Wednesday, September 4, 2019

More pre-Hurricane banter

We sure have some interesting folks in the area. One of our neighbors is the widow of Greg Jarvis, one of the astronauts who perished aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. The recovery of his remains is a story in itself (from Wikipedia):
The remains of all seven astronauts from the Challenger disaster were discovered in the crew decks on the ocean floor. Jarvis' body was discovered in the lower mid-deck along with McNair and McAuliffe. During salvage operations to raise the crew deck from the ocean floor, his body escaped from the wreckage, floated to the surface, and disappeared back into the sea. On April 15, 1986, on the last scheduled attempt to recover wreckage, it was rediscovered and returned to shore.
God bless the souls of these heroes.

I like reading lists, although I don't put a whole lot of stock in their validity, and I certainly wouldn't make a major decision based on one. Still, they are kind of interesting. Here's a current list of the world's most livable cities, and I note that Melbourne and Sydney take second and third place honors (Adelaide is in 10th place). Well done, mates!

13 comments:

Steve Skubinna said...

No US cities in the top ten. Take a bow, Democrats!

Seattle used to be my favorite US city. San Francisco was a long time ago. Now I don't think there's a single US city I would choose to live in... granted I prefer rural life anyway.

bruce said...

I saw a different list which had Tokyo, Seoul & Osaka at the top, then Amsterdam, Sydney and Washington DC. But they all have a thing about Australia, Sydney and Melbourne. I was born and grew up in inner Sydney but I don't recognise it any more. Even though I live 50 miles away I never go there, way too crowded now, too many high rise apartments and homeless. Yes we have a big homeless problem.

bruce said...

Then a lot of rural Australia is in the grip of yet another drug epidemic: Ice, 'cheaper than beer' at the moment some say. There is no ideal place on earth, you have to weigh up the pros and cons.

Paco said...

I'm a little miffed that the North Carolina communities of Lizard Lick and Frog Pond didn't make the list, and the absence of Half Hell, right here in Brunswick County, is completely inexplicable.

bruce said...

Half Hell, half heaven. Suits me!

rinardman said...

I wouldn't want to live in a city of any size. Not even those on a list of "most livable".

"Livable" is in the eye of the beholder, and my eye says "No, thanks!"

Yeah, it is surprising Lizard Lick & Frog Pond didn't make the list. Maybe they fell a little short in the "...functional transport systems" category. As in "no such thing exists here."

Skeeter said...

Melbourne second most livable?
On September 20th it will be 62 years since I flew into Melbourne, married Mrs Skeeter and next day whisked her across the continent to the then much more livable city of Perth. We have lived in many cities since then but my bride has often thanked me for keeping her away from Melbourne all these years.

Paco said...

Skeeter: Ah, so you rescued her from Melbourne! Happy anniversary in advance!

Deborah said...

62 years!?! Wow! Congratulations! Happy Anniversary!

Deborah said...

When small towns become cities the problems are exacerbated by population increase. The town loses its' character to the recognizable cookie cutter styles. I realized this when we came from Los Angeles to San Antonio (Texas) to look for nearby rural properties in 2013.

We live 7 miles northeast of our little town of Hondo that had a population of 8,803 according to the 2010 Census. But we see signs of encroaching development in and around the nearby town of Castroville. It was a lovely Alsatian town. Farmers/ranchers sell to developers. The once beautiful land that drew people is also its undoing. Sad all around.

JeffS said...

Congratulations, Skeeter, to you and Mrs. Skeeter!

JeffS said...

Paco -- I know that you're keeping an eye on Dorian. Stay safe!

Skeeter said...

Our story is similar to yours, Deborah. We escaped to the country from Sydney 32 years ago and settled on 10 paradisical acres in the Gold Coast City hinterland, surrounded by dairy and beef farmers.
Sadly, the city has grown westward. The last dairy farm in our valley will cease operations this year. Milk at $1.00 a litre in the supermarkets meant family-owned dairy farms were getting less than their costs of production. The farmers have, instead, become multi-millionaires by selling their pastures to the residential developers.
Blessedly, we overlook a 200-acre beef property which is mostly flood plain and unsuitable for building houses.