This may or may not pan out, but there is a news item on today's CBC
website about someone who claims to have made a breakthrough in easy
production of hydrogen fuel:

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/19/hydrogen040119

The first few paragraphs from the story:

Canadian inventor patents way to make hydrogen fuel
Last Updated Mon, 19 Jan 2004 15:48:06

SAINT JOHN, N.B. - A New Brunswick inventor thinks he has found a new,
cheap way to produce hydrogen gas. If he's right, we may someday use
old pop cans to help fuel cars.

	 •  INDEPTH: Energy
Hydrogen gas is often touted as the fuel of the future, but freeing up
the gas can be difficult and expensive. The fuel is also difficult to
store and transport.


   ----------


Car makers are interested in the technology's applications


Jim Andersen of New Denmark, N.B., may have come up with a solution.
Andersen says he can make lots of hydrogen gas by mixing caustic soda,
water and aluminum over a wide range of temperatures.

(more at the URl above).

If this turns out to be true, it would be encouraging news for those
who expect and hope for continued reliance on private automobiles as
the normal mode of transportation in most situations.

Chris Miller
Washington DC, USA

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This is hardly new.  When I was a kid we used to put lye into soda bottles,
throw in some aluminum foil, wait a few seconds, then light the hydrogen gas
that it generated; if you waited just long enough, the bottles would whistle for
a half-second or so as it burned off the gas.  Presumably the aluminum catalyzed
a eraction that released teh hydrogen from the lye.

The practical questions are two:

1)  How much damn lye does it take to produce a quantity of hydrogen?

2)  And how much aluminum?

Aluminum is expensive, and lye is pretty damn dangerous to transport; also, one
would want to know what the embedded energy of the lye and aluminum are in
relation to the energy potential of the hydrogen produced.  I don't know much
about sodium & potassium hydroxide, except that they are not cheap in the
quantities you use them in photography; I do know that aluminum smelting is one
of the most energy-intensive industrial processes in use today.

Richard

-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher Miller <christophermiller@...>

This may or may not pan out, but there is a news item on today's CBC
website about someone who claims to have made a breakthrough in easy
production of hydrogen fuel:

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/19/hydrogen040119

The first few paragraphs from the story:

Canadian inventor patents way to make hydrogen fuel
Last Updated Mon, 19 Jan 2004 15:48:06

SAINT JOHN, N.B. - A New Brunswick inventor thinks he has found a new,
cheap way to produce hydrogen gas. If he's right, we may someday use
old pop cans to help fuel cars.

	 •  INDEPTH: Energy
Hydrogen gas is often touted as the fuel of the future, but freeing up
the gas can be difficult and expensive. The fuel is also difficult to
store and transport.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/01/18/one_more_woon\
erf_albeit_flawed_a_little_less_whoosh/

One more 'woonerf,' albeit
flawed, a little less whoosh

Dutch concept slows traffic

By Anthony Flint, Globe Staff, 1/18/2004

The harmonious coexistence of cars and pedestrians continues to be a primary
task for those designing and redesigning our urban environments, and the Dutch
strategy of the woonerf -- streets with landscaping and different kinds of
paving that accommodate both on more or less equal terms -- is catching on
throughout the Boston area.

The developers of IKEA at Assembly Square in Somerville have promised a "shared"
car-and-pedestrian area in front of the home-furnishing superstore. A woonerf
has also been proposed for a portion of Cross Street in the North End, part of
the restored street network over the now-submerged Central Artery.

But Brookline has been a pioneer, and its latest offering -- Webster Street
between Beacon and Harvard streets at Coolidge Corner -- is a fine if flawed
example.

It's fine because when motorists turn right onto Webster Street from Beacon they
know this is no ordinary thoroughfare, and certainly not a place to speed
through on their way to Harvard Street. The conventional street disappears in a
Mondrian-like patchwork of different brick pavings in front of the Marriott
hotel; there are no big curbs, and sidewalk and street are all at the same
level. Landscaped "bump-outs" extend out into the street periodically,
encouraging reductions in speed. This is not cars-only territory.

It's flawed only because the Brookline public works department doesn't seem to
grasp the concept and has painted white lines and big right-turn arrows on the
street -- in one case, right over a stone paving that was intended to be a more
subtle delineation. There are also black-and-yellow striped metal rectangles
planted in the bump-outs, as if the shrubs and the bump-out itself weren't
obvious enough indications of its existence. Thus the Mondrian painting gets an
overlay of magic-marker.

A true woonerf blends the realms for the pedestrian and the car, to put those
modes of travel on equal terms. Some streets in the Netherlands have absolutely
no signage or lights or warning signals; it's impossible to tell where the
pedestrian realm ends and the car realm begins, and that's the point. The design
gives the driver signals to slow down and proceed with caution, to figure it all
out.

Conventional streets, with their flashing lights, bright signs, and lines and
arrows painted on the road, allow drivers to switch off their thinking, to be
guided on autopilot. But that's the way 99 percent of the streets in the United
States are built. There's plenty of room for emergency vehicles, snowplows, and
garbage trucks on Webster Street. But a culture has built up around the
conventional approach, and the traffic and safety engineers just can't let go.

"The whole concept is to create an interesting and even ambiguous environment
that forces drivers to pay more attention," said Werner Lohe, a Brookline
resident who has been a champion of the "shared" or "community" street.
"Traditional street marking takes the driver's focus away from that and gives a
sense of false security."

Webster Street is still a marvelous experiment. It was designed by Craig
Halvorson and paid for by the developer of the Marriott hotel, Richard Friedman,
who built the Charles Hotel in Cambridge and knows about urban design, having
led a task force on how to keep public spaces secure and accessible in
Washington, D.C.

The "shared street" was a benefit offered to the community to win over residents
who were wary of development on the town-owned parcel, along with discounted
parking for locals and a promise not to open a full-service restaurant. The
promise of an innovative street design helped persuade environmentalists and
bicycle advocates to support the project, said Lohe.

Streets like this have a built-in constituency -- anyone who walks down it or
lives near it. A livable city is one where residents find it easy to get around
on foot without feeling like they're taking their lives in their hands; a
pedestrian-friendly environment makes it more likely that people won't use their
cars; and streets are every bit a part of the public realm as a park.

But it's clear that advocates and private developers aren't sufficient to bring
about a true woonerf. The traffic engineers need to be in the room, and they
need to understand the concept. A fact-finding trip to the Netherlands may be in
order.

Got a place in mind? Anthony Flint can be reached at flint@...

© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.

