Where is czsz?

I was wondering when this post would come.... he has more arch knowledge than 90% of the board, I understand why he would be welcomed back. IMHO I'm not sorry to hear less of him. The suicidal negativity he brought to the board will not be missed by myself, and I believe, several others. There's realism, and then there's czsz,
 
No worries. I'm back now. I was in Egypt for a few months and, beyond being quite busy, my internet connection was not amazing.
 
I'd love to hear your take on Cairo and other Egyptian urban development.
 
By take, do you mean a sort of survey, or an opinion? I'm afraid all that I can offer is that Cairo is vast (encompassing about 14 million people), and pretty much encompasses every form of urban development you could imagine - squalid, poverty stricken medievalesque streets, genteel boulevards modeled after Paris', avenues of tall apartment houses ala Manhattan, concrete suburban apartment towers that would belong on the outskirts of Prague, "villa" colonies that look like any subdivision outside Phoenix. On top of all that, there are roof colonies of shanties that have sort of symbiotic relationships with apartment buildings, and people who have set up homes (with the support of an acquiescent government) in the cemetaries, creating what are known as the "cities of the dead". People in the latter two circumstances are known to live with chickens and livestock regardless of the density of their neighborhoods; it's something the UNDP and other groups are actively trying to discourage due to the spread of bird flu.

Alexandria is a bit easier to pin down - it's built on a spit of land between the Mediterranean and a sort of swampy lake, and that's forced it to be built up, much like New York. In fact, most rural settlements are similar, since agricultural land is so scarce - buildings of up to seven stories in small villages are very common. They'll often be built so that additional stories can keep being added in piecemiel fashion as extended families grow - each new nuclear family will get a floor of its own.
 
Survey, opinion, whatever you want to write about Egypt, I'd find interesting to read here.
 
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