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Comment by BigHatLogan | Hacker News Reader

This strikes me as tremendously sad--how a city can go from lively, productive, and engaging to something else entirely in such a short time span. The writer speaks positively about the Beirut of today. I won't pretend to know anything about Beirut, but is it really "lovelier" (author's word) today than it was back then?

It's a cliche at this point to wonder whether the same thing can (or will?) happen in the United States, but I still found myself thinking about it nonetheless while reading the essay.

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The date on the top of the article is August 10, 2019. Almost a year later, August 4, 2020, the port explosion happened, probably breaking all the glass of the city. Wikipedia:

> The damage from the blast affected over half of Beirut, with the likely cost above US$15 billion and insured losses at around US$3 billion. Approximately ninety percent of the city's hotels were damaged and three hospitals completely destroyed, while two more suffered damage. [...] Windows and other installations of glass across the city were shattered.

They should have probably left that wreck of a ship transport its explisive cargo to Somalia or wherever it was going instead of arresting it and storing its cargo. Probably Russian explosives bound for Eastern Africa conflict zones masking as fertilizer.

Your comment is based on unfounded speculation (or at least you don't cite any sources) and I find it just a waste of time...

Not speculation, it was based on some article I've read. Here you go:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/world/middleeast/beirut-e...

Except is was not bound for Somalia but for Mozambique. Still Eastern Africa. What do you think they'd use it for? Mining?

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/07/middleeast/beirut-lebanon...

What do you think they'd use it for? Terrorism? That's where I call "Speculation!".

Fine, my own further Wikipedia sleuthing says you're probably right, but "I read a line on the NY Times" after being prompted for it is no proof: https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/a-hidden-tycoon-afri...

I was there in 2017 and in 2018, and I found Beirut to be a beautiful, amazing city.

There were fewer of the sort of amenities that rich, non-Lebanese celebrities might be drawn to. For example, the author spends a lot of time talking about a fancy hotel, which doubled as a "Yacht and Marina Club", and which is now gone.

But there was still tremendous food all over the place, beautiful architecture, an active street culture, stunning museums, natural vistas, a lively and energetic spirit, and more diversity than I've seen anywhere else on Earth.

I think it already is happening in the US, even in cities that are currently considered "nice". There is no overarching ethos that the citizens hold regarding small economies and city design, and so anywhere with a lot of Americans is subject to the centralization of commerce and the development of cookie-cutter, investment-group-owned cheap buildings.

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