A quote:

> Leaders of the 1,400-member Virginia Chamber of Commerce, which has
represented the interests of large and small businesses for 80 years,
unanimously backed a sales tax increase of 1 cent on the dollar, a new top
income tax rate and a higher cigarette tax. They also backed a rise in the gas
tax and endorsed in concept the tax increases proposed by the Republican
chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which are larger than those in
Warner's program.
>
> "A fiscally conservative, long-standing business organization feels obliged to
step up and support these prudent and reasonable tax increases," said Hugh
Keogh, the chamber's president and CEO.

And a link:

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A40125-2004Jan22?language=printer>


--
Richard Risemberg
http://www.living-room.org
http://www.newcolonist.com

"I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity,
an obligation; every possession, a duty."
						 John D. Rockefeller, Jr.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear Mr. Flint,

As a long-time resident of the Netherlands and a leading proponent
of completely carfree cities, I have studied the Dutch woonerf at
some length. You are in error when you claim that:

A true woonerf blends the realms for the pedestrian and the car,
to put those modes of travel on equal terms.

The point, in fact, is to put ALL other street users AHEAD of the
car, which thus by no means enjoys equal status. Cars must yield
to all other street users.

Please correct this misunderstanding.

Thanks & regards,

J.H. Crawford
Carfree.com
Author _Carfree Cities_
Editor/publisher Carfree Times



>http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/01/18/one_more_woo\
nerf_albeit_flawed_a_little_less_whoosh/
>
>One more 'woonerf,' albeit
>flawed, a little less whoosh
>
>Dutch concept slows traffic
>
>By Anthony Flint, Globe Staff, 1/18/2004
>
>The harmonious coexistence of cars and pedestrians continues to be a primary
task for those designing and redesigning our urban environments, and the Dutch
strategy of the woonerf -- streets with landscaping and different kinds of
paving that accommodate both on more or less equal terms -- is catching on
throughout the Boston area.
>
>The developers of IKEA at Assembly Square in Somerville have promised a
"shared" car-and-pedestrian area in front of the home-furnishing superstore. A
woonerf has also been proposed for a portion of Cross Street in the North End,
part of the restored street network over the now-submerged Central Artery.
>
>But Brookline has been a pioneer, and its latest offering -- Webster Street
between Beacon and Harvard streets at Coolidge Corner -- is a fine if flawed
example.
>
>It's fine because when motorists turn right onto Webster Street from Beacon
they know this is no ordinary thoroughfare, and certainly not a place to speed
through on their way to Harvard Street. The conventional street disappears in a
Mondrian-like patchwork of different brick pavings in front of the Marriott
hotel; there are no big curbs, and sidewalk and street are all at the same
level. Landscaped "bump-outs" extend out into the street periodically,
encouraging reductions in speed. This is not cars-only territory.
>
>It's flawed only because the Brookline public works department doesn't seem to
grasp the concept and has painted white lines and big right-turn arrows on the
street -- in one case, right over a stone paving that was intended to be a more
subtle delineation. There are also black-and-yellow striped metal rectangles
planted in the bump-outs, as if the shrubs and the bump-out itself weren't
obvious enough indications of its existence. Thus the Mondrian painting gets an
overlay of magic-marker.
>
>A true woonerf blends the realms for the pedestrian and the car, to put those
modes of travel on equal terms. Some streets in the Netherlands have absolutely
no signage or lights or warning signals; it's impossible to tell where the
pedestrian realm ends and the car realm begins, and that's the point. The design
gives the driver signals to slow down and proceed with caution, to figure it all
out.
>
>Conventional streets, with their flashing lights, bright signs, and lines and
arrows painted on the road, allow drivers to switch off their thinking, to be
guided on autopilot. But that's the way 99 percent of the streets in the United
States are built. There's plenty of room for emergency vehicles, snowplows, and
garbage trucks on Webster Street. But a culture has built up around the
conventional approach, and the traffic and safety engineers just can't let go.
>
>"The whole concept is to create an interesting and even ambiguous environment
that forces drivers to pay more attention," said Werner Lohe, a Brookline
resident who has been a champion of the "shared" or "community" street.
"Traditional street marking takes the driver's focus away from that and gives a
sense of false security."
>
>Webster Street is still a marvelous experiment. It was designed by Craig
Halvorson and paid for by the developer of the Marriott hotel, Richard Friedman,
who built the Charles Hotel in Cambridge and knows about urban design, having
led a task force on how to keep public spaces secure and accessible in
Washington, D.C.
>
>The "shared street" was a benefit offered to the community to win over
residents who were wary of development on the town-owned parcel, along with
discounted parking for locals and a promise not to open a full-service
restaurant. The promise of an innovative street design helped persuade
environmentalists and bicycle advocates to support the project, said Lohe.
>
>Streets like this have a built-in constituency -- anyone who walks down it or
lives near it. A livable city is one where residents find it easy to get around
on foot without feeling like they're taking their lives in their hands; a
pedestrian-friendly environment makes it more likely that people won't use their
cars; and streets are every bit a part of the public realm as a park.
>
>But it's clear that advocates and private developers aren't sufficient to bring
about a true woonerf. The traffic engineers need to be in the room, and they
need to understand the concept. A fact-finding trip to the Netherlands may be in
order.
>
>Got a place in mind? Anthony Flint can be reached at flint@...
>
>© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
>
>
>To Post a message, send it to:   carfree_cities@eGroups.com
>To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: carfree_cities-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
>Group address: http://www.egroups.com/group/carfree_cities/
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carfree_cities/
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> carfree_cities-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>

--                                ###                               --

J.H. Crawford                                           Carfree Cities
mailbox@...                             http://www.carfree.com

Greetings-

We have decided to go forward and pursue Car Free Day here in North
Carolina, USA.  One question regards sponsors, and I was wondering if anyone
could speak from experience- how did you generate funds to support your CFD
initiatives?

I imagine we will approach businesses and community non-profits.  What kind
of events did you run, and how much did it cost to do them?  At what level
did bike shops and non-profits sponsor CFD?  $25, $50, more?  Did you set up
sponsorship levels like many fundraising campaigns do?

For those overseas, you could convert to US dollars using
http://www.x-rates.com/ or just tell me the cost in your local currency and
I'll do the conversion.

Again, just looking for lessons learned here.

All the best,
Patrick McDonough

Going back to the discussion about night trucking, and Joel's mention of the
Alameda Corridor, here's what I've found.

The Alameda corridor was conceived about 20 years ago.  Recently finished,
it hasn't met expectations.  Potential causes are:

- Corridor was designed to operate in LA's economy of 20 years ago, not
today, meaning that trucks better meet business's expectations of
just-in-time deliveries, to save on warehousing.

