Member-only story
Moving Out of the City Made Me an Environmentalist
I have lived near some of the largest cities on Earth, including Tokyo, New York City, Houston, and Miami. For my entire life, I was surrounded by a mass of humanity. I told my wife when we first met that I was a city boy, and I wanted to live in the concrete jungle.
In Tokyo, there is a peculiar orange tower that stands near the center of the city that is simply named Tokyo Tower. It looks like the Eiffel Tower but is painted safety cone orange. It is the second tallest structure in Japan. This odd sight is home to a great observation deck that offers unrivaled views of Tokyo and the surrounding area. Many of the buildings in Japan are not tall due to the earthquake risk, so Tokyo is very spread out but very flat. This stands in stark contrast with other Asian cities such as Hong Kong or Shanghai, which boast much taller, more traditional skyscraper skylines.
This makes Tokyo Tower’s observation deck attractive in that it is one of the highest points in the city, allowing visitors to peer out as far as the eye can see without any real obstruction. What I saw when I peered out from those glass windows over ten years ago was the epitome of urban sprawl. I would not be surprised if the view from Tokyo Tower has been featured in a textbook in conjunction with the topic.
