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Old 04-08-2011, 07:19 PM
 
Location: Austin
758 posts, read 588,927 times
Reputation: 185

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In my ideal city, there'd be no cemeteries, landfills, power plants, telephone poles, or power lines. No streets would have any stop signs, either. Traffic lights would be few and far between, and no buildings would have staircases. Instead of cemeteries, I'd have crematoriums, mausoleums, arboretums, and botanical gardens where people were buried in. The nitrogen and phosphorous from their bodies can replenish the soil with something more aesthetically pleasing than tombstones. Rather than stop signs and traffic lights, I'd have nothing but one-way streets with roundabout intersections. Those cut down on traffic, save energy, and decrease wear and tear on one's car from stop-and go driving. Traffic lights would only be near the freeway entrance ramps or at intersections of boulevards which would be every tenth street. The far right lanes be would slip lanes for motorists to make right turns without going to the stoplights, nonetheless.

For the electricity, I'd make all utility poles go underground. Building codes would require solar panels, geothermal heating pumps, wind turbines, and daylighting. Each building would face north/south to ensure they get direct sunlight during all seasons, and they'd have broadleaved trees on the sides facing the equator to provide shade during the summer. They'd all be interconnected to the same grid and power one other through district heating to avoid the possibility of a blackout even during severe weather. That way the load can be balanced when Home A receives excess energy while Home B gets a shortage. One football stadium covered with solar panels and wind turbines could power at least 100 homes. Regarding the houses and buildings on the east/west sides of streets, they'd be A-framed houses perpendicular from the streets while the driveways come in along the south sides.

As for the staircases, I'd replace them with ramps so elderly and handicapped people could go down more easily. The same would be true towards people moving furniture with a dolly. Poles would on each floor next to the ramps for folks to slide down like firefighters do in firehouses. How else are elderly and handicapped people supposed to evacuate burning buildings if the elevators are shut off and they can't go down the stairs? Think of it this way; when was the last time you ever heard of anyone falling down a ramp and breaking one's neck? They make take a lot of room, but I'd improvise them with several turns and have landings in the middle, or they can be corkscrew-shaped. I may even have slides between each stairwell with safety rails so people could slide from one level to the next

For garbage and sanitation, I'd have utility workers sort out everything recyclable or compostable to be reused again. That's about 90-percent of it right there. The rest which is mostly HAZMAT, I'd put in plasma-burning like contraptions that reduce everything to reusable silicate particles. Those machines create more power than they use. Engineers would put some of that other garbage in building walls like they do in Japan. Eggshell cartons and disposable diapers make superlative soundproof walls. The Germans have a fabulous technique, too. They have trash receptacles with blue, green, and brown bins for each type of waste. One is for recyclable; another is for food; and the other is for non-degradable items. All these practices would be included in my ideal city. As sewage, they'd do "biomethanation" which is burning the methane from the human waste into electricity. Through that and the other techniques, I suspect there'd be plentiful energy to provide base load generation. Would you live in this kind of city?
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Old 04-08-2011, 07:40 PM
 
24,834 posts, read 37,222,327 times
Reputation: 11538
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orpheus528 View Post
In my ideal city, there'd be no cemeteries, landfills, power plants, telephone poles, or power lines. No streets would have any stop signs, either. Traffic lights would be few and far between, and no buildings would have staircases. Instead of cemeteries, I'd have crematoriums, mausoleums, arboretums, and botanical gardens where people were buried in. The nitrogen and phosphorous from their bodies can replenish the soil with something more aesthetically pleasing than tombstones. Rather than stop signs and traffic lights, I'd have nothing but one-way streets with roundabout intersections. Those cut down on traffic, save energy, and decrease wear and tear on one's car from stop-and go driving. Traffic lights would only be near the freeway entrance ramps or at intersections of boulevards which would be every tenth street. The far right lanes be would slip lanes for motorists to make right turns without going to the stoplights, nonetheless.

For the electricity, I'd make all utility poles go underground. Building codes would require solar panels, geothermal heating pumps, wind turbines, and daylighting. Each building would face north/south to ensure they get direct sunlight during all seasons, and they'd have broadleaved trees on the sides facing the equator to provide shade during the summer. They'd all be interconnected to the same grid and power one other through district heating to avoid the possibility of a blackout even during severe weather. That way the load can be balanced when Home A receives excess energy while Home B gets a shortage. One football stadium covered with solar panels and wind turbines could power at least 100 homes. Regarding the houses and buildings on the east/west sides of streets, they'd be A-framed houses perpendicular from the streets while the driveways come in along the south sides.

