Hayward

What part of the Dan Ryan is under construction? It's been complete for over a year now.

CTRL SHIFT, then type "bailout" LOL

Awesome photo tour. I've only visited this area once, but it felt a lot like some of the denser areas of Detroit.

U.S. cities still are not dense enough to warrant train pushers except maybe around times square during commuting when there are three tiers of people lined up at subway platforms. However, I think renewed interest in mass transit has reached a point where if you can get the ridership for rail or brt, build it. As I mentioned, there are plenty of other cities, like Ann Arbor that have no excuse for not building intercity rail within the next few years. I'm tired of waiting until 2015, 2018, or 2020. I want it now!

I liked the look on ColDayMan's face when that horrific sound echoed up the stairwell as we waited for the elevator. It was the look of "I'm no longer surprised of the strange and crazy things in this state."

PRT looks space age to me. Or maybe it's just because few of these exist and were built around that time. But it makes me think of Epcot. I was just browsing through some of U of M's future planning documents and some of them do mention future heavy circulation corridors so that new walkways, buildings, etc don't conflict with this plan. They have to be thinking rail, or some detached form of mass transit that doesn't use roadways since the routes cut over hilly terrain and between buildings...not along roads. I can only hope, but the whole thing is kept really quiet. I wonder about articulated buses. They seem to do okay on tight congested streets, but can you imagine students driving those with their federal work-study positions? LOL. I see stop signs and light poles getting knocked over.

Yeah, whatever is making that awful sound between levels 2 and 5 has to be resolved. Levels 3 and 4 don't exist and I'm not sure why. But I actually don't park in that ramp much, except to leave my car there during snow removal days.

I feel in most places of the US this is rare, but I'm really getting fed up with the University of Michigan's bus system. U of M operates buses every 5-10 minutes between its North and Central campuses. The system is also free for everyone. You don't have to be a student or faculty. Commuting is heavy between both areas, and unfortunately I'm the final stop before the bus cruises non stop through the Huron Valley from the tight urban Central Campus to the bland and mundane suburban North campus. As a result, when the bus doors open (if the bus actually stops), I see a huge wall of people, and only 5 inches of space from the yellow line. Buses are mainly standing room with single seats along the walls. Very similar to a subway. Buses have double sliding doors and you may enter or exit from either front or back. I don't care that it appears there's no room, I aggressively shove the students near the edge, as people once did to me when I got on at earlier stops. Nobody complains because we all understand we have places to be. But I don't like it. I dislike someone's arm pressed against my nose, as well as someone breathing on my neck. What is more uncomfortable is when you really have to reach out to grab the stanchions, yet you always are close to losing your balance and knocking everyone over. I don't complain about things much, and I'll continue to put up with it, but I'd like to think Ann Arbor is first world enough to fix the problem by building an EL train system (which has already been planned out by URS) or at the very least ground light rail to resolve this issue. In the meantime, I wouldn't entirely be against subsidizing parking and having heavily reduced fees from $1/hour to 25 cents/hour which would motivate me to drive instead of taking mass transit. I know this sounds incredibly opposite of what I believe in, but there will always be thousands on central campus without cars because they have nowhere to park them. As for the people who can drive, build a 3000 space garage and call it done. It could be a temporarily solution until leaders get motivated and invest in a comprehensive mass transit system Adding buses may help, but our streets are already heavily loaded with buses and they sometimes arrive 3 to a stop (still all very full) The best solution is rail. A non stop link between both campuses, where other stops (such as mine) can be serviced by bus, without people from the heart of campus. Detroit is building a light rail system, but Ann Arbor's would serve at the very least TWICE as many as Detroit's in only 1/8 the distance! Maybe a BRT system would work, but I would expect it to have dedicated lanes which would be really hard with AA's tight streets. Please share if you have similar experiences. BTW, I've experienced the NY subway during commute hours, stood still delayed, on many occasions. That has yet to compare to my bus experiences.

to work/school (both happen in same building) - 3 min walk 2 blocks flat terrain - 2 min walk 1 long block down steep hill - Wait 5 minutes for bus - Get angry because bus is absurdly overcrowded and Ann Arbor's plan to build an EL rail system is dragging - 5 min bus ride, extremely uncomfortable sometimes painful depending on what contorted position you are in - 1 min walk to building from work reverse, except all uphill and the bus isn't as crowded.

I like it because it's always easy for me to find parking on Sheridan (at Birchwood). There's and old folks home by there, and they don't drive.

I drive 100mph on the freeway and get away with it. J/k, I did that once. Although I did get away with it. Ticket said I was driving 75 mph, not 100. Went to pay it, but they dropped it.

MTS, this must be a Muzak button. Are you suggesting he listen to Muzak instead? Seriously, buildings renovated in the 70's have these buttons near light switches (they look like elevator controls) that actually turn on Muzak on that floor. :mrgreen: I thought Muzak was just a provider for that music, I never would have thought they installed system controls throughout office buildings. I was surprised and also disturbed when I pushed the button.

yes because you know that's sooooooooo me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Damnit urbanohio. Do you realize I have the easiest assignment to due do and I need to get it turned int tomorrow? Actually it was due 2 months ago. But it's all I have to do and this forum is ruining my plans.

