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Old 09-26-2014, 08:39 AM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

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Location: Western Massachusetts
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
Maybe that's why these people created bigger yards with more green space when they came to the US. Louisville was a town of 5000 people until about 1980. It wasn't designed to be spread out. What's wrong with a little public greenery, in addition to a few, and I emphasize few, trees planted in little circles drilled out of the pavement. All of Belgium, the Netherlands and western Germany that I saw was like that.
There's nothing wrong with public greenery. Though in that case, there's not much space in put it. I'm saying there's not much wrong with their relative lack of greenery, it's not the biggest deal in a town center. The Massachusetts street I linked to is similar, what's the difference?

I've found plenty of streets with greenery in Germany on streetview. This street is treed:

not much on the front, here's the back. But it's an old row house block, what else would you expect?

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Breme...339.29,,0,4.03

wider road:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Breme...81.74,,0,-6.34

Surely it could go with some more greenery. But for it size, it looks nicer than similar sized American cities overall.

Last edited by nei; 09-26-2014 at 08:58 AM..
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Old 09-26-2014, 08:44 AM
 
Location: Foot of the Rockies
90,316 posts, read 120,244,119 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
There's nothing wrong with public greenery. Though in that case, there's not much space in put it. I'm saying there's not much wrong with their relative lack of greenery, it's not the biggest deal in a town center. The Massachusetts street I linked to is similar, what's the difference?

I've found plenty of streets with greenery in Germany on streetview.
A lot more trees.
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Old 09-26-2014, 09:05 AM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

Over $104,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum and additional contests are planned
 
Location: Western Massachusetts
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@Katiana

so would you find American streets like these more attractive than mostly treeless European town centers?

Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8577...KYBpZWZ_lw!2e0

There's more green, yes, though it's not really nature. And more extra concrete. And the building, not that visible look bland.
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Old 09-26-2014, 09:50 AM
 
Location: Denver, Colorado U.S.A.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
They say in 2044. But hey, it's horrible! Stay away! (J/K)

The train issue is a real sore spot up here in Boulder County. Now we're getting BRT, which will stop at Louisville exist of Highway 36, instead of a train through town.

Maybe you don't read the Boulder forum:
Thanks!

Yeah, I've heard about some of the issues with Boulder. Seems like a no-brainer to get a line all the way into Boulder.
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Old 09-26-2014, 09:55 AM
 
Location: Denver, Colorado U.S.A.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
What bugs me about these German towns is they pave over practically every sqare inch.
Eh... doesn't bother me. I think the main reason is because the village dates back to when people could only walk or ride a horse to get around, so it was practical to have everything very close together. But from this point in the village center, you could easily walk into thick forest. And the point in the picture, you can walk into newer areas of the village where there are houses on lots with lawns and trees, built post 1940s or so. It's interesting that this village has expanded residential areas into the 2000s and the layout is very similar to U.S. suburbs where the streets are built on a grid and the houses have decent-sized back yards. Even a little less dense than my neighborhood (Stapleton).
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Old 09-26-2014, 09:59 AM
 
Location: Denver, Colorado U.S.A.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
You didn't that photo was pretty?

Not that familiar with German towns, can't think of one similar in size to that British example. But from street views I've seen, they look rather green. And they appear to have less of the dead downtown, long stretches of bleak looking strip malls found in American towns. Not much is in streetview outside of the big cities, but here's a random one I found:

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.6103...Q6OpIn9aQA!2e0
Yes, this is very typical of German residential areas. From what I could tell, they don't build masses of houses at once by one builder, but individual builders buy lots and build a house here, a house there. A more "organic" approach. But even in areas like this, they're typically within walking distance of some retail and mass transit. Germans love gardening and it's extremely green.
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Old 09-26-2014, 10:02 AM
 
Location: Denver, Colorado U.S.A.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
Baloney! There's a bush in front of one house. Even my horror-inducing city has more grass than that in its downtown.
Are looking at the same view I am?? I'm seeing hedges, trees, grass... In general, European lots are smaller and people value their privacy, so they have fences and hedges like you see here. I find it more interesting than plain grass lawns and little landscaping.

Where is there grass in downtown Denver?? Outside of parks?
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Old 09-26-2014, 10:03 AM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

Over $104,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum and additional contests are planned
 
Location: Western Massachusetts
46,009 posts, read 53,194,339 times
Reputation: 15174
Hmm. Surprised. British suburbs often have tract developments. I assume these were:

Metro-land - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Old 09-26-2014, 10:06 AM
 
Location: Denver, Colorado U.S.A.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
Your downtown is much greener than mine, and much more spread out. Yours was designed for more space, the German one for compactness, mine somewhere in between. On the positive side, with greater compactness, most businesses are likely to still be in the town center.

Denverian's view is the town center, which is probably hundreds of years old. A satellite view of the town:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Se...22d4d510db6240

No street view available. But doesn't paved over every inch in the slightest.
The picture I posted was from the very old center of the village. "Paved over" is certainly not the impression you get from visiting this village.

It's hard to find "street views" from Germany as Germans are rather paranoid about their privacy lol! They haven't allowed Google to go through the country to gather street views from everywhere.
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Old 09-26-2014, 10:09 AM
 
Location: Denver, Colorado U.S.A.
14,164 posts, read 27,109,023 times
Reputation: 10428
Quote:
Originally Posted by Katiana View Post
Maybe that's why these people created bigger yards with more green space when they came to the US. Louisville was a town of 5000 people until about 1980. It wasn't designed to be spread out. What's wrong with a little public greenery, in addition to a few, and I emphasize few, trees planted in little circles drilled out of the pavement. All of Belgium, the Netherlands and western Germany that I saw was like that.
What I think it boils down to is, some of us prefer urban areas and others don't. You'd be in the "don't" category. The last thing I want is a bunch of grass to mow or to live where the houses are far apart. I prefer compact and dense neighborhoods where I can walk to something. If I didn't have kids, we'd probably move to a townhouse or high rise downtown.
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