gildone

Nice video about how easy it is to commute by bike in Amsterdam:

I'd like to see this area start taking some more steps toward more segregated bikeways, whether it's narrowing streets to make room for them or whatever. After recently learning about how they do things in the Netherlands, we have a long way to go.

$6M Red Line Greenway opens after more than a decade of planning: https://www.thelandcle.org/stories/6m-red-line-greenway-project-open-after-a-decade-of-planning

The Ohio & Erie Canalway Association is optimistic. If you zoom into downtown Cleveland in the map at their website, it already shows the CVSR going all the way to downtown Cleveland. See the red line in the legend and on the map below:

Why We Won't Raise Our Kids In Suburbia:

I was trying to remember where I posted that incorrect info. Thanks for the catch. I edited my original post.

Nice YouTube Channel: "Not Just Bikes". The guy who runs it is a Canadian living in The Netherlands. He and his wife sought to find a place with well-designed cities to live in, and in their view, while no place is perfect, The Netherlands is the best at designing cities. More recently he has been putting up videos about the urban design principles espoused by the organization "Strong Towns" (www.strongtowns.org) in the US. Anyway, Lots of good videos here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=not+just+bikes

The dangers of Stroads:

Could be an interesting read (due out in September this year): https://www.strongtowns.org/book

I'm currently reading the book Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity. I didn't realize that most American cities are functionally insolvent. The book makes a compelling case. The organization Strong Towns is doing some good work demonstrating how car-centric suburbia is incapable of paying for itself. Here are a few videos that provide a good summary of the ideas in the book. Watch them in the order listed. This video series isn't done yet. There will be more: How Suburban Development Makes American Cities Poorer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVUeqxXwCA0 How America Bankrupted its Cities - The Growth Ponzi Scheme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IsMeKl-Sv0 How Bankrupt American Cities Stay Alive - Debt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfQUOHlAocY

Starchitects. This is an excerpt form a James Howard Kunstler podcast form 2009. Kunstler pulls no punches about the modern phenomenon known as "Starchictecture" Among the things he has to say: "We need competent architects who will give us buildings that are neuro-biologically comprehensible. That satisfy our needs for orientation and our perhaps even deeper need for cultural orientation". Modern architecture has become, he said: "A Fashionista mystification racket". What bothers me is something the modern architect Rem Koolhaas, designer of many a modernist monstrosity, has apparently said in his writings-- that he wants people to feel anxious around his buildings. To me that's an attitude that is as despotic as it is egotistical. People have enough stress and anxiety in their lives. They don't need more of it from their built environments.

I contacted Dolan too and Tom Patton--both through their legislative contact pages. Tom Patton responded right away in support of restoring the funding. It took Matt a few days, but he did respond.

Looks great. If downtown East Liverpool is seeing investment like this, that has to be a good sign.

Jerrymyc01 Said: "There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Naples train station. In fact, it's quite nice. The inside is great also." Link to station video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyLfLW3HzDs --------------------------------------------------------- In your opinion, which is fine. We don't have to think alike.

I'm responding in the Architecture: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly thread so this thread can stay on the Youngstown developments subject.

This is on the subject of Architectural Psychology. How buildings look affect the way humans feel and behave: https://medium.com/archilyse/we-need-human-centered-architecture-back-551bcabeb130

Hello All, I envision this thread to be sort of a catch-all thread about Architecture. Have a picture of a building you think is particularly beautiful or ugly? What do you think makes for good architecture and why? The relatively new field or architectural psychology (how buildings make people feel and behave), etc. I'll get the ball rolling by posting this James Howard Kunstler talk from 2007. Several of you have seen this, I'm sure, but it's a good place to start, I think: The Ghastly Tragedy of the Suburbs/How Bad Architecture Wrecked Cities: https://www.ted.com/talks/james_howard_kunstler_the_ghastly_tragedy_of_the_suburbs/transcript

