October 17, 20186 yr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 2, 20186 yr So many children's deaths this week, hit by cars while walking or waiting for the school bus. None of the drivers were charged.... AND "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 20, 20186 yr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 3, 20186 yr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 11, 20196 yr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 25, 20196 yr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 7, 20196 yr "I'm a pedestrian but I'm also a person. I am vulnerable even in this crosswalk. That's why I have the right of way here. So please don't kill me." Edited February 7, 20196 yr by KJP "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 7, 20196 yr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 8, 20196 yr That's about right. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 8, 20196 yr 5 hours ago, X said: What is going on in Florida? Thats the eternal question isn’t it
February 8, 20196 yr 16 hours ago, KJP said: "I'm a pedestrian but I'm also a person. I am vulnerable even in this crosswalk. That's why I have the right of way here. So please don't kill me." As a pedestrian and bicyclist, this is why I hate tinted windows. I cannot tell if the person sees me or not. sometimes all I see is their glowing phone screen through the tint
February 9, 20196 yr The end of walking In Orwellian fashion, Americans have been stripped of the right to walk, challenging their humanity, freedom and health https://aeon.co/amp/essays/step-by-step-americans-are-sacrificing-the-right-to-walk "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 1, 20196 yr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 7, 20196 yr But it's entitled pedestrians/walkers (only in America do we call them something other than "people" or "human beings") who are at fault, say those driving around in their urban assault vehicles equipped with the blunt-force trauma grills.... Edited March 7, 20196 yr by KJP "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 7, 20196 yr I don't want to absolve people of responsibility for distracted driving, but that's mostly a scapegoat for the systemic over-engineering of our roads and streets with the only goal being to move the most cars as fast as possible through our cities and suburbs. It's the engineering profession, state DOTs, and blind adherence to standards that put motorists in positions to harm and kill vulnerable road users, distracted or not. In Europe "fatalities among pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and moped riders have not decreased at the same pace as in the overall population" but they're still decreasing. It's hard to put the blame on phones in that case.
March 7, 20196 yr I walk a lot and I'm often terrified of crossing certain streets -- not because of their design but because drivers beep their horn at me walking in the marked crosswalk, not "see" me, come close to clipping me, and get mad at me when I hit the sides of their vehicles with my fist. Yes, they pass that close to me that I can hit their cars!! I think some crossings should be equipped with baseball bats at each end so people can swing them at cars that get too close to them. Then after the person crosses the street, they leave the bat in a bucket for the next pedestrian to use. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
March 7, 20196 yr ^ That's a problem with the design of the street itself. It's an environment where cars are dominant, and everything else is subservient, regardless of what the law says. That doesn't happen on streets like this:
March 7, 20196 yr 31 minutes ago, KJP said: I walk a lot and I'm often terrified of crossing certain streets -- not because of their design but because drivers beep their horn at me walking in the marked crosswalk, not "see" me, come close to clipping me, and get mad at me when I hit the sides of their vehicles with my fist. Yes, they pass that close to me that I can hit their cars!! I think some crossings should be equipped with baseball bats at each end so people can swing them at cars that get too close to them. Then after the person crosses the street, they leave the bat in a bucket for the next pedestrian to use. I get very nervous when people make turns and get that close to me. When I drive I like to wait until pedestrians have nearly crossed the entire road. You never know if you've misjudged their pace or if they slip and fall. I notice that people drive in the urban area as if they are in an exurban area where there are not usually any pedestrians.
March 7, 20196 yr A lot more people today are forced to walk in unwalkable areas since poverty has moved out into sprawl areas. It's way, way more expensive to keep a car on the road than it was 20 years ago. I remember buying running, driving safe cars for $200-$400 4-5 times in the '90s. '79 Malibu, '81 Malibu, '82 Subaru, '77 Firebird. Now you have to pay $1000 for anything that runs, drives, starts and stops.
March 7, 20196 yr 46 minutes ago, jjakucyk said: ^ That's a problem with the design of the street itself. It's an environment where cars are dominant, and everything else is subservient, regardless of what the law says. That doesn't happen on streets like this: Things can have more than one cause!
March 7, 20196 yr 1 minute ago, GCrites80s said: A lot more people today are forced to walk in unwalkable areas since poverty has moved out into sprawl areas. It's way, way more expensive to keep a car on the road than it was 20 years ago. I remember buying running, driving safe cars for $200-$400 4-5 times in the '90s. '79 Malibu, '81 Malibu, '82 Subaru, '77 Firebird. Now you have to pay $1000 for anything that runs, drives, starts and stops. I agree with this mostly but I think that cars are more reliable now than they were in the 70s and 80s. but the point stands that it is expensive to own a car especially for people with low incomes.