- Corridor doesn't interface with the major interchanges, which are now
north of it, instead of along it

- Corridor charges money for its use, the 710 freeway probably doesn't
charge (as much)

I'm not sure how to solve the first one, unless the trains can somehow be
ran such that j-i-t deliveries can be made.  Can Joel or any person
knowledgeable in freight rail offer an insight?  Other than that, businesses
could be forced to warehouse, but that can get expensive really quick,
especially if land values are really high.

The 2nd one is comparatively simple; run lines to the interchanges, wherever
they may be.  Hopefully it won't take 20 years, but those kinds of details
can't be determined from my end, at least.

3rd one asks for a price balancing.  Either charge tolls equal to the
Corridor, or not charge for using the Corridor.  Tolling the 710 to be on
par with the Corridor sounds like political suicide, and given California
budget situation, making the Corridor free of charge doesn't make much sense
either.  I personally favor auctioning both infrastructures to the highest
bidder, but that's probably not going to happen either.

The two sources:

http://nutcweb.tpc.nwu.edu/Sources/sdhse/alameda/CalTrade_071503.pdf

LOS ANGELES - A year after it opened, the $2.5-billion Alameda  Corridor
rail
line is operating at less than half its capacity and has failed to lure
enough  business to put a dent in the crushing numbers of tractor-trailers
clogging the 710-Long Beach  Freeway and other routes leading from the
ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to  a recent edition of the
Los Angeles Times. It now appears that the 20-mile railway corridor, which
was Southern California's most expensive public works project, will not be
able to meet its projection of carrying half the cargo generated by the
ports without an investment of hundreds of millions more dollars and major
changes in the way the shipping industry operates, the paper says. "It can
live up to its revenue potential, but it can't live up to its potential for
moving boxes off the freeway," said James C. Hankla, president of the
Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority.

http://refrigeratedtrans.com/ar/transportation_shipping_lines_adopt/

Shipping lines moving United States container cargo to Asia through
Southern  California ports say they will begin passing onto customers the
added rail  charges associated with the Alameda Corridor rail expressway.
As of April 15, 2002, lines will individually pass through charges of $15
per  loaded 20-foot container equivalent (TEU) and $30 per loaded 40-ft
container  equivalent (FEU). Proportionate charges are in place for other
equipment sizes  based on a formula of 75 cents per linear container foot
for a loaded waterborne  container. The charge will apply to all containers
moving by rail from outside  the Southern California area to the ports of
Los Angeles and Long Beach. The $2.4-billion Alameda Corridor project is a
new express rail link between  Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors and
transcontinental rail yards some 20 miles  inland, east of downtown Los
Angeles. It is designed to expedite movement of  longhaul intermodal
container traffic in and out of the harbors, thus reducing  truck highway
and gate congestion, waits at grade crossings, and vehicle  pollution.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [urb-eco] Student Design Competition for Sustainability

Contact:  Timonie Hood, EPA Region 9, (415)972-3282

Please help us spread the word on the P3 Award: A Student Design
Competition for Sustainability for college & grad students.  Resources,
energy, and green building are some of the specific topic areas covered.
There will be 50 awards of up to $10K each and applications are due by
March 25, 2004.

Information:  http://es.epa.gov/ncer/p3/
Application:  http://es.epa.gov/ncer/p3/designs_sustain_rfp.html

Thanks!

Justin Adams

Contact:
Timonie Hood
EPA Region 9
(415)972-3282
--
Richard Risemberg
http://www.living-room.org
http://www.newcolonist.com

"I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity,
an obligation; every possession, a duty."
						 John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Hi All,

I received the following notice, which may be of interst to some of you:



4th Annual Bicycle Film Festival
Call For Entries:  Deadline Feb 17!!

The Bicycle Film Festival is a celebration of bicycles and those who ride
them through film, arts and music. The Festival embraces all the various
bike subcultures. The 4th Annual Bicycle Film Festival will be held May
13-16 to coincide with New York City's Bike Month. The BFF has featured
short and feature-length films from around the world, including: Australia,
Bangladesh, Hungary and, of course, New York City.

For info and entry form, visit

http://www.bicyclefilmfestival.com



Regards,



--                                ###                               --

J.H. Crawford                                           Carfree Cities
mailbox@...                             http://www.carfree.com

Reposted from NoVA Sprawl Weekly:

SMART GROWTH FOSTERS JOB GROWTH
Study: Anti-Sprawl Strategies Good for Construction Jobs

Washington, D.C. - A new study by Good Jobs First (GJF) finds that,
contrary to common belief, smart growth policies are good for
construction jobs. The report provides evidence that smart growth can
create more employment opportunities than sprawl for workers who build
residential and commercial structures and transportation infrastructure.

The study is available on GJF's website,
www.goodjobsfirst.org/pdf/backintown.pdf

"Our findings challenge the conventional idea that construction
employment suffers when communities seek to curb sprawl and manage
growth," said Philip Mattera, GJF's Corporate Research Director and
primary author of the study.  "In fact, our research shows just the
opposite, that smart growth fosters job growth."

GJF Executive Director Greg LeRoy emphasized organized labor's expanding
role in the movement against suburban sprawl. "We see growing
involvement from unions, including the Building Trades, in efforts to
promote smart growth.  Our findings suggest that trend is very likely to
continue."

LeRoy noted the national AFL-CIO's 2001 convention resolution denouncing
sprawl and the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council's recent
endorsement of an Urban Growth Boundary ballot initiative with strong
support from its Building Trades affiliates.

The study, The Jobs are Back in Town: Urban Smart Growth and
Construction Employment, examines how growth-management policies affect
construction jobs. In Oregon, which adopted the country's first UGBs a
quarter-century ago, construction job growth outpaced the nation's more
than 4 to 1 for the most recent 15-year period.

GJF also commissioned two senior urban scholars to perform a national
analysis of 155 metro areas. Those with growth management policies
enjoyed construction activity per new resident more than $100,000 higher
than "business as usual" areas over a ten-year period.

The study also analyzes the labor intensity of different types of
buildings. Using data from a prominent estimating firm, it compares
compact building types (apartment houses and townhouses) to
single-family homes. In denser construction, labor makes up a larger
portion of total costs.

Finally, the study compares highway projects, using data from the
Federal Highway Administration. "Fix it first" projects - such as
resurfacing, rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads - are more
labor-intensive than new highway construction, after adjusting for land
costs.

