People Who Live In Suburbs: Classy, Icky, or Dudes?

it would be better if all your friends lived there lamp

lol I've been going to a-dam since '95 - when it kind of did resemble the walker's paradise you describe - last couple of times I've been there it's a fucking wreck imo, cities need to let the damn streets breathe instead of "improving" all year round and amsterdam is a prime offender in this regard (so's paris imo)

you find amsterdam difficult to walk in because sometimes there is construction? cmon

ha yeah come on dude, and at least there are like, people working (on construction) unlike in our cities

countries that spend money on their infrastructure do look a lot different from america, I admit

lol I've been going to a-dam since '95

l@tfh

the other day i thought of this thread cuz walking home from brunch there were these lil girls selling lemonade on the sidewalk and i realized i basically live in the suburbs but i can still ride to work/get delicious brunch

We are done with the "brown ppl are fat" conversation, yes?

what were your objections to it, exactly?

lol looks like I picked the right week to skip this thread if that was goin on DJP

you find amsterdam difficult to walk in because sometimes there is construction? cmon

"sometimes"? dude it is year-round and constant, amsterdam needs to chill on the "improvements" & as I say this was not always the case - it really seemed to start becoming a constant presence around '99

your argument is 'we should stop improving cities'? do you think people in amsterdam seriously have a problem w/ the end result?

'let the streets breathe' - I mean I'm sorry, this sentence basically means nothing and you know it.

also dan, I was giving the reason why manhattan doesn't have the skinniest people in the country. (and sf does.) race and class are the reason! not sure why you get to be offended by this.

xp i mean maybe i glossed over something someone said but people of lower socioeconomic status (who tend to be minorities) have less leisure time to exercise and tend to spend what limited income they have on empty-calorie cheap foods, this is a pretty widely understood principle of public health

your argument is 'we should stop improving cities'? do you think people in amsterdam seriously have a problem w/ the end result?

yes, that's exactly what I'm saying, srsly dude chill I am glad u love amsterdam it's a nice town who doesn't love those fries, give it up for dutch fries everybody

I'm not an expert on amsterdam but a lot of the construction in paris streets is stuff like... protected bike lanes. you can ride a bike and not die! (and you can rent a bike at any of the 1200 stations in the city):

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Protected_Bicycle_Lane,_Paris_I.jpg

or...new tramways around the perimeter of the city:

http://europeforvisitors.com/paris/images/tram_3_on_grass_blvd_kellerman_13th_arr_place_d_italie_quartier_pto_marc_bertrand_164-32.jpg

I have never heard a parisian complain about road construction and I lived there, have lots of friends there, and keep up w/ the news. the only people who have beef are the people who drive in from ~the suburbs~.

er first one

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Protected_Bicycle_Lane%2C_Paris_I.jpg

when we all move to new hampshire there will be a lot of construction at first

look at that pigeon lookin around like he owns the place

we need some banaka up in here

― goole, Monday, September 12, 2011 4:46 PM (Yesterday)

xp

max have you had the dutch fries? you can also get em in belgium they're the best but I think they might have duck fat I try to be don't ask don't tell on that shit tho

dead ducks

Pigeons Who Live In Cities: Classy, Icky, or Dudes?

it's important to ascertain whether or not there are ducks in new hampshire

there will be dutch fries in new hampshire when we move there, i assure you

I'm gonna live in Dutch Fries, NH in the county of Max OTM

you will not get to choose where you live

I just learned yesterday that there are plans to make the busiest street in Cambridge (Mass Ave) into a two lane street with no turn lanes so they can have massive bike lanes and extend the sidewalks for restaurants to have outdoor seating.

