Competition from Down Under

[Dan]

Check this out ...

http://pia.vizability.com.au/community/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000001

 

[PlannerGirl]

isnt imitation the best flattery?

 

[Chet]

If we didnt love Aussies so much I'd say....

LET THE HOUSTON - ESQUE INVASION BEGIN!!!

 

[Tranplanner]

If we didnt love Aussies so much I'd say....

LET THE HOUSTON - ESQUE INVASION BEGIN!!!

Oh sure, let them Aussies have their fun - I bet if it was a Canadian planning board the War-mongering Cyburbia Regime would move right quick to shut it down

 

[Downtown]

Please Paul - why would Canada need their own Canadian Cyburbia? They're practically State 51 already.

 

[Dan]

Please Paul - why would Canada need their own Canadian Cyburbia? They're practically State 51 already.

Except for Quebec, of course. Used to be plenty of French voices on the Cyburbia Forums, back when it was the Cyburbia Cafe; they stuck to the architecture sub-groups. There were very few urbanistes on here, though.

 

[BKM]

Boy. Has Australia gone a little xenophobic? Their main goal seems to be avoiding American content Is Australian culture and urbanism so dfferent?

Oh well, more power to them

 

[Habanero]

If we didnt love Aussies so much I'd say....

LET THE HOUSTON - ESQUE INVASION BEGIN!!!

Ah, we could just say "Invasions of your thread? That's just Cyburbian for fun."

 

[Dan]

Boy. Has Australia gone a little xenophobic? Their main goal seems to be avoiding American content Is Australian culture and urbanism so dfferent?

I was struck by the same thing. I saw part xenophobia, and maybe a perception that Cyburbia deliberately discourages or censors discussions from the other side of the Pacific.

From the PIA message board:

"The Cyburbia site is good, buts its difficult to discuss current topics from Australia with Americans and Canadians."

"I agree that planning forum without the usual American content is long overdue, well done to PIA."

Cyburbia has a critical mass of North American users, so there's plenty of folks here to sustain discussion on land use issues over on this side of the pond. Despite my efforts, though, I haven't had much luck with attracting Aussies, Kiwis, and S'effricans. If there was a similar critical mass of non-NA planners here, there would probably be more discussion of planning issues in those countries. I doubt few here would mind.

 

[BKM]

You are right, Dan. The topics of discussion depend a lot on who participates.

The other forum I sometimes post on, urbanphoto.org, has a pretty strong Canadian contingent. Including one poor youth (always the subject of abuse) who delights in posting endless pictures of suburban Toronto edge cities.

I just hope JNL doesn't defect.

 

[JNL]

Only just saw this thread.

Course I'm not going to defect! Can't get rid of me that easily

And I hope you weren't confusing me with an Australian!!

Now can someone help me with this avatar, which I've picked to help remind you I'm a Kiwi. I'm struggling to resize it.

 

[donk]

hope this is small enough to post.

 

[el Guapo]

I say more power to our friends in Austrailia. Dan did you ever consider a forum for other national interests? We Yankee inperialists yellow running dogs of the multnational corporate interests could even promise to leave them alone unless we were posting a legit question about their practices. It might build interests and we could harness the Google-Bots and foreign search engines. Once we had the world coming here we could quitely announce the subjigation of Canada.

 

[Dan]

I say more power to our friends in Austrailia. Dan did you ever consider a forum for other national interests?

Not really. I'm a fan of the melting pot.

Every couple of months, someone will write and ask for a minority-only or women-only forum. The answer has been in the FAQ since 1997 or so.

 

[H]

Not really. I'm a fan of the melting pot.

me too. it is more interesting that way.

 

[Unregistered]

hope this is small enough to post.

Thanks donk.

I am a melting pot fan too. It's good to learn from the experiences of others. I just read an interesting report called "Curbing the sprawl: Urban growth management in the United States - lessons for New Zealand".

 

[JNL]

Oopsies that was me. Trying to multi-task... not going too well!

 

[Rem]

Boy. Has Australia gone a little xenophobic? Their main goal seems to be avoiding American content Is Australian culture and urbanism so dfferent? Oh well, more power to them

This thread has been recycled so I can't help myself - I had previously decided not to bite ..BUT

BKM your remarks are insulting - Australia has always been xenophobic. To suggest we are only just becoming so is disrespectful of the hard work put in by many d!ckheads over many years. There, hostilities over.

I think the idea of an Australian board isn't bad. I have posted there on a couple of occasions but the thing just hasn't taken off. The shortcomings of Cyburbia for an Australian (at least this Australian) are:

Much of your jargon is different to ours so while I always receive courteous and helpful interpretations when I ask dumb questions, it stilts contributions.
Joining in is further hampered by the time difference. I've very rarely been able to take part in discussions as they unfold. It would be much more fun if that wasn't the case.
Due to the different legislative frameworks we work in, many Cyburbia threads, particularly discussions about practical day-to-day problems which should be some of the most interesting, are foreign to me. Similar discussions in an Australian context would not be useful for Cyburbanites.

That's a couple of the reasons why an API bulletin board could be useful. All power to Cyburbia though - I enjoy being the token Australian and hope we can continue our positive, 'open' relationship - I will continue to see the API site 'on the side'. I will also continue to work towards helping JNL understand she really is an Australian, she just doesn't realise it yet.

 

[JNL]

I will also continue to work towards helping JNL understand she really is an Australian, she just doesn't realise it yet.

NEVER!!!! I would rather eat my own jandals!!

 

[Rem]

NEVER!!!! I would rather eat my own jandals!!

You want a few macadamias and a can of XXXX with that?