Have you actually lived in the US so that you personally know of this 180 degrees of difference? If so, which parts of the US? I ask because the differences between New York City, Tallahassee, Chicago, Columbus, Nashville, Kansas City, Austin, Taos, San Francisco, Boise, Hattiesburg, Denver, Portland, Bar Harbor, etc. are so wildly stark as to be like different countries on many levels (and I say this as someone who has lived in a number of countries from the US to Europe to Asia, and in a number of States as well)
Really? American culture, architecture, and infrastructure is pretty uniform. I've been to all those places except Bar Harbor and I'd agree maybe Taos/Northern NM stands out due to deep and influential indigenous history. But even there you have to kind of seek out those differences because in town it's stores, restaurants, food, music, etc., that you can largely find anywhere else in the US.
That may be true in suburbia strip-mall hell. But the cities are much older, and more distinct. No-one would ever mistake New Orleans for Los Angeles. (Although you could be forgiven for mistaking Berlin in the summer for LA).
I can't tell the difference between New Orleans or Los Angeles if you look at the places where people live. Both are typical American with exposed power line poles, big roads everywhere and just single family homes. A few landmarks might be different but if you go a mile from the city centre then it is all the same. Berlin isn't anything like that, you'd never mistake it for an American city.
