

Ask HN: Was urban life much different before TV? - forgottenacc56

Did people visit each other much more and socialize more? And if so, what the heck does socialize mean in that context?
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bartonfink
Isaac Asimov thought so. I recall reading a quote by him at one point about
how air conditioning and television directly made cities (of which he was very
fond) less safe and friendly places because people didn't stay outside to
socialize with their neighbors and stay cool: they stayed inside.

"Night was a wonderful time in Brooklyn in the 1930s. Air conditioning was
unknown except in movie houses, and so was television. There was nothing to
keep one in the house. Furthermore, few people owned automobiles, so there was
nothing to carry one away. That left the streets and the stoops. The very
fullness served as an inhibition to crime."