March 7, 20196 yr 18 minutes ago, GCrites80s said: A lot more people today are forced to walk in unwalkable areas since poverty has moved out into sprawl areas. Likely a significant contributor to the increase in pedestrian fatalities.
March 7, 20196 yr Cars are indeed much more reliable, but the parts and repairs for them were wayyyy cheaper back then and people knew how to do a lot of things themselves. And the hillbilly fixes that cost nothing still were possible. I remember in 1987 my dad killed the flywheel (flexplate) on his '85 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme by hitting the starter too many times when it was already running. He took it to the dealer to get fixed. Parts AND labor for this procedure (which included removing and reinstalling the transmission) added up to $35.
March 7, 20196 yr 2 hours ago, KJP said: I walk a lot and I'm often terrified of crossing certain streets -- not because of their design but because drivers beep their horn at me walking in the marked crosswalk, not "see" me, come close to clipping me, and get mad at me when I hit the sides of their vehicles with my fist. Yes, they pass that close to me that I can hit their cars!! Stay calm my man! We need you to stay out of jail lol. When I was back in Ohio I met some friends for breakfast at the new Diner on Clifton. At THREE separate times I saw elderly women trying to walk across Clifton, which KJP as you know is like 22 lanes of speeding traffic. Nervewracking for me to watch, likely terrifying for them. These are people who obviously can no longer drive. And by my count there's a lot of elderly in the area, but they're not provided any safe way to cross the road. It's really ridiculous that's the best we can do for those folks.
March 19, 20196 yr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 28, 20196 yr An "oldie" but a goodie. Just saw it. See, if you were a real American and not a commie pinko pedestrian, you would have put your car on when you left the house this morning.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 30, 20196 yr BTW, if you don't follow Gunderson, you should. He has a nice, dark sense of humor..... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 30, 20196 yr America hates pedestrians.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 15, 20195 yr America hates pedestrians.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
July 16, 20195 yr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
September 11, 20204 yr Wonder why pedestrian safety is on the decline? Because it is legal to kill people while negligently handling a weapon as long as that weapon is an automobile.... "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
May 3, 20214 yr 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 Edited May 3, 20214 yr by gildone
May 6, 20214 yr On 5/3/2021 at 5:18 PM, gildone said: How Bankrupt American Cities Stay Alive - Debt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfQUOHlAocY I think the debt one is really important for people to wrap their heads around. Every City needs grants or bonds to just keep their head above water when it comes to infrastructure maintenance.
May 6, 20214 yr This channel also has some good urban planning type videos, though he has a lighter tone to his videos. Why Strip Malls are Trash for Walkability - The Armchair Urbanist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNa35Fubm4Q
May 12, 20214 yr Making car-light streets that are safe for pedestrians and bikes isn't that difficult:
July 31, 20213 yr This morning I was searching for news of a young girl hit on Lorain near 65th yesterday. I didn't find any update on her condition, but in the meantime I found this article from February, which I hadn't seen at the time. This pedestrian was hit in a crosswalk in Lakewood by a driver turning into an oncoming lane, cited and found guilty. I'm guessing the driver was connected to someone, but there is no mention of their name in either the article or the court records. From what I can see on the video, if you live in Lakewood (a very walkable city) be warned. You could be nearly killed in a crosswalk and be found at fault. Former director of Cleveland’s Singing Angels seriously injured after being struck by a car https://www.cleveland19.com/2021/02/22/former-director-clevelands-singing-angels-seriously-injured-after-being-struck-by-car/
August 1, 20213 yr Urban noise may be something we don't think about much, but it's more collateral damage that's tied to car dependency. Cities Aren't Loud. Cars Are Loud.
November 1, 20213 yr Berlin referendum to ban cars (with exceptions) in a large segment of the city: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/06/berlins-car-ban-campaign-its-about-how-we-want-to-live-breathe-and-play "It’s as much about our immediate environment as it is about the environment at large. It’s about how we all want to live, breathe and play together. We want people to be able to sleep with their windows open, and children to be able to play in the street again. And grandparents should be able to ride their bicycles safely and have plenty of benches to take a breather on...” "A 2014 report commissioned by Berlin’s regional parliament found that 58% of traffic space was devoted to cars, even though only a third of journeys on Berlin streets..." “The federal environmental ministry did a study recently and 91% of people said they would be happier without a car. Moreover, only a third of individual Berliners actually have a car,” said Kaestner..."
