I wondered for the longest time why Americans called pavement "sidewalk". It's because it's literally in the side and you can barely walk on it. Some "sidewalks" are like the concrete block path...
I wondered for the longest time why Americans called pavement "sidewalk".
This honestly shocked me when I moved to the Midwest for uni. The suburbs in California, Arizona and Florida that I'd lived in all had decent pedestrian infrastructure and it wasn't hard to walk...
This honestly shocked me when I moved to the Midwest for uni. The suburbs in California, Arizona and Florida that I'd lived in all had decent pedestrian infrastructure and it wasn't hard to walk around town for groceries or a movie. But in the Midwest, it was awful. Granted this was not a suburb of any major city but rather a small-medium town in the middle of Illinois but the sidewalks would randomly become much narrower and they'd sometimes just stop and then resume later like ???. Hated walking around my college campus for that reason. Thankfully there was a rather robust bus system that was free for students.
Where there were sidewalks, they were covered in perma ice thru winter. Sad truth is, briefly around the turn of the 20th century CU was a paragon of progressivism.
Where there were sidewalks, they were covered in perma ice thru winter.
Sad truth is, briefly around the turn of the 20th century CU was a paragon of progressivism.
Oh yeah walking around campus while it was snowing was the worst. Like you said, some sidewalks would be covered in ice but others were covered in a dirty slush that was, in my opinion, worse.
Oh yeah walking around campus while it was snowing was the worst. Like you said, some sidewalks would be covered in ice but others were covered in a dirty slush that was, in my opinion, worse.
I've been watching these videos for a while and these are some of the best and most informative essays about climate change - how we got here and what we can do about it. For every doom post I've...
I've been watching these videos for a while and these are some of the best and most informative essays about climate change - how we got here and what we can do about it.
For every doom post I've seen, I just throw on this and feel better knowing I can do something and start to fix the world.
This is a fantastic video. I was thinking recently how difficult it would be to change our ways so we could tackle climate change and this video does provide a way to make a change. It also shows...
This is a fantastic video. I was thinking recently how difficult it would be to change our ways so we could tackle climate change and this video does provide a way to make a change. It also shows how everything has an effect on our environment and how deep into our current "tech tree" we are that even parking spaces is a issue.
Europe doesn't have this issue but I'm sure we have our own equivalent problems.
Horrifying and informative. Thanks for the introduction to that youtube channel, he is putting out some high quality videos... just watched his recycling video and was horrified to learn about the...
Horrifying and informative. Thanks for the introduction to that youtube channel, he is putting out some high quality videos... just watched his recycling video and was horrified to learn about the history of the recycling symbol (oops, resin identification code!) on plastics.
I was about to share this video. It's ridiculous that minimum parking requirements are completely made up, based on literally no scientific data whatsoever, and have no social or economic benefits...
I was about to share this video. It's ridiculous that minimum parking requirements are completely made up, based on literally no scientific data whatsoever, and have no social or economic benefits at this scale. In fact, they actively detract from municipal budgets while making our towns economically weaker, environmentally destructive, and aesthetically depressing.
I appreciate the "what can we do about it?" section of the video (24:10). :) The answer is pretty simple: eliminate minimum parking requirements in all municipalities. Even better, "Charge demand-based prices for on-street parking to create one or two open spaces on every block" (from Donald Shoupp's amusingly named website, https://www.shoupdogg.com/).
Strong Towns' article "One Line of Your Zoning Code Can Make a World of Difference" is enlightening. Parking lots and structures can literally double the cost of constructions while simultaneously encouraging the demolition of historic and productive buildings. They're not good. They must be abolished.
It's good that fairly major cities like Buffalo, NY and Hartford, CT are eliminating parking minimums. But we can't stop here. I personally donate to the Parking Reform Network, who have a wonderful interactive map of parking mandates across the United States. Even cities like mine which have removed parking minimums within certain high-density neighborhoods need to take it further and eliminate these mandates city-wide: businesses will then be able to construct exactly the amount of parking they require to flourish, without wasting valuable time, land, and money building these ridiculous, unproductive pieces of anti-infrastructure.
Not just parking laws but the lack of public transport, and/or a lack of pedestrian lanes.
I wondered for the longest time why Americans called pavement "sidewalk".
It's because it's literally in the side and you can barely walk on it. Some "sidewalks" are like the concrete block path my grandma has in her garden vs the ones we have over here
Yes and oftentimes they abruptly end forcing folks to walk on overgrown fields or worse yet, on the road while cars are whizzing by in high speed!
This honestly shocked me when I moved to the Midwest for uni. The suburbs in California, Arizona and Florida that I'd lived in all had decent pedestrian infrastructure and it wasn't hard to walk around town for groceries or a movie. But in the Midwest, it was awful. Granted this was not a suburb of any major city but rather a small-medium town in the middle of Illinois but the sidewalks would randomly become much narrower and they'd sometimes just stop and then resume later like ???. Hated walking around my college campus for that reason. Thankfully there was a rather robust bus system that was free for students.
Shampoo-banana?
Yep lol. The CUMTD was nice for getting around Champaign and campus but trying to walk to some of the bus stops was an adventure.
Where there were sidewalks, they were covered in perma ice thru winter.
Sad truth is, briefly around the turn of the 20th century CU was a paragon of progressivism.
Oh yeah walking around campus while it was snowing was the worst. Like you said, some sidewalks would be covered in ice but others were covered in a dirty slush that was, in my opinion, worse.
I've been watching these videos for a while and these are some of the best and most informative essays about climate change - how we got here and what we can do about it.
For every doom post I've seen, I just throw on this and feel better knowing I can do something and start to fix the world.
This is a fantastic video. I was thinking recently how difficult it would be to change our ways so we could tackle climate change and this video does provide a way to make a change. It also shows how everything has an effect on our environment and how deep into our current "tech tree" we are that even parking spaces is a issue.
Europe doesn't have this issue but I'm sure we have our own equivalent problems.
Horrifying and informative. Thanks for the introduction to that youtube channel, he is putting out some high quality videos... just watched his recycling video and was horrified to learn about the history of the recycling symbol (oops, resin identification code!) on plastics.
You’re welcome! It’s a great channel with lots of informative and entertaining content.
I was about to share this video. It's ridiculous that minimum parking requirements are completely made up, based on literally no scientific data whatsoever, and have no social or economic benefits at this scale. In fact, they actively detract from municipal budgets while making our towns economically weaker, environmentally destructive, and aesthetically depressing.
I appreciate the "what can we do about it?" section of the video (24:10). :) The answer is pretty simple: eliminate minimum parking requirements in all municipalities. Even better, "Charge demand-based prices for on-street parking to create one or two open spaces on every block" (from Donald Shoupp's amusingly named website, https://www.shoupdogg.com/).
Strong Towns' article "One Line of Your Zoning Code Can Make a World of Difference" is enlightening. Parking lots and structures can literally double the cost of constructions while simultaneously encouraging the demolition of historic and productive buildings. They're not good. They must be abolished.
It's good that fairly major cities like Buffalo, NY and Hartford, CT are eliminating parking minimums. But we can't stop here. I personally donate to the Parking Reform Network, who have a wonderful interactive map of parking mandates across the United States. Even cities like mine which have removed parking minimums within certain high-density neighborhoods need to take it further and eliminate these mandates city-wide: businesses will then be able to construct exactly the amount of parking they require to flourish, without wasting valuable time, land, and money building these ridiculous, unproductive pieces of anti-infrastructure.