Given the amount of traffic currently on that street, this is a HORRIBLE idea that will cause mile long traffic jams on a local street.

can we turn the old man of the mountain into lofts?

heh maybe they WANT to create traffic jams so that ppl sitting in their cars can watch the bikers speed past them on their way to dinner at an outdoor restaurant

i dont care where ppl are forced to live as long as no1 can have a car and teenagers spend their time doing manual labor

im glad ur on board with my ten-point plan for "putting america back on track"

outdoor seating

....... outdoor seating c/d:

i wouldn't sit outside a cafe, here; i feel like there's an uncomfortable dynamic between the 'just sipping my coffee' people on leisure-time & the striding passers-by going to actually do some things. but then i go to other countries and it seems idyllic.

from the authors of the very successful official i love cricket ten-point plan for rehabilitating new york city

Given the amount of traffic currently on that street, this is a HORRIBLE idea that will cause mile long traffic jams on a local street.

I'm curious as to how this pans out. Many of my direst predictions on puttering around w/traffic in SF have come out delightfully wrong.

heh maybe they WANT to create traffic jams so that ppl sitting in their cars can watch the bikers speed past them on their way to dinner at an outdoor restaurant

Maybe, but they are also fucking over some of the busiest buses so it really just seems like someone who never actually navigates Cambridge came up with this idea.

heh maybe they WANT to create traffic jams so that ppl sitting in their cars can watch the bikers speed past them on their way to dinner at an outdoor restaurant

otm

if this projected passed (I know nothing about it) I guarantee you there are studies that prove that it's not going to do what dan thinks it's going to do. cause those studies have to exist before projects like this can get anywhere. which itself is a shame.

I looked it up. they're removing a parking lane, not a lane of traffic. that's not going to affect traffic at all.

A road here which is pretty busy, but not traffic-jammingly so, was repainted to be two lanes, two bike lanes, and either a parking lane or center turn lane depending on the stretch. People griped but it's actually insanely better because there are lots of pedestrians and small businesses and people previously just blindly did 40 mph when they could or did a really shitty job of lane hopping to avoid cars turning to the left or to park.

hey guys, what's going on?

rode my bike to work yesterday, just doin' my bit :)

gj matt, you can be a ward boss in the united states of new hampsire

There were also studies that showed The Big Dig alleviating heavy traffic in downtown Boston and on 93; guess how well that turned out (I'm not counting the roof panel that killed a woman against them for the traffic patterns).

They did something similar to Somerville Ave in Somerville; guess what street is now a parking lot during rush hour? (And that has middle turn lanes, unlike the plan I heard for Mass Ave)

I just learned yesterday that there are plans to make the busiest street in Cambridge (Mass Ave) into a two lane street with no turn lanes so they can have massive bike lanes and extend the sidewalks for restaurants to have outdoor seating.

lol this is like some evil guys got together and said "I know driving Mass Ave has been an utter horror for decades but how can we make it even worse!"

xp lol my sources suck apparently

Yeah, not every idea like this goes as smoothly, especially when there are no alternative routes.

they can just ban cars from the city proper, would make it easier for everyone

There were also studies that showed The Big Dig alleviating heavy traffic in downtown Boston and on 93; guess how well that turned out (I'm not counting the roof panel that killed a woman against them for the traffic patterns).

the big dig didn't alleviate heavy traffic because more road capacity inevitably leads to more traffic. they shoulda torn down the highway and left it like that. and spent $22 billion on public transit.

more road capacity inevitably leads to more traffic.

there's an urban planning term for this, isn't there?

yeah

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induced_demand

http://oldurbanist.blogspot.com/2011/04/they-made-desert-and-called-it-park.html

pretty amazing what boston did to itself over the 20th century

iatee, where did you find your info on Mass Ave? Everything I'm finding on the City of Cambridge website leads to a broken link or a grand overview with no real detail about what they're actually going to do.

http://articles.boston.com/2011-04-20/yourtown/29452001_1_bike-lanes-bike-crashes-project-limits

To install the lanes properly, she said, would require removing parking on the eastern side of the street, on which traffic goes north toward Cambridge, she said. The city would work with businesses with regard to loading zones and handicapped parking, she said, as well as adjust bus loading zones. According to the city, that lane would eliminate about 71 parking spaces.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uFUHFHFY8IA/Ta35BfuoeVI/AAAAAAAABro/_0euE0GJCRc/s400/readmassave.png

http://articles.boston.com/2011-04-20/yourtown/29452001_1_bike-lanes-bike-crashes-project-limits