Urban life, nostalgia, and a “third place”: Perth VS Paris

“Separation heightens your sentimentality” wrote Sarah Turnbull referencing her feelings about being an Australian living in France. When I was in France, I enjoyed reading how Turnbull felt because I too felt sentimental at times in grey rainy Paris, drinking my coffee on a friend's balcony, reminiscing on warmer days back home in Perth. Warmer days where I would so effortlessly walk down to my local beach, feel the sun kiss my skin, dive into the ocean's sparkling water; and weightlessly float on my back in all of it’s deep blue glory. Remembering memories like these would always trigger my yearning for an element of space that you always have in Perth. Space; far and wide, abundant and plenty. Space not just in relation to being the only person on the bus or the beach, but space in the ability to be alone with your thoughts without the white noise backdrop of a big city. When you leave Perth as someone who has lived there your whole life, things that you barely ever noticed get remembered as sharply as a burnt tongue. Remembering the clean streets and clean public spaces, the burning orange sunsets, or the clear blue skies for a better half of 9 months of the year. Returning from Europe, and now back in Perth, I have all of these things again that I was once so sentimental about mere months ago. Now because I have all of these things at my fingertips, of course I am sentimental of the way I lived in France. When things are so accessible, they lose their novelty. Humans are irrevocably dissatisfied and ungrateful creatures, therefore the more unreachable something is, the more we are programmed to desire it. Just as our mind tries to forget moments of trauma when dealing with shock, our mind also likes to remember good memories through rose-tinted glasses, and with nothing less than a few kilos of sugar. 

Now that I am back in Perth the element of space that now surrounds me feels so painfully empty, the heat so painfully hot, and the wine so painfully overpriced. Typical. Now I stare at all this space in front of me with a sigh, drowning in the sound of my own footsteps as I walk baron suburbia. Now I sit on empty buses and daydream of how it felt to wander down cobblestone streets being guided by nothing but the sweet smell of freshly baked bread and macaroons from the boulangerie. I miss discovering new places all the time, and getting lost down streets I never knew existed on lazy Sunday afternoons. I miss the charm of the historical buildings, and I miss savouring the flakey croissant crumbs that stuck to my buttery fingers every morning. I miss the cliché joie de vivre that the French take very seriously, and living in a society that doesn't have so many rules and regulations. I miss living in a place where it's socially acceptable to have a siesta without being called 'lazy', or to kiss your boyfriend on the park bench all afternoon without being called ‘promiscuous’. The way I was living in Europe now feels further away then every hour that I sat on the aeroplane for. I know the grass is only greener where you water it, but sometimes there are uncontrollable factors in helping your own patch of grass grow; like the soil, the climate, and the water. I have great respect for both cities, Perth, and Paris, because like babies that i’ve both held close within me before, I can feel their pulse, i've listened to them closely, and I can feel the way they move.

Paris is alive, alluring, and mysterious. Among all of her charming glory, you never know who you’re going to meet around one of her street corners. Paris has a constant Amelie soundtrack that is sung from all of her terraces, and is projected from her tower. Paris has parks to stroll, and lounge chairs to think. Paris has lots of little parties, in very small apartments. But most of all, Paris has cafes. Around 7000. The cafe for the Parisian is their quintessential “third place”. The concept of the "third place" very much helps in understanding the difference in urban life around the world. Everyone living in modern society has three metaphorical places. After the “first place” of home, and the “second place” of work, a third place is an easy, inexpensive, and accessible place for all, where people build sense of community and relationships. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg who coined the term says that these third place’s are critical in ensuring a healthy balance in one's life. Parisians treat cafes as their third place because everyone lives close to one, the drinks are cheap, and when your apartment is 17m2; the cafe downstairs with the large cafe terrace unofficially becomes your living room. During the German occupation in the 40's, many Parisians including the famous literary community would install themselves in Parisian cafes to keep warm around the popular wood-firefire stoves,  escaping their cold apartment or cold hotel rooms. Paris’s institutionalised third place of cafes today are just as popular as they were 50 years ago.

