Sarasota Fl and Bristol U.K. - good enough, but not great.
This is an article about my home City of Bristol, U.K. Since it was printed in the local rag, the Bristol Evening Post, please take it with a grain of salt.
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Bristol-spot-8216-small-city-future-8217/story-15598511-detail/story.html
The article caused me to think about other “Bristols”. Wikipedia has the following
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_called_Bristol
I was surprised to learn that there is a small area in Peru called Bristol.
Bristol, Rhode Island is the prettiest of the American Bristols.
(I own a cannon ball which was fired in 1775 by the British Fleet into Bristol R.I. )
The twin cities of Bristol VA and Bristol TN are fascinating. The state line between Virginia and Tennessee goes right down the middle of the main street. On one side of the street you are in Virginia, on the other you are in Tennessee.
I once drove through Bristol, FL. If I had blinked I would have missed it.
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In our local (U.K) Schools (1949 – 1955) the City and County of Bristol Education Committee issued “exercise books” to all students. I remember the covers, on blue coloured “thick stock” paper. The outside of the back cover had a diagrammatic map called “Fifty Miles around Bristol”.
That was my world between the ages of 5 and 11. That world was centred on Bristol and the towns and villages which were no more than 50 miles away.
In those days I believed that Bristol was the finest City in the world.
Now I have come to believe that Bristol is alright in its own way, but it is a bit high on itself. I have concluded the same about Sarasota FL where I now live.
Both cities have a lot to offer in terms of history and culture.
Both cities tend to rest on their laurels.
And neither Bristol nor Sarasota has a sense of vision for the future. Each of these cities is dominated by City Councillors/Commissioners whose viewpoint is decidedly parochial and small.
They are good places in which to live. But they could be great!
Sarasota and Bristol have settled for the good instead of the great.
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Bristol-spot-8216-small-city-future-8217/story-15598511-detail/story.html
(You will have to cut and paste this link)
The article caused me to think about other “Bristols”. Wikipedia has the following
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_called_Bristol
(You will have to cut and paste this link)
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I was surprised to learn that there is a small area in Peru called Bristol.
Bristol, Rhode Island is the prettiest of the American Bristols.
(I own a cannon ball which was fired in 1775 by the British Fleet into Bristol R.I. )
The twin cities of Bristol VA and Bristol TN are fascinating. The state line between Virginia and Tennessee goes right down the middle of the main street. On one side of the street you are in Virginia, on the other you are in Tennessee.
I once drove through Bristol, FL. If I had blinked I would have missed it.
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In our local (U.K) Schools (1949 – 1955) the City and County of Bristol Education Committee issued “exercise books” to all students. I remember the covers, on blue coloured “thick stock” paper. The outside of the back cover had a diagrammatic map called “Fifty Miles around Bristol”.
That was my world between the ages of 5 and 11. That world was centred on Bristol and the towns and villages which were no more than 50 miles away.
In those days I believed that Bristol was the finest City in the world.
Now I have come to believe that Bristol is alright in its own way, but it is a bit high on itself. I have concluded the same about Sarasota FL where I now live.
Both cities have a lot to offer in terms of history and culture.
Both cities tend to rest on their laurels.
And neither Bristol nor Sarasota has a sense of vision for the future. Each of these cities is dominated by City Councillors/Commissioners whose viewpoint is decidedly parochial and small.
They are good places in which to live. But they could be great!
Sarasota and Bristol have settled for the good instead of the great.
You could perhaps judge either by the number of people choosing to live there, I.E. not thier home town but migrating there from other parts of the (respective) Country. I suspect Sarasota's attraction would at least in part be the climate, not sure about Bristol, though many come to the City to study, & decide it's actually a pretty good choice for them to put down roots.
ReplyDeleteJust an obsevation as I hav'nt read the article.