Comments on: The Horror http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/10/31/the-horror/ Covering the New York City Streets Renaissance Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:07:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Larry Littlefield http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/10/31/the-horror/comment-page-1/#comment-39423 Larry Littlefield Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:39:06 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/10/31/the-horror/#comment-39423 The key is the Joneses. If the Joneses can only attain the lifestyle make possible by solar, wind, hydro, and some nuclear, Americans can live very happy lives with that. If the Joneses have Hummers, Americans will be miserable without them. Drive throughs kill pedestrian-oriented commercial streets, because cars on the sidewalk kill such streets. If you have a parking lot where people park, and then walk from store to store, there is very limited motor vehicle traffic over the sidewalk. With a drive-thru, such traffic is constant. The street is no longer a place where you allow your three your old toddler to walk on their own. The only comparable use is a gas station. When I was the team leader of the Commercial Use and Parking Study at City Planning, I wanted to restrict drive-throughs to auto-oriented streets, but was told that was out of the question. It turned out that any reform to those regulations is out of the question, making that a moot point. The key is the Joneses. If the Joneses can only attain the lifestyle make possible by solar, wind, hydro, and some nuclear, Americans can live very happy lives with that. If the Joneses have Hummers, Americans will be miserable without them.

Drive throughs kill pedestrian-oriented commercial streets, because cars on the sidewalk kill such streets.

If you have a parking lot where people park, and then walk from store to store, there is very limited motor vehicle traffic over the sidewalk. With a drive-thru, such traffic is constant. The street is no longer a place where you allow your three your old toddler to walk on their own. The only comparable use is a gas station.

When I was the team leader of the Commercial Use and Parking Study at City Planning, I wanted to restrict drive-throughs to auto-oriented streets, but was told that was out of the question. It turned out that any reform to those regulations is out of the question, making that a moot point.

]]> By: Spud Spudly http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/10/31/the-horror/comment-page-1/#comment-39420 Spud Spudly Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:30:15 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/10/31/the-horror/#comment-39420 I wonder if you can reach the buttons on that ATM from the window of an average Toyota Corolla, or if it's designed to serve the Ford Expedition crowd. I wonder if you can reach the buttons on that ATM from the window of an average Toyota Corolla, or if it’s designed to serve the Ford Expedition crowd.

]]> By: ddartley http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/10/31/the-horror/comment-page-1/#comment-39419 ddartley Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:22:36 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/10/31/the-horror/#comment-39419 The precarious looking cantilever structure is a poetic representation of unsustainability itself. The precarious looking cantilever structure is a poetic representation of unsustainability itself.

]]> By: Gabriel Lopez-Bernal http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/10/31/the-horror/comment-page-1/#comment-39415 Gabriel Lopez-Bernal Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:15:26 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/10/31/the-horror/#comment-39415 Wow, That is Hideous! Wow, That is Hideous!

]]> By: Mark Fleischmann http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/10/31/the-horror/comment-page-1/#comment-39414 Mark Fleischmann Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:13:42 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/10/31/the-horror/#comment-39414 While we're at it, for those who haven't explored Kunstler, his four nonfiction books are must-reads, especially The Long Emergency, which describes the cascading of various crises including peak oil, peak soil, and climate change. Then he bravely describes how our lives might changes as a result. It's bracing, like a pail of cold water in the face. I also quite like Cities in Mind, a series of profiles of cities that do work and don't work. I've read one of his eight novels, Maggie Darling, and it was lots of fun. His next novel will be a fictional exploration of the themes aired in The Long Emergency. His prose is clear, eloquent, funny, and addictive and he has much to say to Streetsblog readers. While we’re at it, for those who haven’t explored Kunstler, his four nonfiction books are must-reads, especially The Long Emergency, which describes the cascading of various crises including peak oil, peak soil, and climate change. Then he bravely describes how our lives might changes as a result. It’s bracing, like a pail of cold water in the face. I also quite like Cities in Mind, a series of profiles of cities that do work and don’t work. I’ve read one of his eight novels, Maggie Darling, and it was lots of fun. His next novel will be a fictional exploration of the themes aired in The Long Emergency. His prose is clear, eloquent, funny, and addictive and he has much to say to Streetsblog readers.

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