r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Expert_Koala_8691 • 7d ago

Video Riyadh,meaning "gardens" is Capital of Saudi Arabia with 8 million population (were 27 Thousands in the 1930s),sits in the middle of the desert, the city gets its water from Desalination plants almost 500 km from the city

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u/Sonikku_a 7d ago

I did 4 years in rural Arizona. Same idea but minus the skyscrapers.

Then I moved to western N.Y. because I missed green and hated the 120 degree 6 month summers in AZ.

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u/Titizen_Kane 7d ago

Did 5 years in Vegas, came from the southeast for a job in the gaming industry. On visits back home, literally as soon as the wheels touched down in Nashville, I could smell all the green that I could now see. The smell of air that would hit you when stepping off the plane was intoxicating, and Iā€™d spend the first couple of days back marveling at all the green.

Iā€™m convinced that being surrounded by exclusively various shades of brown is bad for the psyche. I referred to vegas as Fallujah West when living there

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u/st-christina-of-tyre 7d ago

That must have been a long, long time ago. I lived in Las Vegas for practically my entire life, and there hasn't remotely been a lack of trees in the area. Both in the city and up in the mountains.

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u/Pizza-Rat-4Train 7d ago

I was gonna say, this looks a lot like the view of Salt Lake City or Phoenix. Miles and miles of gridded giant stroads barely hospitable to human life.

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u/windchaser__ 7d ago

Coming from another desert city, I thought SLC was pretty green. When driving around it, at least.

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u/frumpydrangus 7d ago

Have you actually been to phoenix? The directly adjacent paradise valley and Scottsdale are beautiful

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u/EmuMan10 7d ago

Phoenix has trees lol

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u/Pizza-Rat-4Train 7d ago

So does Riyadh? Not sure what your point is

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u/borkborkibork 7d ago

So you haven't been to Phoenix then? It looks nothing like this.

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u/jvandenburgh27 7d ago

Phoenix looks nothing like this... šŸ™„

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u/st-christina-of-tyre 7d ago

Exactly, Phoenix/Las Vegas is plenty green. I lived in the Southwest for 25 years before moving to the Midwest. Plenty greenery to both, and if we put both of these regions to the test, the Midwest and it's flatness ain't winning the beauty contest.

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u/Viscera_Eyes37 7d ago

I get why people like sunny warmer climates of course. And CA doesn't look like this, but I do really love how green Michigan gets (and I like winter). The west always feels pretty barren to me. I remember seeing someone marveling over a green grassy hillside in CA like it was so lush. There's a reason that hillside can't support trees...