"We already know that smart growth reduces traffic and promotes clean
air," said Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club. "This
report provides another important reason why smart growth is a winning
formula for the economy and the environment."

Editor's note: Good Jobs First is a non-profit, non-partisan research
center promoting best practices in economic development; it is based in
Washington, DC.
--
Richard Risemberg
http://www.living-room.org
http://www.newcolonist.com

"I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity,
an obligation; every possession, a duty."
						 John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Hi All,

The photo site has been further improved, although it's still beta.
An extensive category listing has been added.

That address again:

	 http://www.carfree.com/cpix/

but please take it easy for another few weeks, due to traffic constraints.
So far, it's been ok, so if nobody takes more than twice as many images
as they did the first time, it should be fine.

Regards,


--                                ###                               --

J.H. Crawford                                           Carfree Cities
mailbox@...                             http://www.carfree.com

I know I'm dabbling in the realm of the highly unlikely here, but if one
could construct a greenfield carfree development along a rail line that
was going to open in the next 10-20 years, even in a very auto-oriented
place, how small could it be and still stand a chance of getting a
critical mass to support itself?

I'm thinking in terms of local retail, etc.?  Would 50 acres do at the 1.5
FAR?  30?  Or do we need to go higher?  (I'm working from Crawford's
reference district idea here)

Patrick McDonough

It's an interesting and difficult question to answer. It depends in
part on whether it's an urban or rural rail line. If urban, then I
think 30-50 acres is enough; if rural, maybe double that. But
it depends so much on circumstances, especially the matter of the
local economy, that I don't think you can really establish a firm
guideline. I think you have to assess it case-by-case. The first
question has to be, how do people earn their living?

Regards,


>I know I'm dabbling in the realm of the highly unlikely here, but if one
>could construct a greenfield carfree development along a rail line that
>was going to open in the next 10-20 years, even in a very auto-oriented
>place, how small could it be and still stand a chance of getting a
>critical mass to support itself?
>
>I'm thinking in terms of local retail, etc.?  Would 50 acres do at the 1.5
>FAR?  30?  Or do we need to go higher?  (I'm working from Crawford's
>reference district idea here)
>
>Patrick McDonough
>
>
>To Post a message, send it to:   carfree_cities@eGroups.com
>To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: carfree_cities-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
>Group address: http://www.egroups.com/group/carfree_cities/
>
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carfree_cities/
>
>To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> carfree_cities-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>

--                                ###                               --

J.H. Crawford                                           Carfree Cities
mailbox@...                             http://www.carfree.com

Several developments of residential artificial islands are being built off
the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At least one of them, 250
islands in the shape of a world map, is 5 km off the coast and has no road
access from the mainland, and from the illustations, appears to be
carfree. It will have more than 5 square kilometers of land
area. The developments appear to be mainly preserves of the rich, though.

http://www.fdimagazine.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/330/Dubai_brings_The_World_to_\
you.html

I noticed that the city the photo was taken in can be determined by
comparing the three letters in the filename with the list of cities
(e.g. 'brg' = 'Brig').


On Wed, 28 Jan 2004, J.H. Crawford wrote:

>
> Hi All,
>
> The photo site has been further improved, although it's still beta.
> An extensive category listing has been added.
>
> That address again:
>
>  http://www.carfree.com/cpix/
>
> but please take it easy for another few weeks, due to traffic constraints.
> So far, it's been ok, so if nobody takes more than twice as many images
> as they did the first time, it should be fine.
>
> Regards,
>
>
> --                                ###                               --
>
> J.H. Crawford                                           Carfree Cities
> mailbox@...                             http://www.carfree.com
>
>
> To Post a message, send it to:   carfree_cities@eGroups.com
> To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to:
carfree_cities-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
> Group address: http://www.egroups.com/group/carfree_cities/
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
>  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carfree_cities/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>  carfree_cities-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
>  http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>

I am guessing that some of the pictures in the photo site will be
making it into the next book as examples of approaches to building
humane urban environments.  Browsing through a couple of the
categories, I noticed the collection of pictures of the Canal- or
river-side street or 'rio'. One example of this that seemed to have no
counterpart in the pictures is the Oude Gracht ("Old Canal") in
Utrecht. What is special about the Oude Gracht, or sections of the
canal, is that the canal-side street/walk is taken up with restaurants
and boutiques that occupy the old loading cellars of buildings behind
them: these former cellars are built below the actual urban street on
which the city buildings are themselves located. The distinction in
grade between the regular street and the canal-side walk sets the canal
of as an almost valley-like special environment, an effect that I found
particularly pleasant when I was there. There are probably not many
places that have this kind of feature (though I have seen grade
separation with regular parallel streets in some places); it is
something interesting that could probably be applied successfully
elsewhere given the right circumstances. Something like this could even
be done with a large public park or square, recessed below normal
street level, and lined on one or more sides by park-side streets with
shops and cafés appropriate to the park itself. Here is a link to a
(not very good) picture of the Oude Gracht, for those who have never
seen it:

http://www.mitland.nl/hotel/utrecht/tour_utrecht_e.htm#05

Here is a nice pair of pictures comparing the Oude Gracht in its
utilitarian days with its current appearance, near the Town Hall
(dignified large building in the background, slightly to the right*):

http://www.rootsinholland.com/emigr/oudegracht.htm

As the text says in part, the Oude Gracht is not only an attractive old
canal twisting through downtown, but it is also *the* place to go to
enjoy a drink on a terrasse or to take a tour of the city (which
confirms how attractive it is to Utrecht residents and others).

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate any better pictures on the
web, but for the benefit of the very few list members who happen to
live in Montreal, there is a very nice picture in the window of the
photo shop in the north-east corner of Berri-UQAM metro station, just
next to the STM public office, on the way to Place Dupuis.

*This is to be contrasted with the new, renovated Town Hall: I don't
know if they are the same building or what or if my knowledge of Dutch
is not up to scratch, but the modern Town Hall is a building of a type
that receives fulsome praise in certain architectural picture
magazines. For those willing to take the plunge and evaluate this type
of architecture for themselves, here is a link (I recommend taking a
deep breath before looking):

http://www.mitland.nl/hotel/utrecht/tour_utrecht_e.htm#07

Chris Miller
Washington DC, USA

On 28 Jan 2004, at 9:24 AM, J.H. Crawford wrote:

>
> Hi All,
>
> The photo site has been further improved, although it's still beta.
> An extensive category listing has been added.

> (...)