As for the staircases, I'd replace them with ramps so elderly and handicapped people could go down more easily. The same would be true towards people moving furniture with a dolly. Poles would on each floor next to the ramps for folks to slide down like firefighters do in firehouses. How else are elderly and handicapped people supposed to evacuate burning buildings if the elevators are shut off and they can't go down the stairs? Think of it this way; when was the last time you ever heard of anyone falling down a ramp and breaking one's neck? They make take a lot of room, but I'd improvise them with several turns and have landings in the middle, or they can be corkscrew-shaped. I may even have slides between each stairwell with safety rails so people could slide from one level to the next

For garbage and sanitation, I'd have utility workers sort out everything recyclable or compostable to be reused again. That's about 90-percent of it right there. The rest which is mostly HAZMAT, I'd put in plasma-burning like contraptions that reduce everything to reusable silicate particles. Those machines create more power than they use. Engineers would put some of that other garbage in building walls like they do in Japan. Eggshell cartons and disposable diapers make superlative soundproof walls. The Germans have a fabulous technique, too. They have trash receptacles with blue, green, and brown bins for each type of waste. One is for recyclable; another is for food; and the other is for non-degradable items. All these practices would be included in my ideal city. As sewage, they'd do "biomethanation" which is burning the methane from the human waste into electricity. Through that and the other techniques, I suspect there'd be plentiful energy to provide base load generation. Would you live in this kind of city?
LOL.

How would anyone afford this???
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Old 04-08-2011, 07:43 PM
 
Location: Austin
758 posts, read 588,927 times
Reputation: 185
Quote:
Originally Posted by Driller1 View Post
LOL.

How would anyone afford this???
They pay for this in taxes. They do this over in Europe and the Far East. It's called "smart growth" rather than "cheap growth."
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Old 04-08-2011, 08:25 PM
 
Location: Philaburbia
41,756 posts, read 74,749,634 times
Reputation: 66687
How large of a footprint would my house cover if I had to have a ramp take me to the second floor, vs. a staircase?

Is that really smart growth?

Sounds idyllic.
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Old 04-08-2011, 08:36 PM
 
2,366 posts, read 2,627,854 times
Reputation: 1788
Quote:
No streets would have any stop signs
I stopped reading after that.
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Old 04-08-2011, 08:48 PM
 
57 posts, read 75,332 times
Reputation: 101
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81 View Post
How large of a footprint would my house cover if I had to have a ramp take me to the second floor, vs. a staircase?

Is that really smart growth?

Sounds idyllic.
Well, since OP keeps throwing around elderly/disabled I'd go with the ADA requirements, which specify a maximum ramp slope of 1:12. So if there's 10 feet of elevation difference between floors that'd be a ramp 120 feet long. Unless you want to go with the UK requirements. Then it'd be 150 feet. By comparison public stairways are a bit less than 1:2.

Most of the rest of it is equally hilarious .
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Old 04-08-2011, 09:05 PM
 
Location: Downtown Harrisburg
1,434 posts, read 3,910,082 times
Reputation: 1017
Hey, come on. Be nice. OP is talking about your visions for "the ultimate city". He's not laying out architectural plans and legal precedent for ADA compliance, we're just talking about wishful thinking here.

Give me a city with dense living. Hirises all around with central heating / cooling systems, ala Centravac. The buildings capture rainwater to use for sustaining indoor fountains / waterfalls, which help cool and humidify the interior common areas. While I don't think solar panels are quite at a practical efficiency just yet, that doesn't mean we can't use lots of well-insulated windows to reduce the usage of indoor lighting in common areas.

Encourage ground-level retail development and low-floor commercial development to help encourage a pedestrian and/or mass-transit lifestyle. I'd move there in an instant.
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Old 04-08-2011, 09:14 PM
 
Location: Austin
758 posts, read 588,927 times
Reputation: 185
Quote:
Originally Posted by sleepingWolf View Post
Well, since OP keeps throwing around elderly/disabled I'd go with the ADA requirements, which specify a maximum ramp slope of 1:12. So if there's 10 feet of elevation difference between floors that'd be a ramp 120 feet long. Unless you want to go with the UK requirements. Then it'd be 150 feet. By comparison public stairways are a bit less than 1:2.

Most of the rest of it is equally hilarious .
Do you know what landings are? Those are those middle levels between staircases that turn. That's how you can maximize space with the ramps. They could have landings or they could make corkscrew turns such as those outside of football stadiums.
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Old 04-08-2011, 09:37 PM
 
24,834 posts, read 37,222,327 times
Reputation: 11538
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orpheus528 View Post
They pay for this in taxes. They do this over in Europe and the Far East. It's called "smart growth" rather than "cheap growth."
Have you ever drilled geo wells???

I have.

It is very expensive.

I am working on a mall right now.

Just this small mall's system is 2.3 million.
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Old 04-08-2011, 10:36 PM
 
Location: Austin
758 posts, read 588,927 times
Reputation: 185
Quote:
Originally Posted by Driller1 View Post
Have you ever drilled geo wells???

I have.

It is very expensive.

I am working on a mall right now.

Just this small mall's system is 2.3 million.
I know a little about geo wells. That $2.3 billion figure is pocket change compared to the $1 billion-plus football stadium they built for the Dallas Cowboys.
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