Robert Pence

It's an imposing set of buildings, and they still look pretty good for the most part.

It's too bad the old Main Street bridge is too far gone to rebuild. I think it's a classic piece of art deco design.

Great photos! I love your freighter photos. I've never been fortunate enough to be there at the right time to see/photograph one.

Damn, VZ! Fabulous work!

I recall that in the past, at least one forumer had an encounter with transit cops for taking photos at a T station. Does anyone know what PAT official policy is on photography?

It has a charm similar to that of Gary, Indiana.

Only got red x's on the forum page, but after clicking "Properties" and then copying/pasting into the browser address, I was able to see them. Beautiful places.

Detroit looks like a pretty nice place -- not all congested and overrun with new skyscrapers, like Chicago.

I just made my hotel reservation (Comfort Inn & Suites, Dormont). Looks like it's on a bus route and within walking distance of the T.

:clap:

I hadn't looked at Dahon in quite some time; they've come a long way from the tiny-wheeled bikes that weren't quite big enough for me. I'm not all that tall (5'10"), but I'm long-legged for my height and I ride a 24" or 25" frame in a road bike. I couldn't feature tackling significant distances in traffic or on busy paths on one. The 20-inch wheels and somewhat larger frame size, along with the backpack carrying bag, make Dahon sound like serious portable urban transportation. With the price tag ($500+) I'll have to think about it for a while, though.

That's a refreshing change of pace for commuter rail. There's been increasing support for cyclists on city transit systems, both in the addition of bike racks to transit buses and in the acceptance of a limit number of bikes on light & heavy rail during off-peak periods, but the commuter rail systems have shown entrenched resistance. I suppose part of the reason has been capacity. The South Shore trains running east from Chicago tend to be packed at any time of day, because they ration equipment for maintenance purposes during off-peak periods; off-peak trains may be only one married pair, and eastbound they fill up after Van Buren or Roosevelt. Another issue might be boarding congestion. Whereas many urban light and heavy rail systems have level-platform boarding, commuter rail often uses low-level platforms at suburban stations, and carrying bikes up and down the steps, around tight corners and though narrow doorways could slow boarding and detraining and create potential liability risks from boarding/detraining injuries. I would love to be able to take my bike with me to Chicago on the South Shore. Unfortunately, "Bicycles are Prohibited (except if disassembled and carried on board in a bag or container expressly designed for such purposes and stowed in the overhead luggage rack)." Discussion of the topic reminds me of a demonstration in New York quite a few years ago where a group of bicycle advocates boarded a subway carrying an extension ladder and large pieces of furniture, each carried by two people, and were not challenged. When one of the group tried to take a bicycle onto the platform, he was threatened with arrest if he persisted.

China's authoritarian government might be able to make it happen, to some degree. A government chosen in a popularity contest administered by the greedy and pandering to the the short-sighted, selfish and ignorant wouldn't be inclined to try it or able to accomplish it. (I guess that applies to almost all needed social reforms :-) ) As much as I love bikes and riding them, it will take more than bike lanes to get me to emigrate to China.

What a charmer! Thanks for the tour.

It makes the Bay Horse look like a friendly neighborhood tavern. :-D

I'm not opposed to some of the ethanol production facilities that have been proposed or areoperating or being built, but as I've stated before in this forum, I think people's expectations of ethanol as the savior of their cars and suburbs are wildly over-inflated. Among the plans that have been floated, this one is one of the better-sounding ones. E3 BioSolution has come up with a plan for closed-loop systems co-located with concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Distillers' grains byproducts can be fed directly to animals at the site, eliminating the need for the expensive centrifuge used to dry grains for storage and shipment and reducing energy consumption. The animal waste (manure) is fed into aerobic digesters that produce methane to fuel the ethanol production process; the methane production process eliminates/controls the odors commonly associated with large CAFOs, and after being used in the methane generators, the manure can be returned to the fields as fertilizer.

Nobody commented?! Do you know any of the details about it? It looks like it's pretty old and long-abandoned. I think it's a fascinating concept, though.

Classic!

Good stuff! This should be black & white, with a '55 Caddy for the car:

The photos of PPG are excellent. I remember seeing reports some time ago on one of the forums, either here or at SSP, of someone being hassled badly by building security for trying to take photos that weren't as close or as revealing as these.

Very good tour! It's an impressive campus.

Good coverage. Dayton has some handsome buildings and a wonderful location by the river. Federal Courthouse surveillance seems to be getting more thorough; In the past year or so, I've seldom been able to take a photo of one without being accosted by security, even in smaller cities. Virtually all have signs inside the entrances prohibiting any devices that can take photographs, but so far, I haven't seen anything posted outside.

You should have followed him to see where he lives, and then gone back late at night and put rainbow bumper stickers on his car. :evil:

Very attractive neighborhood. The properties all look well cared for.

Beautiful!