I mourn the loss of the type of architecture we had in the early 20th century. Historic banks and train stations represent some of the best architecture this country has ever produced. The way buildings made people feel mattered and architects understood that. For banks, they wanted to look successful so people would feel safe depositing their money but they also wanted to make their depositors feel like they were important. The idea behind the design of major train stations was similar-- make passengers feel like they were important. Nowadays, we end up with crap like this and architects and their clients pat themselves on the back for being innovative: Naples high speed line train station (2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyLfLW3HzDs Ugly buildings from around the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJL70iFWLEI Imho, James Howard Kunstler was onto something when he said that modern architecture (along with suburban design) creates too many places that aren't worth caring about, and if a nation gets to many places that aren't worth caring about, you risk ending up with a nation that's not worth defending. To keep the thread on topic... are there any proposals for re-use of the original bank space? To respond to the general architecture comments I made here, go this thread I created:

I would add that it's probably more difficult for NIMBY's and other interests to derail or slow projects down via the courts in Europe. Our environmental review process is pretty expensive. In an e-mail discussion I was involved in recently someone mentioned a single overpass project where the total price tag was $18 million, with $4 million of that being environmental reviews. Don't get me wrong, I agree with the need for environmental reviews, but I think some streamlining of the process here would help, especially for rail projects which are more environmentally friendly than highways. Unfortunately, with the way campaign contributions and dark money translates into legislation and policy here, I'm not convinced a proper streamlining of environmental rules can occur.

Is Amtrak Misleading America? Route accounting practices misrepresent train performance, could complicate Biden rail renaissance https://eddiedee.medium.com/is-amtrak-misleading-america-9e09fcd57860

Modern architecture has gone off the rails in many ways. I've always liked this 2007 Ted Talk by James Howard Kunstler: "How Bad Architecture Wrecked Cities/The Ghastly Tragedy of the Suburbs": https://www.ted.com/talks/james_howard_kunstler_the_ghastly_tragedy_of_the_suburbs/transcript

They should be working with New York to run the trains to Albany. Additional connections at Albany going westward would do a lot for ridership.

California is not the only state that is upset with Amtrak. The state of Pennsylvania wants to take over the Keystone Corridor (between Harrisburg and Philadelphia) from Amtrak: https://pennbizreport.com/news/17859-legislation-would-transfer-amtrak-line-to-pennsylvania/ I also have it on good authority that the state of Indiana did not cancel funding for the Hoosier State Amtrak train between Indianapolis and Chicago because they are anti-train or because they did not want to spend the money. They canceled the Hoosier State funding because they came to view Amtrak as a bad business partner. For a short time a few years ago, Iowa Pacific Holdings (now bankrupt) got a contract from the state of Indiana to run the Hoosier State. Indiana got to see what another operator could do for less money and they got to see how Amtrak did everything they could to sandbag Iowa Pacific (which they did). I don't know all of the causes of IP's bankruptcy, but Amtrak's shenanigans didn't help. Anyway, the state of Indiana is about to spend $173 million to double-track 26 miles of the South Shore Electric commuter railroad that runs between NW Indiana and Chicago: https://www.wibc.com/news/local-indiana/south-shore-double-tracking-project-gets-massive-federal-boost/ There are rumors that Indiana may consider an alternative to restoring the Hoosier State that would not involve Amtrak. Rather than terminate the train at Chicago Union Station they would connect to the South Shore line and terminate the train at Millenium Station or McCormick Place. Also, Congressman Dan Lipinski, outgoing chair of the House Transportation & Infrastructure said last year that he would like to see Metra take over Chicago Union Station. I wouldn't be surprised if that idea surfaces again at some point.

Being a mostly volunteer organization with a small budget, a volunteer web designer would be most helpful. Then money could be spent on other things.

California corridors ask Congress to revise Amtrak cost formulas Amtrak president defends current system, urges agencies to work with company on possible changes By Bob Johnston | December 11, 2020 https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2020/12/11-amtrak-accounting-system-remains-source-of-friction-with-operators-of-state-supported-services Amtrak's route cost accounting issue is not going to go away, in fact I expect that calls to force Amtrak to fix it once and for all will continue. What's funny (and aggravating at the same time) is that in this article, Amtrak President Stephen Gardner laments that he was "caught off guard" by California's letter. That's a flat out lie. He knows California is upset. Amtrak officials were at the same congressional hearing San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority Exec. Dir. Stacey Mortensen testified at in November 2019 where she called this out, asked Congress to fix the problem and to request permission to contract out operation of the San Joaquin corridor Stacey Mortensen's testimony below. She rips Amtrak a new one in the most polite and professional manner possible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTpbmgV5748