Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
• A California man is facing jail time for disobeying local building codes in the construction of his home. The thirty year project includes a replica of a 16th century Viking house and a mobile home refashioned into an antique railroad car. (Salon)
• Passengers using the Overvecht railway station in Utrecht now have a more playful way to make their train on time. A new “transfer accelerator” (slide) has been installed and is getting positive reviews from passengers and the surrounding neighbourhood. (Pop-Up City)
• Fighting perceptions of another dull Connecticut housing development, Bristol, CT is powering a placemaking project with social media. BristolRising, a platform from the developer Renaissance Downtowns, allows users to propose unique features they’d like to see in the community. If enough people “like” an option, the developer will pursue feasibility studies to move the idea forward. (New York Times)
• While most hydrogeologic modelling is done by computer these days, the Army Corps of Engineers has several large scale models they used to study the impacts of natural events and human activity on water and sediment movement. The 286 concrete slabs that comprise the San Francisco Bay Model are now available for public viewing. (Mammoth)
• Kerwin Datu at the Global Urbanist critiques London’s iconic tube map for misleading commuters and pedestrians about true distances between stations.
Image from Simone dewilde
Do you have a World Wide Wednesday worthy article you’d like to share? Send the link to www@spacing.ca
3 comments
The comments about the London Bus Maps are a little unfair. While I agree that the maps posted at the bus stops are worse than useless (these are the examples shown), there are also five excellent free London Bus Maps available and printed on paper. These maps are easy to use and by being prepared by carrying these maps, even a Tourist (such as me) can find his or her way around. Pick them up at the Heathrow Tube Station upon arrival.
The London Tube article does touch on something that is even a problem in Toronto. Many people (tourists especially) don’t realize how close they are to subway stations and will unnecessarily wait at streetcar stops for longer than it would take them to walk to the closest station.
Two prime examples are on the Harbourfront where the Ferry Docks stop on Bay and the stop at York/Queens Quay are only 5 minutes away from Union Station. Often on weekends, people (tourists?) will watch multiple full streetcars bypass them at each stop. If people were made more aware of distances it might allow many of them to avoid the long waits and might even minimize the delays on the line caused by trying to overload streetcars.
U of T students line up in Spadina station waiting for a 510, only to get off at Harbord or Willcox. Surely they must know that the same distance could be walked in a few minutes.
So the phenomenon of lining up to squeeze on a packed car to ride one or two stops isn’t just an uninformed tourist thing. In fact, it’s pretty common. Maybe people think “I’m paying $2.50, I will get my full money’s worrth!” Or maybe the idea of walking, any distance at all, doesn’t compute.
I’m sure I’ve seen people wait for five minutes, get on the Queen car at Church, only to get off at Yonge….