November 4, 20213 yr Our Self-imposed Scarcity of Nice Places https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2021/11/3/our-self-imposed-scarcity-of-nice-places Every advocate for making urban design more [pick one: walkable, bikeable, beautiful, lovable, inviting, human-scale] has at some point or another faced the charge of elitism. Virtually every feature of public space that makes it more pleasant to linger in, stroll through, or simply view, has at some point been associated by someone with gentrification, or simply culturally coded as upscale. This belief is rooted in the following true observation: The best American examples of top-notch urbanism are mostly places inhabited by well-to-do Americans, and their real-estate prices and rents are usually prohibitive for most others. This includes the majority of places that are currently walkable, bikeable, have attractive human-scale architecture, have attractive greenery, aren't pockmarked with parking lots, and are full of small storefronts suited for local businesses... There is abundant evidence that nearly the entirety of the U.S. and Canada are dramatically under-supplied, not just in quaint historic places, but in walkable urban places, period. It's our “shortage of cities“ that makes urbanism a hot commodity... Scarcity Makes It Harder to Tell What Communities Really Want
November 25, 20213 yr In car-dominated Texas, the #1 tourist attraction in the state is the San Antonio Riverwalk. (It is in fact so successful, that other states have taken notice. Oklahoma City built it's own version from scratch in 1999):
March 14, 20223 yr So if you don't want to be a blathering idiot in your senior years, move to the city or a walkable suburb! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 10, 20223 yr Nice to see the American Conservative magazine on the side of walkability: Small Retail Can Make Neighborhoods Walkable Allowing ACUs to operate in neighborhoods can spur walkability and small-business formation. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/urbs/accessory-commercial-units-create-walkable-communities/?utm_content=buffer4ecb1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
June 28, 20222 yr Hoboken Hasn’t Had a Traffic Death in Four Years. What’s It Doing Right? https://www.curbed.com/2022/06/hoboken-traffic-deaths-none-vision-zero-streets.html
September 16, 20222 yr Spotted in Nasvhille, one of America's thriving "boom towns" with little public transit options. Here they just put up warning signs that pedestrians should be more responsible for their actions.
September 16, 20222 yr Yes, I also look at motorists in their wheeled weapons while I'm crossing the street and mouth the words "please don't kill me." "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
October 21, 20222 yr This is criminal negligence. It's time to start suing cities, DOT's and the engineers themselves who are refusing to address safety issues involving non-road users. They are being negligent: I was in a meeting today with Spanish Fork's Traffic Safety Committee about this dangerous school crossing. They effectively said nothing can be done to improve student safety because vehicle speed is the priority. Their preferred "solution" is to simply remove the crosswalk. https://t.co/wjTBVzkCbs Here's the rest of the twitter thread: The crossing guard suggested a HAWK signal. This was dismissed because the MUTCD (the car-centric 'bible' of traffic engineering) says there aren't enough pedestrians to warrant a HAWK signal. And UDOT doesn't usually like cities using HAWK signals anyway. The crossing guard suggested a modal filter across the north-south road similar to some UDOT intersections in Provo. This was dismissed as a political "non-starter" (despite north-south traffic numbers being so low they aren't even counted). The crossing guard suggested a pedestrian refuge island. This was dismissed because it would prevent drivers making southbound left turns (again, very few drivers do this). And because it's less convenient for snowplow drivers. The crossing guard suggested a raised crosswalk. This idea was hardly acknowledged, because the priority of this 5-lane road is vehicle speed. The crossing guard suggested moving the crosswalk away from the intersection by ~100 ft to remove turning vehicles from the equation. This was dismissed because it might occasionally disrupt the ordinary flow of cars through the intersection & would conflict with some driveways. The crossing guard suggested they try one of the above solutions on a temporary basis. If it works it can be made permanent, if it fails it can be easily removed. This was dismissed because the materials they use for temporary installations aren't robust enough for winter. They acted concerned and assured us they were listening and anxious to solve the problem. But the only solution they seriously entertained was removing the crosswalk and putting up signs telling kids to walk three blocks out of their way to the nearest traffic signal. The crossing guard told them he didn't like that idea because some children will continue to cross at this location & they were merely absolving themselves of blame in the event of a collision. They agreed with his point but cited similar examples on UDOT roads as justification. The crossing guard repeatedly told them that a child WILL be hit. But they didn't feel the urgency, because "this is only a problem for 15 minutes at the start and end of every day." They suggested maybe he should put out more cones. Time and again they cited UDOT and the MUTCD to explain why they weren't willing to use any creative solutions to protect kids from traffic violence. "Our hands are kind of tied." (Which isn't true) They ended by asking about collisions at the intersection. With enough injuries or deaths they might be able to add improvements. The priests of the MUTCD demand blood sacrifice before they're willing to act. WHEN a child is hit or killed here it cannot be called an accident. P.S. I should clarify that a decision hasn't yet officially been made. I made this thread mostly so that when a child is hit or killed there will be a record of their unwillingness to deviate from outdated, car-centric practices and they can't say it was an accident.
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