Crap Towns

i've been in WGC all weekend visiting my folks. I grew up there. I've just (cover your ears Will) recorded a song about it with my current band. About the town I mean, nothing to do with me, it's all about the (failed) experiment of Ebenezer Howard and Frederick Osborne to create a new way of life by marrying the town and country and removing the need to commute to the city to work. It's called "Garden City".

It was boring as all hell to grow up in but i find the the whole garden city thing a kind of interesting subject these days. I'll see if i can find a way to post a rough version of it i've got on my phone. hang on....

My dad grew up in Leuna, which is a garden city near Leipzig. It was built to accommodate factory workers at the local chemical factory. It's still a beautiful place (outside the factory, of course). The concept isn't all that bad if you're not located in close proximity to an international mega-centre which sucks the lifeblood out of most things surrounding it. I can't vouch for Leuna being interesting for young people, of course--I'd guess it would have been pretty boring--, but as a planned town it works very well.