It is weird visiting a new place, you see things you wouldn't normally think about. Things that have been done to suit the typical environment in which people live.

In England the cars are small, because the streets are narrow, and gas prices are high.

In Austin, Texas, the houses here have no basements, their furnaces are upstairs, since they mostly run air conditioning, and cold air sinks. They usually have no gutters on their roofs, unless its a fancy shaped roof, because it rains very rarely. They have sprinkler systems in their yards, because it never freezes.

I dont understand though how Texas has all this room, yet each subdivision has houses literally 10 feet away from each other. They all have fenced in back yards, and virtually no trees.

If I was going to live in Texas I'd want a nice little distance from my neighbors. Perhaps its because they dont want a huge sprinkler system.

Either way, when you travel check those things out, its interesting to see how different places affect the simple things that you may be used to at home.
posted by Bryan at 3/23/2006 09:41:00 AM