   ----------




   ----------



¶ Christopher Miller
¶  http://linguistics.gallaudet.edu/miller.html
¶
¶ Department of Linguistics
¶ (Dawes House 203)
¶ Gallaudet University
¶ 800 Florida Avenue NE
¶ Washington DC  20002
¶ USA
¶
¶ +1 202 651-5674 (voice/TTY/fax)
¶ christopher.miller@...
¶
¶ Home:
¶
¶ 4512 32nd Street
¶ Mount Rainier MD  20712
¶ USA
¶
¶ +1 202 203-8664 (mobile)
¶ christophermiller@...
¶ (miller.christopher@... - expiring soon)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Oh, yeah, sorry I forgot to mention that. I'll post
a list of the codes when I get back to Amsterdam.

Thanks, Erik, for pointing this out.

> I noticed that the city the photo was taken in can be determined by
> comparing the three letters in the filename with the list of cities
> (e.g. 'brg' = 'Brig').
>
>
> On Wed, 28 Jan 2004, J.H. Crawford wrote:
>
> >
> > Hi All,
> >
> > The photo site has been further improved, although it's still beta.
> > An extensive category listing has been added.
> >
> > That address again:
> >
> >  http://www.carfree.com/cpix/
> >
> > but please take it easy for another few weeks, due to traffic
constraints.
> > So far, it's been ok, so if nobody takes more than twice as many images
> > as they did the first time, it should be fine.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> >
> > --                                ###                               --
> >
> > J.H. Crawford                                           Carfree Cities
> > mailbox@...                             http://www.carfree.com
> >
> >
> > To Post a message, send it to:   carfree_cities@eGroups.com
> > To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to:
carfree_cities-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
> > Group address: http://www.egroups.com/group/carfree_cities/
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> > To visit your group on the web, go to:
> >  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carfree_cities/
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> >  carfree_cities-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
> >  http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
>
>
> To Post a message, send it to:   carfree_cities@eGroups.com
> To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to:
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> Group address: http://www.egroups.com/group/carfree_cities/
>
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> To visit your group on the web, go to:
>  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carfree_cities/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
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>

--                                ###                               --

J.H. Crawford                                           Carfree Cities
mailbox@...                                        Carfree.com

Somewhere in the postcard section there's a shot of it.
I know it, as my publisheer is in Utrecht. It's cool!

> I am guessing that some of the pictures in the photo site will be
> making it into the next book as examples of approaches to building
> humane urban environments.  Browsing through a couple of the
> categories, I noticed the collection of pictures of the Canal- or
> river-side street or 'rio'. One example of this that seemed to have no
> counterpart in the pictures is the Oude Gracht ("Old Canal") in
> Utrecht. What is special about the Oude Gracht, or sections of the
> canal, is that the canal-side street/walk is taken up with restaurants
> and boutiques that occupy the old loading cellars of buildings behind
> them: these former cellars are built below the actual urban street on
> which the city buildings are themselves located. The distinction in
> grade between the regular street and the canal-side walk sets the canal
> of as an almost valley-like special environment, an effect that I found
> particularly pleasant when I was there. There are probably not many
> places that have this kind of feature (though I have seen grade
> separation with regular parallel streets in some places); it is
> something interesting that could probably be applied successfully
> elsewhere given the right circumstances. Something like this could even
> be done with a large public park or square, recessed below normal
> street level, and lined on one or more sides by park-side streets with
> shops and cafés appropriate to the park itself. Here is a link to a
> (not very good) picture of the Oude Gracht, for those who have never
> seen it:
>
> http://www.mitland.nl/hotel/utrecht/tour_utrecht_e.htm#05
>
> Here is a nice pair of pictures comparing the Oude Gracht in its
> utilitarian days with its current appearance, near the Town Hall
> (dignified large building in the background, slightly to the right*):
>
> http://www.rootsinholland.com/emigr/oudegracht.htm
>
> As the text says in part, the Oude Gracht is not only an attractive old
> canal twisting through downtown, but it is also *the* place to go to
> enjoy a drink on a terrasse or to take a tour of the city (which
> confirms how attractive it is to Utrecht residents and others).
>
> Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate any better pictures on the
> web, but for the benefit of the very few list members who happen to
> live in Montreal, there is a very nice picture in the window of the
> photo shop in the north-east corner of Berri-UQAM metro station, just
> next to the STM public office, on the way to Place Dupuis.
>
> *This is to be contrasted with the new, renovated Town Hall: I don't
> know if they are the same building or what or if my knowledge of Dutch
> is not up to scratch, but the modern Town Hall is a building of a type
> that receives fulsome praise in certain architectural picture
> magazines. For those willing to take the plunge and evaluate this type
> of architecture for themselves, here is a link (I recommend taking a
> deep breath before looking):
>
> http://www.mitland.nl/hotel/utrecht/tour_utrecht_e.htm#07
>
> Chris Miller
> Washington DC, USA
>
> On 28 Jan 2004, at 9:24 AM, J.H. Crawford wrote:
>
> >
> > Hi All,
> >
> > The photo site has been further improved, although it's still beta.
> > An extensive category listing has been added.
>
> > (...)
>
>
>
>
>   ----------
>
>
>
>
>   ----------
>
>
>
> ¶ Christopher Miller
> ¶  http://linguistics.gallaudet.edu/miller.html
> ¶
> ¶ Department of Linguistics
> ¶ (Dawes House 203)
> ¶ Gallaudet University
> ¶ 800 Florida Avenue NE
> ¶ Washington DC  20002
> ¶ USA
> ¶
> ¶ +1 202 651-5674 (voice/TTY/fax)
> ¶ christopher.miller@...
> ¶
> ¶ Home:
> ¶
> ¶ 4512 32nd Street
> ¶ Mount Rainier MD  20712
> ¶ USA
> ¶
> ¶ +1 202 203-8664 (mobile)
> ¶ christophermiller@...
> ¶ (miller.christopher@... - expiring soon)
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
> To Post a message, send it to:   carfree_cities@eGroups.com
> To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to:
carfree_cities-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
> Group address: http://www.egroups.com/group/carfree_cities/
>
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>
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
>  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carfree_cities/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>
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>  http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>

--                                ###                               --

J.H. Crawford                                           Carfree Cities
mailbox@...                                        Carfree.com

Forgive the malicious humor, but I hope you're referring to the Oude
Gracht and not the renovated Stadhuis (town Hall)!

Chris Miller

On 30 Jan 2004, at 7:20 AM, J.H. Crawford wrote:

> Somewhere in the postcard section there's a shot of it.
> I know it, as my publisheer is in Utrecht. It's cool!




