Linköping, Sweden |
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The shared features that brought Palo Alto and Linköping together as sister cities are comparable population size, relatively educated and prosperous people, and a major university for each. There are, of course, great contrasts. Linköping dates from Viking times and obtained a royal charter as a city in 1320; Palo Alto was created from cow pasture in 1896. Linköping stands alone in the countryside, with perceptible separation from neighboring cities; Palo Alto is just one link in a chain of cities around San Francisco Bay. Linköping's climate is definitely Scandinavian; Palo Alto's climate is described as Mediterranean. We try to go there at summer solstice; they think February is a fine time to come here for a visit.
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One of many cultural characteristics we share is a desire to retain links to the past. Linköping has succeeded in bringing together several quite old buildings in one place, Old Town, and they populate it with people dressed for the 19th century. Palo Alto tries, but does not do so well, as shown by the failure to protect Juana Briones’s house (or what remained of it). We still have El Palo Alto, but we may find that it is in the path of high speed rail.
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