August 12, 2002

10:48 AM

At kuro5hin a couple of weeks ago there was a post about what life was like in your area of the world. The idea led some enterprising person to create a website built for the same purposes using the original questions. Seems like a cool way to read about far away places from real people. It's not too full yet, but I'm sure that will change soon enough.
posted by rhyax (19 comments total)

I can dig. It will be nice when they get a lot more entries there, especially as a resource for travellers. There was a site somewhere (can't remember, many moons ago) that had scene reports submitted by local punks. It would list local bands to check out, clubs that hosted them, restaurants that were cheap and offered veggie/vegan food, skate parks, etc. etc. Kind of a similar vein, just a little more focused. This kind of stuff is what I think the 'net was built for.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:11 AM on August 12, 2002

That's definitely the sort of site that can provide information when travelling or if you've just moved to a new place. I found it interesting that many of the entries are for cities in North America/Europe.
posted by darsh at 11:17 AM on August 12, 2002

All they need for Toronto is "Gryfe's Bagels- best bagels, EVER".

I find the constant dropdown + refresh navigation scheme rather tedious, though..

I certainly like the concept, and I'm sure I'll hit it up for info the next time I visit Göteborg. As an example, that one REALLY sucks, it provides no helpful information, like good restaurants, sights, museums and events worth attending. Not to mention reccomendations on lodging and transportation, weather, and crime. I guess people aren't as anal-retentive as I would like. Oh well.
posted by insomnyuk at 11:22 AM on August 12, 2002

Cool. I added a brief summary, but I'll go back and fill it out once I get a few links.
posted by ColdChef at 11:26 AM on August 12, 2002

Yeah, nyukster, that was the problem with the site I mentioned before. The listings are only as good as the people that write them up. But, it's a new site, so hopefully the kinks will get worked out, and we'll end up with a great resource.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:35 AM on August 12, 2002

Someone's trying to be funny.
posted by einarorn at 11:39 AM on August 12, 2002

The entries can be edited at will? Hmm... I guess the honors system works for some. At least I hope it will in this case--that Joe Citizen doesn't decide to slag on some town he doesn't like by obliterating decent content and adding snarky comments.

And the navigation will need to improve as the # of entries grows.

I like it, though. I do. No, really.

!
posted by whatnot at 11:40 AM on August 12, 2002

Whatnot, you can't edit somebody's else's comments, only the original poster can.

I thought the questions could have been a lot more interesting, as I went down the list answering them I found there was overlap.

It will be interesting to see how the perceptions of people from the same area will differ. Precocious, what do you say? Go fill it out!
posted by luser at 11:51 AM on August 12, 2002

I love websites like this. I had to add a summary of where I live that I will no doubt improve at some point in the future.
posted by nthdegx at 11:52 AM on August 12, 2002

Cool link-- thanks!
posted by xmutex at 12:03 PM on August 12, 2002

insomnyuk: "Gryfe's Bagels- best bagels, EVER".

*shakes head sadly* No - no - the finest bagels in the entire world are found at St-Viateur [three blocks from chez moi! Quelle chance!]
posted by Marquis at 12:04 PM on August 12, 2002

Geez - remind me never to move to Baltimore.
posted by thijsk at 12:21 PM on August 12, 2002

As an example, that one REALLY sucks

yea, i know. that was pretty much the only one outside the us when i wrote it though. see how fast it's growing! ;)

I thought the questions could have been a lot more interesting

yea, they are the questions that the guy asked in the original post (which i thought was dumb) hopefully the guy that made the site (not the same person) will change them or add new ones at some point.
posted by rhyax at 12:45 PM on August 12, 2002

Reminds me somewhat of this categorization of cultural assumptions, broken down by nationality. One site is more about what it's like to live somewhere, the other about what you're like if you've grown up somewhere.
posted by pauleater at 1:08 PM on August 12, 2002

As an example, that one REALLY sucks, it provides no helpful information, like good restaurants, sights, museums and events worth attending.

Easy. That's because there's absolutely nothing to do in Göteborg! Ohoho, I kid because I love.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 1:24 PM on August 12, 2002

[vaguely related]
Before I travel, I try to take a peek at virtual tourist {and admire the front-page pop-up too}, which has 1st person accounts of holiday experiences, not just locals.
posted by selton at 3:00 PM on August 12, 2002

Looks like a marketer's dream.
posted by rushmc at 4:57 PM on August 12, 2002

Thanks for the link, it seems like a neat idea and will probably be better once more entries are added. In fact, I added an entry for my home town of Montreal, and will be adding more info to it once I have a bit more free time...
posted by Jade Dragon at 2:11 AM on August 13, 2002

I've added another one for Sydney, but I think it provides a lot more information than the previous two. I've just realized that HTML tags are allowed, so I'm going to go back and hyperlink the hell out of it.
posted by web-goddess at 2:12 AM on August 13, 2002