Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - American Perspective From Across the Pond

Gerald, the contentiousness you see here reflects a couple of different things. I notice your address is "pubmail" -- makes me think about the kinds of discussions people get into in pubs/bars, where opinions are set forth without much hesitation. Think of this as a pub/bar for internet-oholics. Relatedly, there are vocal but fringe types, like Roger - a prime example -- with axes to grind continually. They've happened on this forum because there is a broad, (mostly) literate audience, no registration, and no requirement that people stick strictly to travel Q&A. And yes, Americans can be offensive/defensive about their cities, but I daresay you are familiar with the loyalty of football (soccer) fans to their own club. There isn't much difference between saying "your keeper is blind" and "your transit goes nowhere." And yes, I think there are a number of people here with very narrow horizons and perspectives -- I suspect some of the critics of the cities named in the "what 5 World-Class cities" thread hadn't actually been there, or if they had, it was for less than 48 hrs. and confined to a tourbus. Finally, what you call "child behavior" is sometimes just that. But sometimes it's the love of scrapping and dueling, which is more acceptable in certain American circles than it is in others, or in yours, perhaps.