Interesting essay. I'm from New York, but I've lived in Sydney for the past 2 years. I think Sydney's natural beauty and physical remoteness lead it to be oblivious. After living here, I've never felt more capable of tuning out anything ugly. That worries me because I think we need to experience ugly things. But it's not just about physical beauty and remoteness because I can think of places similar in those respects that don't seem to express such brazenly blissful ignorance. I think Sydney is about being proud of being able to afford the luxury of obliviousness. Even if you bother keeping up with the world, nobody else here really seems to care, so it leads that ambition to be vestigial. Of course most Sydneysiders would bristle at such an assessment, but that's the attitude I pick up from my own eavesdropping. I think Sydney is also obsessed with youthfulness. Fundamentally, then, it's like living in an American high school. Why did I move here again?