Kowloon looks like it would have been such a fun place to live.

In reality it was probably not fun at all, since it was so rife with crime and drugs and theft, and it was poorly constructed to begin with. But still, the concept of an entire city so densely packed that you can get from one end to the other without ever touching the ground, all through mazes of stairways and ladders and rooftops, is super cool.

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MethDozer · M

Umm, sounds like a hell to be honest. With that plan what would one expect other than high crime, dirty drugs, and filth? Seems like the perfect recipe for nothing but filth and crime.

BlueMetalChick · 26-30, F

@MethDozer Well that's why I said in reality it probably would not have been a good place to live. But, like, if we were in a movie or something, it would be fun.

MethDozer · M

@BlueMetalChick All I can picture is something like the city in that god awful Super Mario Bros. movie.

I know you did, I was more commenting on how anyone was convinced it was a good idea and could result in anything but. People aren't meant to live in ant farms.

BlueMetalChick · 26-30, F

@MethDozer Nobody was convinced it was a good idea. Kowloon was a large Chinese military fort prior to being an urban settlement, the only reason anyone moved in there was because Japan occupied China during the Second World War and they took refuge within the walls of the abandoned fortress. Over the years, the squatters decided to stay there, and because there was pretty much no government influence there, more people moved in. Anyone who was poor or didn't wanna pay taxes or get harassed by the police or army lived in Kowloon. And of course the residents had children, and they grew up and more and more people came to live there.

MethDozer · M

@BlueMetalChick Ahh, gotcha. Didn't know that part of it. I was always under the impression it was intentionally repurposed that way.

Every urban center needs a shanty town I suppose.

BlueMetalChick · 26-30, F

@MethDozer It was eventually demolished in the early 90's. It was decided that it had been going on long enough, after all, imperial Japanese invasion was no longer a concern, and the population had grown over 50,000 which was getting absurd.

MethDozer · M

@BlueMetalChick I knew that part.

The smell had to be horrible.

BlueMetalChick · 26-30, F

@MethDozer I guess there were so many different smells maybe it wasn't even recognizable. The unpleasant smells would probably come from like toilets and sewer water and stuff, and garbage too. And then there's all the food people cooked, and all the random different stuff people had in their apartments like plants, soaps, incense. I can't imagine it would be a smell you could even describe.

MethDozer · M

@BlueMetalChick Yeah that's exactly the mixture I'm thinking about.

You're from Chicago. So I'm sure you are like me in the sense you been in plenty of those roach motel high rise apartment buildings. You know the ones that just smell like Arab spice trader crashed his spice wagon into an outhouse mixed with the sickeningly sweet nuance of spring scented Raid.

It had to be like that but turned up to not ten, but eleven.