Day 1.144: Huddling in the valleys

It was very noticeable as we flew over Germany that town planning is very different on opposite sides of the Atlantic. I have discussed the fact that there is so much more space over there than over here, but there is more to it than that. In the countryside around Frankfurt there is lots of space, but still the houses huddle together in the valleys leaving large spaces undeveloped in between instead of pushing apart to give the maximum land to each.

Of course it is hard these days to think about town-planning without considering fuel prices - in the view of one of my hosts, who I enjoyed a nice meal with as we sheltered from a dramatic thunderstorm, the US way of life is unsustainable and living and working in the same small town is the future. I am inclined to agree although this is not the first time that the end of civilisation has been predicted.

Certainly there is an appeal to life in a small town such as this, photographed from the top of a tower near the town centre this evening before the thunderstorm arrived, and with fuel at over $10 a gallon (not that they put it that way here) it makes good economic as well as ecological sense.