I haven’t been travelling much in the last year, so today’s trip is via Google Earth. Fake travel, so as to speak. I saw a positive reference in a planning blog to a Boston public housing project in neo-Victorian styling. … Continue reading Friday (Fake) Traveller … Boston public housing
Charlestown is now part of Boston, lying north of the downtown. It was laid out in 1629 by the Puritans, a sort of Taliban of the day. Most row houses are on the slopes of Bunker and other Hills. Architecturally, … Continue reading Friday Traveller: Charlestown, MA
Like in any entrenched religion or philosophy, internal contradictions eventually create cogitative dissonance in civil engineering standards. That people who walk must always defer to people who drive is one such encrusted rule slowly crumbling in the face of pedestrian revolt. Occasionally we see examples of people who walk getting the right of way over people who drive, but there very scarcity makes them noticeable. At selected road crossings, after much lobbying and pressure, the engineering staff may, with many caveats, permit a walkway to cross a minor road with priority going to the people who walk. Scarcely common. Cambridge, … Continue reading Harbinger of New Walkway Design
I hope readers haven’t been too bored with the ongoing series of stories of how well some cities protect / separate pedestrians from motorists. Here’s another example, where a series of large granite bollards not only delineate the separation, but provide an enormous measure of subjective safety. Don’t you just feel comfortable on this sidewalk, that no motorist is going to take it over for a “just for a moment” parking space, or a careless overrun of the curb that leaves the motorist unscathed (so much redundancy is put into road design to protect the motorist, usually by transferring the … Continue reading On separating cars and pedestrians
We hear a lot about LRT, subways, big city transit systems. But public transit isn’t just for big metro areas. They get the most attention because the big media lives in big cities, because the dollar price tags are bigger for big transit, and many Canadians live in big cities. But not all do. I confess to a certain occasional fondness for rural inter-town public transportation. I once spent considerable time on the topic. This was rekindled during a visit to Cape Cod last year. Previously featured here were posts on the multi-modal transit centre in Hyannis; and the real … Continue reading Public transit isn’t just for cities
I came across these buildings a few months ago. There are two older buildings, separated by a 3 – 4 foot gap. This gap has been built into the renovated buildings: Both buildings were brick industrial structures, both have been partially reclad in shiny metal when renovated. The former alleyway, now a stairway, is shown in the centre. The stairs can be accessed from a small lobby at the foot of the stairs, directly from the street or from either adjacent building, giving maximum flexibility. To further play with the odd space, the new stairs are partially see-through, … Continue reading Making use of a very narrow space
In a previous post on cycle tracks (segregated cycling lanes set back from the general motor vehicular traffic, sometimes protected by parked vehicles) –illustrated with pictures from the Cambridge MA cycle track installed a number of years ago — a reader inquired for more details on how the track segments begin and end. Ever mindful of faithful readers, here are two ends, alpha and omega: And just for completeness, the middle: Continue reading Cycle tracks, beginning and end of
I thought these little signs attached to other posts were a useful reminder to unthinking cyclists not to attach their bikes where they might interfere with the handicapped. But. The plate on the car is that of a volunteer firefighter. And it has a handicapped sticker. How does that person actually fight fires? Continue reading Bike Parking sign
The city of Ottawa puts three yellow dots on the traffic loop buried at intersections, marking where cyclists should stop to activate the signal. I don’t think many cyclists know this; and frankly, I don’t trust these marks to actually work. The one I use the most, at Lanark/Scott, seems pretty iffy to me. Here’s an instructional sign, from another city. It’s a tad ambiguous, since it shows the cyclist at right angles to the line, when in fact your bike should be both tires on top of the line… Continue reading Will your bike make the traffic signal change?