   ----------




   ----------



¶ Christopher Miller
¶  http://linguistics.gallaudet.edu/miller.html
¶
¶ Department of Linguistics
¶ (Dawes House 203)
¶ Gallaudet University
¶ 800 Florida Avenue NE
¶ Washington DC  20002
¶ USA
¶
¶ +1 202 651-5674 (voice/TTY/fax)
¶ christopher.miller@...
¶
¶ Home:
¶
¶ 4512 32nd Street
¶ Mount Rainier MD  20712
¶ USA
¶
¶ +1 202 203-8664 (mobile)
¶ christophermiller@...
¶ (miller.christopher@... - expiring soon)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Definitely the Oude Gracht; the photo is +/- 100 years old!

> Forgive the malicious humor, but I hope you're referring to the Oude
> Gracht and not the renovated Stadhuis (town Hall)!
>
> Chris Miller
>
> On 30 Jan 2004, at 7:20 AM, J.H. Crawford wrote:
>
> > Somewhere in the postcard section there's a shot of it.
> > I know it, as my publisheer is in Utrecht. It's cool!
>
>
>
>
>   ----------
>
>
>
>
>   ----------
>
>
>
> ¶ Christopher Miller
> ¶  http://linguistics.gallaudet.edu/miller.html
> ¶
> ¶ Department of Linguistics
> ¶ (Dawes House 203)
> ¶ Gallaudet University
> ¶ 800 Florida Avenue NE
> ¶ Washington DC  20002
> ¶ USA
> ¶
> ¶ +1 202 651-5674 (voice/TTY/fax)
> ¶ christopher.miller@...
> ¶
> ¶ Home:
> ¶
> ¶ 4512 32nd Street
> ¶ Mount Rainier MD  20712
> ¶ USA
> ¶
> ¶ +1 202 203-8664 (mobile)
> ¶ christophermiller@...
> ¶ (miller.christopher@... - expiring soon)
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
> To Post a message, send it to:   carfree_cities@eGroups.com
> To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to:
carfree_cities-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
> Group address: http://www.egroups.com/group/carfree_cities/
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> To visit your group on the web, go to:
>  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carfree_cities/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>  carfree_cities-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
>  http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>

--                                ###                               --

J.H. Crawford                                           Carfree Cities
mailbox@...                                        Carfree.com

This is probably the best short article I've yet seen on this theme
going as it does into the global implications of accelerating
consumerism and energy use in China.
And though he says '.. The good news is that China's top
environmental officials and economists are aware of the problems
China is facing...' remember that its influential politicians like
the mayor of Shanghai who call the shots, the latter being the guy
promoting the ethnic cleansing of the streets getting rid of bikes
to make way for cars. And guess what -he and his ilk are the ones
treated by western governemnts and media as the great,
progressive 'modernisers'....not Chinas environmentalists.
Sorry i cant just give you the url as the online paper (South China
Morning post)is subscription.

Saturday, January 31, 2004
Bring back bicycles

LIYUAN LU

Not too long ago, China was called a country on wheels - on bicycle
wheels, that is. Throughout the 20th century, the streets of Chinese
cities were filled with millions of bicycles, providing personal
transport and serving as delivery vehicles, carrying everything from
colour television sets to chickens on their way to market. But
today, these streets are rapidly being taken over by cars and
trucks. Shanghai, China's biggest city, banned bicycles on its
largest avenues last month.
Urban planning officials argue that Shanghai's main avenues must be
able to accommodate the commuter class living on the outskirts of
the city which prefers cars to bicycles or public transport. In some
officials' minds, the bicycle equals backwardness and the car is
associated with modernisation.

China's rapid economic growth in the past two decades has made
private car ownership more feasible. Indeed, the growth of private
car ownership in recent years has been phenomenal. According to the
Washington-based Worldwatch Institute's latest report, "State of the
World 2004", China went from having virtually no private cars in
1980 to five million in 2000.

By 2002, there were 10 million private cars and sales had increased
60 per cent. Last year, about 11,000 more cars went onto Chinese
roads every day. Car sales increased by more than 80 per cent in the
first half of the year. The report says that if the growth continues
at this pace, industry analysts expect 150 million cars will be
jamming China's streets by 2015 - 18 million more than were on US
streets and highways in 1999.

This rapid growth of private car ownership has brought with it a car
culture that increasingly resembles that in the US, but with even
worse traffic jams, especially in big cities such as Beijing and
Shanghai, as noted by the New York Times' China correspondent, Keith
Bradsher. Like Americans, the Chinese are also resistant to car-
pooling. Bernd Leissner, president of Volkswagen Asia-Pacific, the
largest foreign carmaker in China, was quoted as saying: "If you
look on the highways, they are all driving alone. It's stupid, but
they do it."

In addition to the congestion problem, the switch from bicycles to
cars is having serious health consequences. Of the 10 most polluted
cities in the world, seven are in China. More cars will only make it
worse. In the US, an estimated 65 per cent of adults are overweight
or obese, generally the result of a poor diet and increasingly
sedentary lifestyles, leading to an annual 300,000 deaths and at
least US$117 billion in health-care costs in 1999, according to
industry analysts.

On the other hand, the health benefits of riding bicycles are
evident. Bicycle use also has significant implications for energy
consumption in a country that is already the world's top coal
consumer and the third largest oil user. "This global consumption
bandwagon has acquired an extraordinary momentum that will place
rapidly growing demands on human society and the natural world in
the decades to come," says Gary Gardner, director of research at the
Worldwatch Institute.

What China does will have a big impact on the whole world, given its
size and population. According to the Worldwatch Institute, in China
alone, 240 million people have joined the ranks of consumers, a
number that will soon surpass that in the US. The new culture of
consumerism in China is not only apparent in the area of private car
ownership. As historian Gary Cross argues in his book, An All-
Consuming Century, more so than capitalism or democracy, it is
consumerism that won the ideological wars of the 20th century.
Consumerism is what defines our age and is the lens through which
most people view our times. Although Cross' book is focused on the
US, it is certainly applicable to Chinese society, where many
educated women sell their bodies to maintain a luxurious lifestyle.

The good news is that China's top environmental officials and
economists are aware of the problems China is facing. Speaking at
the second annual green forum held in Beijing recently, Pan Yue,
deputy director of the National Environmental Protection Bureau,
warned that China did not have sufficient resources to support the
economic growth pattern of high consumption and heavy pollution.

To support the move towards a less consumptive and more sustainable
economy, national governments have an important role to play.
Practices in some western countries have showed that the choices
people make about how to move around are greatly influenced by
government policies, such as vehicle and fuel taxes, and support for
public transport and bicycle use.