Rogers park is awful. And that's why I might move there. I find the worst parts of Chicago the best. I don't mind the Howard CTA station but the Jarvis station is in bad shape and smells terrible 100% of the time. I'm exaggerating a bit. Rogers park is okay. Good building stock but it still has it's issues with drugs, gangs, and other various problems. Not that I really care.

I look forward to my next apartment. I've slowly been upgrading each time, and surprisingly the rent has gone down each time. I hope to be in Chicago this summer and I'm looking for something in the range I'm already paying ~ $800-1000/month. After doing some apartment searches, it appears that doesn't get me an upgrade from what I have already :-( That is unless I live in Rogers Park or something.

I photographed abandoned buildings for awhile. Although today, that isn't considered geeky anymore since it's gained quite a bit of popularity. I'm done though. Got PCB poisoning in a factory and over it. I did go into Michigan Central Station recently, but that's not an abandoned building, rather an overrated tourist attraction in severe disrepair. Severe Disrepair - Admission, FREE no need to sign release form!

^ I agree. I do like the pictorial journeys down certain streets. That view down MLK with all the towers is always interesting. They are starting to fill in some of the empty areas around them with townhouses more recently

Nice historic homes!

Great shots! I like these holiday threads. I've been to quite a few tree lighting ceremonies lately and it's always nice to see the big crowds of people getting together. Especially when there's free food and drinks.

I've photographed bad areas from East to West coast and I think the encounters one may have with curious residents are actually reversed in this situation. People in the worst areas don't seem to care since they understand the spectacle of devastation around them. Both good and bad areas can raise some questions if you are taking pictures of a particular house instead of general scenery. Why are you photographing my house? And imagine the homeowner's thoughts: Are they going to break into my house? Will they sell images of my house? Is my family's privacy being violated? I think people who may live in poor areas understand what you are doing more than you think, and surprisingly take it as a compliment. I think the main reason though I never have issues is I'm on a bike. Even in the worst of areas of Detroit I'll ride a bike. Walking around with a $600 camera out in the open isn't the best idea. On the other hand, drive-by photography is obnoxious and rude. So using a bike to get around is a good middle ground. I rarely even get second glances in places I'd never thought I'd be.

My parent's cat is being boring and just sitting on the heat vent. I wish it would do something interesting except it's 19

No Free and It will be hard to pick up a signal until you get on the plane - if you can get one then. I got a free WEAK signal at gate A1, which is the gate you have to walk on the tarmac. I assumed it was weak because I was down below. Yeah that gate sucks! whenever I see that on my BP I know I'll be crammed onto a RJ! :x I like the Embraer 145's when I can get the single seat rows. That is living. You damn short people would! Yes we do :-D I prefer to fly on Embraers, except for the inconvenience of gate-checking. I loath checking bags. Gate checking is heaven verse checking your bag. I meant as opposed to being able to put it in the overhead.... But yes, gate checking is better than regular checking. Agreed. What the hell is going on?

Details are beginning to emerge about a privately funded plan to build a $103 million light-rail commuter loop along 3.4 miles of Woodward Avenue in Detroit from Hart Plaza to Grand Boulevard. - Passengers would ride two-car streetcar-style trains powered by overhead electrical wires and running on steel rails embedded in the street and operated by a driver, the study shows. Each car could carry more than 150 people. - Businesses and institutions along the route's stops — 23 stations, one on each side of the street and one at Hart Plaza — would be asked to buy branding rights for the stations, the study says. Branded stations would include themes, colors and logos of the buyer along with advertising. - The route's annual operating costs are estimated at $4.2 million to $5.6 million, well beyond the $2.1 million the system is predicted to raise from tickets and advertising. It offered several options for subsidizing the system, including money from the city's general fund, a new tax or a tax-increment financing district. It's unknown what discussions or changes have since been made to the study, which was conducted last year by the University of Detroit Mercy and Deloitte & Touche L.L.P. __________________________________________________________________________ I'm writing a paper

It can, and you can create whatever shaped blocks you like, even circular ones. But with buildings it heavily relies on custom content. Remember that the game provides you a base version with what you can create. That means no buildings on angles, unless you download all the expansions off websites such as simtropolis. People are developing buildings, including ones in real life, that sit at angles on the grid. Some create trapezoidal shapes so it can get real interesting. I have a model of a triangular shaped warehouse I plan to upload to ST very soon that can be placed on a triangle shaped block. Basically, if you know how to use 3d programs like sketchup or 3ds max, you can make whatever type of buildings you want for the game. Looking at Chadoh21's city above, I'd say about 80% of that is custom content. So if you were to buy the game, you could not build a city like Chadoh21's, because you have not taken the time to download the custom content. You can sit for days and probably download every building on Simtropolis for free, or obtain a DVD by donating $20 I think. Since time is money, I'd prefer just donating.

I'm pretty sure La Guardia has free wireless.