The Ups and Buts of Life in Tokyo

I use this article as a speaking and writing prompt in my English classes.  Students are shown the article, and have to predict what they think the positive and negative points of living in Tokyo are.  Then, after they have predicted it, we go through the article.  (The article is not written for ESL students, but it is possible to just skim the article and look at the headlines.)
Printable version here (docs, pub)
I then have students discuss with their partner what they think the positive and negative points of their own city are, and then they write a brief article.  In my own class, I used to supplement Life Elementary lesson 3A No Car Zones p.34-35.