Highway design

[atbman]

Saw a programme on Houston - "The Fattest city in America" the other night.

What was noticeable was the number of roads with no footpaths alongside, even in housing developments. I'd come across this phenomenon before in a South Carolina newspaper website whose editor roundly condemned it.

One mother, whose house had a 7-8 yard grass verge separating her property from the roadway drove her son 50(!) feet(!) to the schoolbus stop..

I've seen some local mother in my town driving their kids 1/4 mile to school, but that is utterly barmy.

How do these things get past your planners?

[caloso]

Planners?

[atbman]

PS when I wrote local mother I didn't mean local mutha.

Should have been mothers

Just in case

[Da Tinker]

People get what they vote for, or consider important. They don't consider sidewalks, playgrounds, ballfields & physical education in schools important (or worthy of their tax dollars). So the politicians, with their fingers ever in the breeze, don't enact rules requiring them.

The result is Houston, voted one of the most bike unfriendly metro areas in the nation, holding the fat title. And to think it is home to the largest charity bike ride in the nation: the BP MS 150, which is expecting over 11,000 riders this year.

Oh, and Houston just lost the title to Detroit. Motor City, go figure.

[temp1]

The problem is community design

[DieselDan]

The problem is community design

More like a lack of design.

[slvoid]

Imagine if you will, the average work day for most people stuck in a cubicle:
Wake up, eat semi-healthy/healthy/un-healthy breakfast: 15-30min
Sit on ass while driving to work: 1-2hr
Walk into lobby: 5min
Stand on elevator: 5min
Sit at desk: 6-9hr

Then reverse the process while going back home, cept add 30-60min for the commute.

We car-pooled to a training course today, about 50 miles. It took 2 hours to get there and 3 hours to get back. 5 hours total. Training session? 5 hours.

All dez local mutha's here be driving theys fatass kids 2 blocks to the pizzeria.

I notice in a lot of places, these huge malls and department stores don't have access other than directly off a major road. So they're relatively inaccessible unless you actually want to *Gasp* go for a long walk or drive.

Also, with the x-marts and wally world's out there, not only have they destroyed community values and local businesses, they also promote this type of behavior that you're talking about.

Whereas in the past, you could just walk a few blocks to the local grocery store to get some cereal or the local hardware store to get some tools. Along comes wally world and they clobber all the local businesses like baby seals. Now, you have no choice but to drive 30 minutes to this huge store and buy things in massive quantities if you want to avoid the frequent trips.

There's a mall around here with a big toysrus store and of the 5 LBS's around here, I went to all 5 of them a few months ago, only 1 was still in business. Then the other day while I was passing by toysrus, I saw this guy trying to load 4 brand spanking new red pacific toy bikes into his SUV. He had two on the roof, one in the back, and another one on his 2nd row of seats, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry...

[LittleBigMan]

I am looking forward to the day when people get back out on the sidewalks and neighborhood streets to talk, walk to the store, play...

...and ride bikes.

[Dahon.Steve]

I've seen some local mother in my town driving their kids 1/4 mile to school, but that is utterly barmy.
How do these things get past your planners?

I live in NJ and seen the same thing. My neighbor drives across the street (75 feet) to the supermarket to buy groceries. Incredible.

Each year, the highway department present communities all around the U.S. with plans to expand streets and roads. Many streets or roads that local people are accustomed to is said to be deficient and doesn't conform to "modern" standards. It's not wide enough, and has curves or other features that are different from what Interstate-era engineering handbooks prescribe. Traffic has grown and unless something is done, motorists will experience delays that the highway department considers excessive.

When the rode is finally widened, you'll find the traffic moving faster, polution greater, noise louder and life miserable.

[Kevin S]

Each year, the highway department present communities all around the U.S. with plans to expand streets and roads.

And these will be billed as "improvements." They just won't say for whom. :mad:

[johno]

No joke on the growing fatness of the average person.

I'm 6'2", weigh around 160, pretty skinny. I have a problem - most stores do not stock pants that fit me. Wasn't an issue 10-15 years ago, but within the last few years, I've had to resort to the internet to order pants. Go into a local store and look for a 30-32" waist, and they all have 29" inseam or less. And if they have a 36" inseam, the waistband would probably hold two of me.

What's with these slobs? How can anyone let themself look like that? Geez - ride a bike, pump iron, jog, do something to remind yourself that you're still alive.