Today my wife (Japanese) and I (American) were talking about the overall vibe, ‘age’ of buildings and quality of shops and restaurants on the different sides of our station and she mentioned that usually the feeling/mood going out the north and east exits tend to be “old”, dark and dingy and generally more run down, while the south and west sides are more clean, “new” or “young” and feel brighter. When I thought about different stations that I’m familiar with, I think she was mostly right, but I noted that there are bound to be exceptions, like Kichijoji Sun Road, which is out the north exit of Kichijoji station (but with the presence of Inokashira Koen on the south side, I feel like the mood is more peaceful, so maybe that one is a draw).
Anyways, is this a thing here, or just a stereotype? Anyone from America knows the concept of the “wrong side of the tracks”, and that’s usually on the east sides, as well.
by [deleted]