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Location: Uniquely Individual Villages of the Megalopolis
646 posts, read 813,645 times
Reputation: 36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by south-to-west
There is nothing worse than inhaling toxic exhaust fumes while sitting in a traffic jam on a freeway and wasting a non-renewable resource by running a simple errand that could be done by foot in a proper walkable urban area. Give me an "old, creaky subway" instead of a stressful commute on a clogged freeway! Also, I don't think that germs only live in public transport carriages. The bathroom door at your office, the gas pump at the service station, the railing of the escalator at the mall, and probably half of the offerings on the buffet at your local Golden Corral have their fair share of bacteria and microbes as well.
Walkable communities are much more sustainable in that resources aren't wasted as much and social interaction is improved. When land uses are segregated, it results in awful sprawl, large arterials that remain clogged, and a built environment that caters more to machine than man. No thanks.
As I said regarding the "ideal" in terms of commuting for work or whatever regularly is one thing. Living and having a walkable area for what you have indicated is another matter.
It only becomes an issue when one needs to venture out of the personal habitat area. The operative word here is "density" whether on congested trains or on the road. There could be a happy medium. Modern Subways are fine, but those that have no air conditioning in stations, no cell phone service, running on old fuels and energy sources (being out of touch in case of emergency), more and more surveillance and bag checking, etc, and allow motorbikes and all sorts of large articles aboard can raise serious problems too. After dodging mildew and mold from drips inside the catacombs then getting into the street to inhale the fumes of buses is a combined problem of the two worst realities that comes with high densities. UNLESS, newer systems are made more user friendly and cleaner.
Atlanta's system is mostly overland compared to the one I use presently. I like Atlanta's not knocking it at all. Glad to see Houston is coming along with a Light Rail. I have interest in looking at Houston.
Anyone have any street surface pictures of Houston rather than just the skyline??
Last edited by StuyTownRefugee; 12-10-2007 at 01:04 PM..
As I said regarding the "ideal" in terms of commuting for work or whatever regularly is one thing. Living and having a walkable area for what you have indicated is another matter.
It only becomes an issue when one needs to venture out of the personal habitat area. The operative word here is "density" whether on congested trains or on the road. There could be a happy medium. Modern Subways are fine, but those that have no air conditioning in stations, no cell phone service, running on old fuels and energy sources (being out of touch in case of emergency), more and more surveillance and bag checking, etc, and allow motorbikes and all sorts of large articles aboard can raise serious problems too. After dodging mildew and mold from drips inside the catacombs then getting into the street to inhale the fumes of buses is a combined problem of the two worst realities that comes with high densities. UNLESS, newer systems are made more user friendly and cleaner.
Atlanta's system is mostly overland compared to the one I use presently. I like Atlanta's not knocking it at all. Glad to see Houston is coming along with a Light Rail. I have interest in looking at Houston.
Anyone have any street surface pictures of Houston rather than just the skyline??
It's true that people should be able to select whatever type of urban environment that they want to live in, but at the same time local zoning commissions really p*ss me off when they assume that everyone wants to live the "Levitown" suburban lifestyle and zone exclusively for strip malls, subdivisions, and other types of auto-oriented development.
As far as public transport, or course you want a system to operate smoothly and efficiently. Look at DC, or even overseas in Madrid and Paris. I don't think that anyone advocates running trains through non-airconditioned, smelly, and crowded rat holes!
Location: Uniquely Individual Villages of the Megalopolis
646 posts, read 813,645 times
Reputation: 36
Quote:
Originally Posted by south-to-west
It's true that people should be able to select whatever type of urban environment that they want to live in, but at the same time local zoning commissions really p*ss me off when they assume that everyone wants to live the "Levitown" suburban lifestyle and zone exclusively for strip malls, subdivisions, and other types of auto-oriented development.
As far as public transport, or course you want a system to operate smoothly and efficiently. Look at DC, or even overseas in Madrid and Paris. I don't think that anyone advocates running trains through non-airconditioned, smelly, and crowded rat holes!
That's what I was trying to say, don't use the older standards for the newly built travel modes to achieve desired density. We don't want nerve-gas sprees as in Tokyo.
Well my point exactly, it's what we have "running" in the older US cities.
Medium to high density is fine as long as the they can make car storage more affordable too. Some cities have done that when they want to lure the middle income groups back to downtowns or midtowns, otherwise on its own market forces will recreate the polar situation of extremes of wealth and poverty which is the norm in the older industrial cities.
By the way, Boston's is a lot above grade and links many urban centers around Boston, not so much a subway per se but a train system and not run thru 'rat holes'!! Thank you very much.
I heard people say Atlanta is a copywright of Detroit, I dont know what they mean from that but you do the math. Although I do admire the city of Atlanta and Detroit, after I think about it they are similar.
May someone send me a message answering this question: A comment early I read posted that Atlanta took the model of Los Angeles. So with that being said, I would like to know the direction my city is going. What type of model is my city going for?
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THanks-
Hmmm, but you can't listen to the radio on public trans. And you can't look cute and successful on the bus. Air conditioning, soft cushioning...and how are you supposed to go to the drive thru??
Owning a car might be a little overrated, but not owning a car is even more overrated.lol
Marta rail cars are now equiped with Xm radio (or is it cd players) I think. You simply plug your ear phones into them.
As I said regarding the "ideal" in terms of commuting for work or whatever regularly is one thing. Living and having a walkable area for what you have indicated is another matter.
It only becomes an issue when one needs to venture out of the personal habitat area. The operative word here is "density" whether on congested trains or on the road. There could be a happy medium. Modern Subways are fine, but those that have no air conditioning in stations, no cell phone service, running on old fuels and energy sources (being out of touch in case of emergency), more and more surveillance and bag checking, etc, and allow motorbikes and all sorts of large articles aboard can raise serious problems too. After dodging mildew and mold from drips inside the catacombs then getting into the street to inhale the fumes of buses is a combined problem of the two worst realities that comes with high densities. UNLESS, newer systems are made more user friendly and cleaner.
Atlanta's system is mostly overland compared to the one I use presently. I like Atlanta's not knocking it at all. Glad to see Houston is coming along with a Light Rail. I have interest in looking at Houston.
Anyone have any street surface pictures of Houston rather than just the skyline??
one of the things im referring too is crazy, explosive growth.
for example, if atlanta keeps growing like it has been, it will add 1.5 MILLION people between 2000-2010!
thats crazy!
and i want to find the NEXT atlanta and start buying up some land!
Sacramento, CA is growing crazy fast.
Hmmmm......1.5 mil between 2000-and 2010? You're already eight years into that prediction, what's the verdict?
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