
Six decades ago a critic attacked bland "subtopia" in British towns - SimplyUseless
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30697263
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AndrewOMartin
I clicked the link expecting a nice read about John Betjeman. Interesting to
see this similar, but distinct opinion.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Betjeman#Betjeman_and_arch...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Betjeman#Betjeman_and_architecture)

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Theodores
Really this is a nostalia-fest article, instant click-bait appeal to anyone
who thinks their High Street is getting too much like every other High Street.
Thank goodness the writer was in the UK, had he been in the USA I am sure he
would have got himself lost in identical mini-malls.

More interesting:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotelling%27s_law](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotelling%27s_law)

 _" principle of minimum differentiation"_

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marktangotango
There is an abundance of strip malls in the US, but generally, I think more
apt comparison to the British high street may be the town square commonly
found in the county seat[1] of most all counties in the US (for states that
have counties as such). The county seat is typically a small town in a rural
area.

The central building is typically the court house, surrounded by local
businesses and variety of churches, maybe a jail. There is a vast variety of
architectural style among the courthouses. Some historic, some not. Some even
hosted old west gun fights [2].

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_seat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_seat)

[2] [http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-
gunfights3.html](http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-gunfights3.html)

~~~
arethuza
In there case of here in Edinburgh, the High Street isn't really the high
street for shopping as it's part of the Royal Mile in the Old Town:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mile](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mile)

The real high street is probably Princes Street, which is in the New Town,
which is fairly old as well:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes_Street](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes_Street)

While being a spectacular street to walk along - the actual shops are pretty
dreary. Last time I checked there were 3 O2 mobile phone shops.... which seems
a bit much for one street that isn't _that_ long.

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teh_klev
Edinburgh council should be ashamed of Princes Street, it's truly awful.
During the whole time I lived in Edinburgh and when visiting I avoided it like
the plague. I think I only visited Princes Street about four times (once to
buy a mobile phone :) and the others for work and an interview). The real gem
is George Street, but council seem to be doing there damnedest to make a mess
of that as well.

The Royal Mile is a bloody awful tartan covered tourist trap despite having
some fantastic buildings.

My favourite part of Edinburgh is Leith and the shore area. I lived just off
of the bottom of Leith walk and always loved dawdling across Leith Links to
work in Great Michael house.

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endzone
the sniffy tone of architectural critics is irritating. at least in the post
war era we actually built sufficient housing