For China, a good starting point is to put the brakes on car use and
turn back to the bicycle as a more viable vehicle for the 21st
century.

Liyuan Lu is a reporter for an international multimedia service
based in Washington.

Hi Keri, etc.

My replies start in CAPS...
______________________________________________________________
> Od: Keri Tyler <tylerk@...>
> Komu: CEB <cyklopraha@...>
> CC: <daniel.mourek@...>, <jebavy@...>
> Datum: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 15:41:22 -0800
> Pøedmìt: CARm reduction - Problems of underground garages
>
> Hi, I am writing in regards to your posting to the car-free network
> listserv. I am very curious about your proposal. I am a grad student in
> transportation planning at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA and I am trying my best
> to stay focused on sustainable transport, especially non-motorized.
I AM originally from LA. How do you get to school when you need to go there? Are
you familiar with the La Ballona Greenway project? Go to www.greenmaps.org or
.com or similar and look it up....very cool.

But I
> am obsessed at the moment with the issues of parking. Have you heard of
> Donald Shoup? He is considered the US expert on parking issues and he is a
> professor in my program. His work focuses mostly on the US I believe, but I
> am going to forward him your message and see what he thinks.
THANKS....we will see if he has something to say... and you can forward him this
too...

> My initial thoughts on this (and I am only a planner-in-training
EVERYONE who uses the street is a traffic expert!!

who has
> never been to prague) is that the main issue is pricing of the parking.
WELL, another main issue is of course to whether to put the parking in the first
place, and the pricing of the parking...that is, building the parking. More
below...

If
> you price parking correctly (never free!) people will consider carefully if
> they really want to bother with a car trip in the first place. Also, with
> the pricing, the revenue from the parking garages should go to improving the
> district the garage is in. You know, street trees, furniture, lights,
> signage, maintenance, etc.
YES, I agree...this is the thing: Much of Prague is filled with the cars...
still, silent, slightly smelly, maybe leaking...not moving. Parked. Except for
weekends especially in summer when probably half of them go out of town with the
human slaves that "own" them...up until this year there was only a restricted
zone in the centre of town, where to park in most areas you needed to be a
resident OR pay, but not very much. Most people who dont drive to the centre
dont not do so because of traffic, not because of fees...this needs to change.
So, now they are extending the fare zone for residents etc to a large area
around the centre, but the charge for residents is tiny for one year, the price
of about 20 litres of petrol...it does not even cover admin. fees. For
businesses the price is much higher (about the price of a good bike....hmmm...
since I thought of that because of you you get a reward...somehow...)....this
cannot pay for underground parking in any meaningful way (charge is 500 crowns a
year and one underground parking space could cost 1 million crowns...do the
math, girlfriend).

BUT ASIDE from the financing I am again most interested in the traffic physics,
as it were, and there are probably some answers I can get here with a traffic
planner and some supercomputer-assisted modeling..ha hah a ha

> I am not sure about the concentration of vehicles waiting to park in the
> garage, but again, correct pricing may ensure that you don't have lines. A
> lot of people feel that curb parking is better than garages, and while I
> understand that you want to a relatively car-lite street, if you do have a
> lot of pedestrian and bike traffic and give peds and bikes the right of way
> as in the netherlands, speeds would be extremely low (the narrower the
> better for encouraging slower speeds). Don't forget to charge the right
> price for curb parking! how does prague handle curb parking pricing?
THERE will already be a few cars belonging to mobility impaired, and
deliveries...and yes, narrowing, and lots of stuff..we are talking sculptures,
girlfriend..stages in the miiddle of intersections....pools of lava, etc.

SERIOUSLY, I am losing sleep over this cause I dont want to be the Neville
Chamberlain of the neighbourhood (look it up if you dont get the
reference...)....

I THINK there is a good chance we will get a small amount of money from the
local city hall for a architectural study...and for this process I want to
involve the public (see website of Partnership for Public Spaces in NYC..they
have inspired a similar org here..)

This is so interesting, I wish I could be involved in such a project here in
> los angeles. I am currently working part-time for the la m aetropolitan
> transportation authority on the los angeles bike master plan.
WELL, Miss Tyler, consider this: I have no degree, bad Czech, very informal
manners as you know, etc... and I am getting people to listen. So quit school
and make your wishes true...


>
> I am not sure if this has been of any help but good luck and perhaps we'll
> meet at the car-free conference this summer!


HOPE to see you in Berlin. On Monday I meet with someone who I hope can donate
some really interesting bikes....see www.callabike.de and search the site for
the flash animation which is quite understandable even to Americans...

Todd

> -keri
>

--------------------
Po¹lete svùj starý telefon do háje! SIEMENS A52 od 577 Kè www.oskar.cz
http://user.centrum.cz/redir.php?url=http://www.oskarmobil.cz/handsets/index.php

Hi all.  apologize for posting a short series now.  making change in
schedule (proximity to job, son's daycare; still not buying car) that
will allow non-burst mode communication.

Thought I heard last year, a report to some US
congressional/senatorial commitee from a US agengy regarding an
extensive study on Obesity; mostly just looking at available data,
and the only coorelation they could find was obesity vs. occupation.
Occupations that required activity coorelated to lower obesity
rates.  duh!!

assume such coorelation would be harder to find in europe, since
obesity would be buried in the noise.

can't find anything on web of such a study.  ANyone know anthing
about this?

I had posed to the CDC last year that lack of activity, mostly due to
car saturation  in cities, should be hypothetically concidered as
themajor controllable factor of disease in USA, with no response.
Doubtful that my message prompted the following recent focus from CDC
on need for activity regarding obesity; and hopefully they were on to
somethingso obvios to most of us, long ago.

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/recommendations.htm
and
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_whatcan
youdo.htm

Paul Parma

A few points that I think are important regarding these new photos

Good photos are important to our cause.  J. H. has a talent I think,
and good equipment, but its more important than just to salesmanship.
How we react to a visual setting (which may or may not include
people) along with, pardon me, the whole picture, audio, smells,
wind, rain, temp, sun.... is a big part of what will attract many
people to carfree areas in the US; and why people pay so dearly to
live in San Fransico or NYC, and why Disney World is not a drive
through park, yet people fly to the oterwise most uniteresting region
of Florida.

although what Nikos A. Salingaros has done so far is interesting and
possible necessary, has anyone considered using congitive models to
describe how we relate to a carfree city environment vs a car
saturated one?  is any grad student interested?