PARIS DENSITY

(Images source: http://chartingtransport.com/2015/11/26/comparing-the-densities-of-australian-and-european-cities/)

Perth is fresh, sunny, and safe. Due to Australia’s abundance of land, wealth, and small population of only 27 million, we have had the luxury in being extremely greedy with our space in all of our cities. ‘The Australian Dream’ includes owning your own land with a 4 bedroom and 2 bathroom big house and back garden with a pool. This is why a Perthians third place is their home. Perth is very spread out city where it’s metropolitan spans 120 km north to south along the Indian Ocean, and 40km from east to west. Perth city is an expensive place to be entertained, so instead people often prefer to meet at friend's homes. Because a majority of people who live in Perth share the same first and third place, this creates a point of segregation between individuals, and hinders the creation of the sense of community that every third place should create. This is why many people will tell you that a good time in Perth is only relative to the company you keep. The spread out Perth lifestyle is not only unsustainable regarding urban sprawl and environmental issues, but for cultural, health, and safety issues. Vibrant neighbourhoods are not created by shutter blinds or white picketed fences. Big shopping centres that monopolise the market and run out locally owned artisanal shops deprive potential culture of suburbia; because nothing says ‘soul-less hub’ like 4 fast-food chains side by side each other.

PERTH DENSITY

(Image source: http://chartingtransport.com/2015/11/26/comparing-the-densities-of-australian-and-european-cities/)

When a city like Perth is so webbed out with suburbs and has a public transport system that is both unpunctual and infrequent, having a car becomes a suburban priority. Because people are commuting longer distances to their first and second place, driving becomes a more accepted form of transport, therefore people are no longer walking to school or work, they’re taking the car instead. Besides the vicious cycle that is then created between cars and roads, and then the multiple health problems of people doing less exercise; less social contact on the streets does not help in creating safe and walkable neighbourhoods. Parents stop letting their children play on the streets because there is no on in sight except for the occasional ice-cream truck or male predator in a white van. Parisian children play in streets with a bigger sense of ease from their parents because they know wherever their children are, there will always be at least 100 pairs of eyes in apartment terraces watching from above.

All Perth homes have a 2 car garage space, which further encourages minimal social interaction within their community. When a Perthian drives home from work and straight into their garage, they close their garage instantly, just like their connection to the rest of society for the day. Being in an apartment-living dominated city like Paris, you are almost forced to make some form of communication when you pass the same people every day either in the hallway or the lift. I’ve lived on the same street in Perth for nearly all my life, and like most of the people in Perth, I can't tell you anything more about my neighbours except for the cars they drive.

Many people also argue that Australia's third place is now becoming the virtual presence on social media and multi player gaming. Due to Australia's access to the worlds latest technology, our technological connectivity is at an unprecedented level. Australians on the whole are socialising more  in the virtual world than in the real world, and working from home is now even a feasible option for many due to advances in technology. This is a questionable social advance that technology poses for modern society; because if people are living at their home, working from home, and socialising from home (virtual and real world); what does that do for an individuals psychological wellbeing that has shown to be highly influenced by community interaction? 

Starbucks' CEO, Howard Schultz came up with the idea of Starbucks after going to Italy and being amazed at the balance of Italian's lives between home work and play, particularly by the act of their morning coffee culture routine. Schultz wanted to bring that same element of a third place that he experienced in Europe to the USA because he felt that there was was a real lack of place between home and work in the United States at the time. Now with the worlds increasingly accessible internet connection, Starbucks has free wifi in all of it's cafe's, and in turn has evolved into the worlds best known 'internet cafe'. What was once supposed to be a place for creating community and discussion, is now a place for people to wear earphones and to be glued into their screens.

Humans are curious animals, we like to watch how other people live their lives. A Perth’ians love for personal space and security within suburbia evidently comes at a the price of the lack of civility and empathy. Paris is a lot older than Perth, therefore establishing culture in Perth will come with nurture and time. There is no such thing as a perfect city, but the grass will be greener in Perth when our urban planners and government recognise the importance of a third place in creating a more liveable city, rather than repeatedly genuflecting to the developers.