, I'd wager that were it not for the mind-numbing and wildly inefficient bureaucracy, everybody would be in Italy ;-)