A while back J.H. asked the group why might some of his then new
pictures of southern Europe seemed to not compress as well as
others.  I thought he was leading us on, since given his web
development experience he probably knows that greater the spread of
spatial variations in a picture, luminesance or hue or color over
frequency the greater the data size per pixel.  It got me to
thinking as to how our brain reacts to an alley in Siena vs  a major
Blvd in LA.

Well from a top down view, i can say that you would have to specify
which alley in Siena, and maybe what time, whatwas the weather like,
etc.  But i don;t have to specify which blvd in LA, hell, I dont even
haveto specify LA, any blvd in te US developed after 1950 will be te
same experience, only need to specify what is playing on my stereo.
Weather in the US is not that important when lived in a car and at
home.

I only spent a month in Dursoduro, Venice but i ts all it took for me
to recognize every #$%&# one the new dursoduro picts, except a cople
hat I suspect are from anoteher sestere.  Each spot is unique in this
world, maybe the universe.

Happens all the time.  I'll be looking at some newly discovered photo
book of Venice and I'll discover, I know that little spot.  It
probably happens yto you regarding central Paris, London, etc..


I'll stop here except to say thanks to J.H. fr posting these new
picts, and agan to say in my opinion, his are the best photos I've
seen for their purpose, and I presume are all taken from a standing
position and not on a boom, etc..  And now we know why its called
Parma yellow.  And the world needs more pictures of medievial Siena
away from the famous main piazza, thanks for including them, I'd been
thanking of enquiring when J.H. would visit Siena for more pictures,
not knowing he had some we hadn't seen.

And again is anyone interested in taking leadership in analyzing
reactions of cognitive models to different urban environments?  Has
it been addressed to some extent to date?

Paul Parma

Upcoming movie, "Cars"  being produced by Pixar, due in 2005.

To bad its not about urban cars, it could have been very revealing as
to all non-rural americans' relationship to cars in the city.

following from
http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808405700

Cast: Paul Newman, Richard Petty, Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, John
Ratzenberger, Dan Whitney; other voice cast not announced yet.

Premise:  - Pixar has announced it as being "a high-octane adventure
about a collection of classic automobiles-turned-'toons revving
things up on historic Route 66." Expect the cars to be talking, but
it's not yet known if they will be able to talk to their human
passengers (or, for that matter, if there will be human passengers),
but my guess is that there will be "drivers", but they won't know the
cars can talk to each other (basically, the Toy Story thing).

Paul Parma

> Upcoming movie, "Cars"  being produced by Pixar, due in 2005.

=v= I wonder where they'll bear any resemblance to the Chevron
Cars animated by Nick Park.
     <_Jym_>
--
Ads below?  Just ignore 'em.

The February issue of The New Colonist is online and available now at
http://www.newcolonist.com!

February's features:

      * Stopping Sprawl at the Schoolhouse Door
        Jane Holtz Kay examines the effects of school design and siting
on everything from traffic to obesity in the US, and shows off a how a
neighborhood took school design into its own hands and improved its
standard of living while reducing crime....
      * The New Feudalism
        Richard Risemberg, The New Colonist's own voice of immoderation,
fulminates against the machinations of the Dark Lords of our economy and
the threat they present not only to civility but to survival....
      * Bad News and the Future of Pittsburgh
        Founder Eric Miller returns to his roots in Pittsburgh and
discovers a strange pride in penury that afflicts his new hometown, and
recommends some measures that would give Pittsburghers something to brag
about again.

And of course a wealth of reviews, essays, stories, and other resources
in our more than 500-article Archive!  All at http://www.newcolonist.com.
--
Richard Risemberg
http://www.living-room.org
http://www.newcolonist.com

"I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity,
an obligation; every possession, a duty."
						 John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Richard Risemberg <rickrise@...> writes:

> In '82 I went to the Bastille Day parade at, of course, Place de la
> Bastil in Paris.  About one million people attended, the flics permitted
> no cars to enter, and then, after it was over, the cops directed
> everyone to the Metro stations that surround the square.  I figured to
> beat the lines and started to walk out, but a hat informed me that there
> was no walking out either--everyone to the trains!

That's very odd... No walking? Was the metro ride free? If not how could
they force you to pay to leave a public place to get home? Let alone why...

Bijan
--
Bijan Soleymani <bijan@...>
http://www.crasseux.com

I do not recall whether the Metro ride was free or not.  As I recall, in
that day of the strong dollar, it would have cost me the equivalent of
ten cents.  But it may have been free...I just don't remember.  I do
remember the cop turning me back to the square as I attempted to walk
home.  I suppose that if I'd waited another hour or so they would have
opened the streets to usual traffic.

That was the year of the Israeli incursion into Lebanon, and Arab
terrorists were blowing up Jewish institutions all over France; the
police presence was heavy at that time, with cops carrying submachine
guns a common sight all over the city.  Fear of more actions may have
contributed to the policy decision to close off the square, which is the
French equivalent of Independence Hall and Concord combined--although as
far as I know there were no Jewish institutions in the area, and the
Mitterand government was not particularly friendly to Israel.  (At least
they didn't have Homeland-Security style ads everywhere....)

R

Bijan Soleymani wrote:

> Richard Risemberg <rickrise@...> writes:
>
>
>>In '82 I went to the Bastille Day parade at, of course, Place de la
>>Bastil in Paris.  About one million people attended, the flics permitted
>>no cars to enter, and then, after it was over, the cops directed
>>everyone to the Metro stations that surround the square.  I figured to
>>beat the lines and started to walk out, but a hat informed me that there
>>was no walking out either--everyone to the trains!
>
>
> That's very odd... No walking? Was the metro ride free? If not how could
> they force you to pay to leave a public place to get home? Let alone why...
>
> Bijan


--
Richard Risemberg
http://www.living-room.org
http://www.newcolonist.com

"I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity,
an obligation; every possession, a duty."
						 John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

--- In carfree_cities@yahoogroups.com, "J.H. Crawford" <mailbox@c...>
wrote:
>
> It's an interesting and difficult question to answer.
.....
> The first
> question has to be, how do people earn their living?
>

Seems like this will be a ubiquitous problem in retrofitting within
existing cities.  Working this out in cookbook form could prove
profitable later.

So in a case by case hypothetical answer to that question - how do
people earn their living [there]? - what are the ramifications to
each answer? Understand that doing so is time consuming.....

Which begs another question; How many folks out there are commiting
themselves to getting carfree blocks, districts or cities
built.  'Not just interested in it but commited to it!??  Just
curious...  Obviously Joel is.

Paul Parma