Obviously my country is different from most Western nations, but a camel in the street, an old man and his donkey... what scenes from your town make you think "Banana Republic" or "Old World"?

Chemicals turning the snow black from the chemical plants.

I volunteer at a food pantry. Once a week we give out 300+ bags of groceries and serve 120 sit-down meals.

I see many people with awful medical or dental problems they cannot afford to treat. I am ashamed of the USA for this.

We have a farmers’ market protected from the elements by a series of tarps decorated with palm fronds hanging off the edges, and it has only gravel on the ground. It’s the best place to buy fresh vegetables, but it’s seems primitive.

Being in a rainforest, things don’t weather well here. Buildings that are not properly maintained decay quickly and quite literally fall down. There’s a number of them around town ready to tumble with the next big storm.

In some areas of the island, abandoned cars are a real problem. I’ve seen houses with any number of old cars in various stages of rust and decay. They’re a real eyesore.

I live on a military post that has quite a bit of history. When I go into the main post I see all the old buildings. I always close my eyes and imagine what the post looked like back then and what the people looked like.

I won’t tell you what “Banana Republic” makes me think of but the part of the U.S. I live in is very near Amish country, the Pennsylvania Amish…. and when I travel through that part of Pennsylvania, well… Amish life is very old world. It’s about as old world as things get in the U.S.

Khakis and button downs and tailored blazers probably isn’t the answer you’re looking for, eh?

Every once in a while around here you’ll still see someone wearing cowboy boots non-ironically and not as a trendy fashion statement. It’s not old world, but it definitley recalls a different time.

@lillycoyote I agree 100%. I miss all the wonderful things I was close to in DE and we are even considering heading back there one day.

Another thing that makes me think about old times were the cobblestone streets in Historic New Castle. Every time I saw them, I could picture a horse and buggy riding down the street.

bad
Increase in homeless people in the city
People in tents on the mall or Lafayette Park during demonstrations.
Trucks apparently out of fuel on bridges blocking traffic during truckers protest
junk dealers in poorer sections
———————————
good
Farmers markets

A couple of the guys drive their riding mowers to the local restaurant for 6 AM breakfast.

I used to live in Frederick, Maryland, a town that predates the civil war. It’s not exactly the “old country”, but there is beautiful history everywhere you look. There are quite a few covered bridges still in use today. It’s also the home of Schifferstadt, the oldest known house on Frederick still standing, which was completed in 1756. One of the oldest (and best) examples of German architecture in America. Not to mention Antietam Battlefield, the site of Lincoln’s famous speech. Heck, Francis Scott Key (writer of the National Anthem) is buried in the local cemetery!

I miss Frederick. :(

What makes me think I am living in a different world, (I’m not sure if it meets the definition of old world) is the variety of road kill. In my travels over Australia, I have seen dead water buffalos, kangaroos, wild boars, cows, camels, horses, emus, cassowaries, wombats, bats (big huge bats) donkeys, dingos, echidnas and other stuff I can’t think of at the moment.

I live in Florida. Everything is new here, except for St. Augustine (and I’ve never been… yet).

We have a “flea market”, but it’s more like an “Oriental Trading Co. Outlet Center” than a flea market.

Old World… does the Irish pub count?

Irish pubs count.

@augustlan why can’t you move back? work or spouse’s work?

@Seek_Kolinahr
I thought that not everything is new in Florida…., isn’t it full of old people?

@rebbel True. We have old New Yorkers, old Michiganders, and old Canadians.

And St. Augustine.

@Seek_Kolinahr I recently visited Miami as a reporter and interviewed the locals. There was a lovely older couple, I didn’t ask their age but they looked to be about 120, and they said, quote: “Oy vey – the heat.”