I thought this sign had a nice bit of moral persuasion in it. And, it was sponsored, so it didn’t cost the municipality anything. At the base of the sign was a dispenser of plastic bags. This sign is a bit more blunt: Continue reading No Poop Here, please
On a recent trip to Boston, I saw this generous bike parking shelter, with card-controlled door: And while on that same trip to Boston, I stayed in a hotel built on air rights over a commuter rail line and freeway. The hotel windows were thick, and sealed. Noise intrusion was minimal and I slept fine. For one night, OK; but I wouldn’t want to live above the freeway or rail line. At the present time, there are no intentions of selling or leasing air rights over any of the Ottawa’s new LRT lines, as the additional construction cost doesn’t warrant competing … Continue reading Cycle and Biped accomodation
There must be many models of how to pick up and handle trash and other waste. Ottawa, like most Ontario municipalities, opts for separate streams right at the input stage. Residents and businesses are obliged to separate the cardboard from the newspaper from the tin and glass, and the organics go here not there. The percentage of waste recycled or diverted from landfill is proportionate to everyone’s effort. Some might call it participation; others might call it rubbing the public’s face in the garbage. There is one eastern Ontario city that opted for the single stream. All garbage is collected together, and then … Continue reading Down in the dumps, but not in an Ottawa way
Example of well-designed functional urban fountain that meets a whole variety of user needs. Continue reading Simple fountain
In Cambridge MA this neighbourhood commemorates people with signs. Virtually every corner was named after someone. A veteran. A resident. Nothing special was done the corner to designate it a “square” as far as I could see, it was still the small inner city intersection of two residential streets. But it certainly gave an amazing sense of history, of continuity, of neighbourhood, of topophilia, to the area. There were individuals here before you, who made a difference. Who were they? If I was doing this in my west side neighborhood, I think signs honouring residents would be the start, but … Continue reading Rememberance of people & things past …
In Cambridge MA this neighbourhood commemorates people with signs. Virtually every corner was named after someone. A veteran. A resident. Nothing special was done the corner to designate it a “square” as far as I could see, it was still the small inner city intersection of two residential streets. But it certainly gave an amazing sense of history, of continuity, of neighbourhood, of topophilia, to the area. There were individuals here before you, who made a difference. Who were they? If I was doing this in my west side neighborhood, I think signs honouring residents would be the start, but … Continue reading Rememberance of people & things past …
These two stainless steel sculptures or art installations were very entertaining. They proved to be irresistable attractions to many passers by. These girls used them for impromtu gymnastic exercises. The little boy in the picture spent a lot of time running up the slope trying to get to the top. He never did, but had lots of fun trying. These pieces were on the short part of the pier at Rowe’s Wharf in Boston. There is a gent sitting on the sea wall to the left. The arch through the buildings is on the immediate right. I cannot imagine Ottawa … Continue reading Sculpture you can use
These two stainless steel sculptures or art installations were very entertaining. They proved to be irresistable attractions to many passers by. These girls used them for impromtu gymnastic exercises. The little boy in the picture spent a lot of time running up the slope trying to get to the top. He never did, but had lots of fun trying. These pieces were on the short part of the pier at Rowe’s Wharf in Boston. There is a gent sitting on the sea wall to the left. The arch through the buildings is on the immediate right. I cannot imagine Ottawa … Continue reading Sculpture you can use
The Ashcroft proposal for redeveloping the Sr of the Visitation site on Richmond Road got a rough hearing the first time out. I am not a great fan of public meetings where dialogue and idea sharing is replaced by sound bites, but hey, it takes all types. And it does serve for some people to vent. The proposal had many reasonable elements, such as keeping the wall along the sides and back, additional setbacks for the 4-5 storey structures in the back half. It had some I didn’t like too much: the height and size of the middle building (a … Continue reading Our Lady of the Condos, archly
The Ashcroft proposal for redeveloping the Sr of the Visitation site on Richmond Road got a rough hearing the first time out. I am not a great fan of public meetings where dialogue and idea sharing is replaced by sound bites, but hey, it takes all types. And it does serve for some people to vent. The proposal had many reasonable elements, such as keeping the wall along the sides and back, additional setbacks for the 4-5 storey structures in the back half. It had some I didn’t like too much: the height and size of the middle building (a … Continue reading Our Lady of the Condos, archly
A bike box is a painted area in front of the stop line. It permits cyclists to advance to the head of the queue of vehicles and go into the intersection first. It is especially useful when making turns. The motorist must stop at an advanced stop line considerably short of the intersection where motorists are used to stopping. It protects the safety of cyclists for left, right turns and straight through motions. In Boston, I saw one hundred percent respect by motorists for the bike box. Otherwise, motorists were quite aggressive. Every car stopped at the advanced stop line. In … Continue reading Boston bike box
A bike box is a painted area in front of the stop line. It permits cyclists to advance to the head of the queue of vehicles and go into the intersection first. It is especially useful when making turns. The motorist must stop at an advanced stop line considerably short of the intersection where motorists are used to stopping. It protects the safety of cyclists for left, right turns and straight through motions. In Boston, I saw one hundred percent respect by motorists for the bike box. Otherwise, motorists were quite aggressive. Every car stopped at the advanced stop line. In … Continue reading Boston bike box
Note how the stadium seating cantelevors out over the public street. This would certainly save space at Lansdowne Park and add some interest to walking along Bank Street. Advertisement outside the stadium. Click to enlarge and read the text. How would Ottawa bureaucrats cope with signs that prohibited stopping on such variable dates, times, and durations? Around the outfield there were bars. Entrance was off the street. There was a garage door that opened up to permit viewing of the field. A wire mesh kept the balls away from the customers. I do not know if a game ticket was required for … Continue reading Fenway Park, Boston
Note how the stadium seating cantelevors out over the public street. This would certainly save space at Lansdowne Park and add some interest to walking along Bank Street. Advertisement outside the stadium. Click to enlarge and read the text. How would Ottawa bureaucrats cope with signs that prohibited stopping on such variable dates, times, and durations? Around the outfield there were bars. Entrance was off the street. There was a garage door that opened up to permit viewing of the field. A wire mesh kept the balls away from the customers. I do not know if a game ticket was required for … Continue reading Fenway Park, Boston
Conventional plastic-bag-lined garbage containers were rare. These compactor models were ubiquitous. There are solar panels on the roof of the can to power it. It was necessary to pull the door open quite a way before placing the garbage in the compartment and closing the door. It was not possible to insert a hand or arm into the container. Periodically, the compactor compresses all the garbage into a smaller pile, so the can needs not be emptied so often. Nothing blows around either. Here is a row of three containers, for bottles/cans, trash, and paper. The top two pictures were … Continue reading Boston trash
