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Didn't know that. Or realize cat colors were that strongly gendered.
Yep. And calico cats (three colors) are almost all female, though DH had a roommate who was a vet student who got a calico male kitten from the vet clinic. We named him Tex.
Yep. And calico cats (three colors) are almost all female, though DH had a roommate who was a vet student who got a calico male kitten from the vet clinic. We named him Tex.
Male calico cats are almost always sterile though. The colors which cause the splotches are on the X chromosome. Females can be mixed because it varies which X "turns on" in cell and allows the black/white/red pigment to become dominant. Males normally have only one X, so they can't do this, unless they have a chromosome abnormality and are XXY.
I'd say it's sometimes safer to jaywalk (when it's obvious the street you're crossing is completely clear and traffic speed isn't that high) than to cross with the light at a busy intersection. The latter will have cars witht the light turning right or left into the crosswalk and maybe right turning cars on red. Of course they're supposed to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk, but drivers not looking carefully and aggressive drivers are a possibilty.
Aggressive drivers I don't know, but some drivers won't pay enough attention in places where pedestrian traffic is very low. I once crossed this street after sunset (with the green signal of course!) and a driver turning left from the main road (D915) to the side street (D1) hit me with his left rear mirror - I was walking from right to left. He apologized and said that he hadn't seen me. It didn't occur to me that he wouldn't stop. City drivers, while considerably more aggressive, are more accustomed to pedestrians.
Sometimes I have my rights activist moments, as Litehop743 said. Once crossed this 2-lane street in an industrial estate, forcing an incoming car to brake a little (iirc initially driving much above the speed limit). The driver didn't like it and honked at me. Made me angry and I gave him the finger after finishing to proceed to the sidewalk. He mumbled something and hit the accelerator with anger. This is what you get when two idiots cross paths.
Noticed that in Switzerland most pedestrians throw themsleves on the crosswalk without thinking twice, often forcing drivers to brake swiftly. In neighboring countries, pedestrians wait for a driver to stop or at least proceeed with more caution. Thus drivers pay less attention.
As for the links, the 5th avenue looks definitely more pedestrian-friendly than the 4th. I have a similar road to the 4th avenue nearby and avoid it like the plague, though there's not much to do there. Shops are concentrated on much narrower street (quite different from the 5th ave still). One advantage it seems to have, at least considering NYC's humid summers, is trees. Plus I imagine that the 5th would still be pretty busy.
Quote:
Note the traffic stopped on 4th avenue can't legally make a right into you crossing against the light [right turn on red is generally not permitted in NYC].
What about bicycles? Here right turn on red is prohibited, unless there's a separate set of lights with a blinking yellow light for those who turn right. But it is sometimes allowed for bicycles only. Most pedestrians aren't aware of this and I imagine that conflicts between jaywalkers and hurried cyclists happen from time to time.
Today I jaywalked (in the crosswalk). The traffic light leading to my office is really really long. I didn't make it to the intersection soon enough to press the button, the light changed about 1 second before I arrived. Now some traffic lights will automatically change to the walk symbolic you press it soon enough after the light changes. Others shorten the cycle for the drivers so pedestrians can cross sooner. This intersection does neither. And the full cycle takes about 3-4 minutes (not exaggerating! I have sent emails and all kinds of stuff waiting for the light to change).
Anyway, I didn't really feel like waiting 3 more minutes, knowing the light had just changes. I looks both ways and started crossing with the green. I was about 1/3 of the way across and a car honks at me! Because they had to wait an extra second to make their right turn on red. Ugh. That is so annoying.
(I made it across safely with plenty of time to spare), I think that the light is longer when the walk signal isn't on. This one is times so poorly, that when I am "walking with a purpose" I only make it across the 6 lane road with 5-8 counts to spare. Elderly people and other slow people rarely make it across on time, and there is no mid-intersection waiting area.
Technically it should be a pretty walkable area, but this street really causes a huge gap in walkability, the "Great Highway," El Camino Real, is screwing up walkability up and down the Peninsula and San Jose.
Anyone want to comment on these I posted earlier? Or ctkthankgod's upstate NY views:
Here are some more views. To all posters, which commercial streets would you find more walkable? Which would you want to walk in? Avoid walking if practical:
Only #3 and 5 are built at a human scale and aimed at pedestrians, so they would rank first. I think #6 would rank third, the traffic looks heavy on the main boulevard but the two "buffer lanes" on each side would help isolate from traffic. Shops are aimed at pedestrians. Though if I had nothing to do on the boulevard itslef, I'd try toavoid it. At least, none of the suburban ones lack pedestrian infrastructure, so it would depend on the intensity of motor traffic. I wouldn't mind walking along the 2-lane road in example #2, but it looks quite impractical given the lack of crosswalks, at least when traffic is high enough that there aren't enough breaks. #1 and 4 look the least pedestrian-friendly. Like #2, all the shops are better reached by car, but the heavy traffic would be an additional annoyance. In places, they put a grass strip to isolated the sidewalk from the roadway. Making it wider and planting some shrubs here and there would make it more agreeable to walk along, though still not pedestrian-friendly. I imagine even nearby residents shop there by car.
Generally, when it is prioritized for pedestrians and not cars. When it is pleasant and comfortable to walk, people will walk. Walking alongside heavy, noisy vehicle traffic is not pleasant, nor safe, which is why you rarely see people walking in the suburbs. People also want to walk where other people are walking and where there are a variety of human-scale activities taking place. So you hardly see anyone walking in residential neighborhoods though these places may be very quiet and relatively car-free, because it's dead and nothing is going on there. In short, zoning is not conducive to walking.
Walking alongside heavy, noisy vehicle traffic is not pleasant, nor safe, which is why you rarely see people walking in the suburbs. People also want to walk where other people are walking and where there are a variety of human-scale activities taking place. So you hardly see anyone walking in residential neighborhoods though these places may be very quiet and relatively car-free, because it's dead and nothing is going on there.
[Ronald Reagan] There you go again ... [/Ronald Reagan]
You need to be specific about what kind of suburb you're vilifying at the moment, because people can and do walk in my suburb, and in every other suburb I've ever lived in, and they can and do walk around in the residential neighborhoods.
If I'm to walk to the produce market a few blocks away, for instance - or to the diner or the donut place or the barbecue restaurant or the convenience store or my dentist or the dry cleaners or the grocery store or the zoo or the state driver's license place or the beauty parlor or the guy who fixes my computer or the thrift shop or the liquor store or the butcher shop - how the hell do I get there if I don't walk through the residential neighborhood first?
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