Syt's Pictorial Collection of Stuff and Things (image heavy)

[PDH]

How did I miss "THE GREAT SNATCH" before now?

[Malthus]

How did I miss "THE GREAT SNATCH" before now?

Distracted by the perky tits, you missed the great snatch? 

[Syt]

From reddit, rain over Vienna a short while ago.

[Valmy]

Huh. I have been to Vienna before I guess it didn't register how short all the buildings are.

[Syt]

We have a few high rises, but not too many. Most would be obscured by rain in the above picture.


At the Danube, most buildings in the center are part of a business park near the UN (not visible).


Wienerberg City (office spaces)


And another smattering of tall buildings

[Josquius]

/img] northern England

Hey, I notice vaux on a sign above a pub. Maybe this actually is the true north?
If you want to read a horror story about post thatcher Britain vaux makes for very sad reading.

And yes. A society where the working class remains intact and actually cares about working to better their situation is a great thing.

(just felt like being super late on replies)

[Syt]

Church of the Redeemer in Toronto, 1870s vs today:

[Malthus]

A Toronto pic! 😀

My favorite Toronto landmark is a small plaque on the Commerce Court North building. It's on the side, and details that the place was the site of the first Wesleyan Methodist Church, a bare log cabin. Later demolished to make way for what became a bank building - with the most beautiful gold mosaic interior.

The plaque is in an alley, and there is often a homeless person sleeping on a warm air grate nearby.

Somehow, the transition seems very fitting for my city - I love the place, but still: the transition from simple log cabin, to lavish bank HQ, with accompanying dire poverty, seems to symbolize much about the place.

[Maladict]

Church of the Redeemer in Toronto, 1870s vs today:

And it will probably still be there after everything else in the picture has gone.

[Syt]

Here's another one from Trawndo:



The last two pictures were from this subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/OldPhotosInRealLife/

[Syt]

Lincoln Memorial, 1917.

[Syt]

[Syt]

Kim Il-Sung visits a family in East Germany in 1984.

Two thoughts looking at the image:
1. I'd bet a Stasi officer made sure there was no "problematic" book on that shelf.
2. The bottle of schnaps on the table. On old family photos, whenever there's a festive-ish event there would always be a clear bottle on the table, to the point me and my sisters were joking about it. Funnily, it's also a frequent accessory in media from the 70s/early 80s, especially if it's in the lower middle class to working class milieu, and more often in the North than in the South.

[Syt]

I find pictures from the days before the area around St. Stephen's Cathedral was turned into a pedestrian area in the 70s quite interesting/depressing.

Bust stop in front of the cathedral in the 50s:



A look down Kärntner Straße:



Ca. 1970s?



Am Graben, which branches off St. Stephen's with its Plague Column from 1679.



Of course the usual complaint was made at the time that it would kill the Inner City, driving away all shops and businesses. This was compensated in part by putting a subway intersection right there. If anything, the Inner City has since increased in value and making it a major tourist draw with all that entails (older, smaller businesses unable to pay higher rents being replaced with international chains, for example).

[Sheilbh]

Of course the usual complaint was made at the time that it would kill the Inner City, driving away all shops and businesses. This was compensated in part by putting a subway intersection right there. If anything, the Inner City has since increased in value and making it a major tourist draw with all that entails (older, smaller businesses unable to pay higher rents being replaced with international chains, for example).

This is something that comes up with saving the high street all the time. Whenever ther's a plan to pedestrianise an area the strongest opposition comes from shops and businesses in the area because their customers won't be there, they'll have to shut down etc. But, in the UK at least, there's loads of evidence that it actually increases revenue for local businesses. People spend more time in the area and spend more money in more shops than if it's all cars.

Not that anyone involved actually believes that, so they still oppose pedestrianisation