I grew up in UpState New York, in the Adirondack Mountains and we had plenty of NYC tourists that complained the forest could be so much more beautiful without all the **** trees… I also lived for years in San Angelo, TX (mostly flat scrub land), I also lived in Phoenix, AZ and Tucson, AZ (all desert and not at all ugly…), and I say the beauty of the land is in the eye of the beholder…
Back in High School, my French teacher had a sign in the classroom that read, "You live a new life for every language you speak. If you only know one language, you only live once. …"
I think that your perception, "ugly flat desert" is in the same vein, and you are looking at the world with only one eye.