Photos from Japan: We’ll start with a
couple of photos from urban Japan.
(“Urban Japan” comes close to being an oxymoron, doesn’t it?)
The first photo
is of one of the world’s smallest parking lots. If not truly the smallest, it’s tied for the
second smallest. Upon a car being backed
into one of the two spaces, a metal flap pops up to restrain the car until payment
is made for the elapsed time. The flap
then drops and the motorist drives away.
It’s an efficient combination of high tech and parking.
Also from
Japan is this photo of bicycle style double-parking. As a commenter recently noted at a Petaluma
City Council meeting, a good approach to downtown traffic management might be
more bike parking. This structure could
be a place to start.
Although not
relevant to urbanism, I should note that both Japanese photos were taken by Anu
Garg, proprietor of the A-Word-A-Day website and emails. If you enjoy a daily dose of lexicology,
combined with occasional digressions into travel and other interesting topics,
I suggest subscribing.
If you can tolerate small ads, there is no cost.
Monopoly: Perhaps the ultimate urban
board game is Monopoly, with its gradual accumulation of urban structures and
its ever-present risk of price-fixing driven by monopolistic
land-holdings. Presumably, most readers
know that street names were taken directly from Atlantic City. A writer for Scouting New York recently
toured Atlantic City, taking photos of the streets that
most of us know only from rainy childhood afternoons around a card table.
San Francisco Street Art: There seems
to a new trend in San Francisco vigilante street art, with
unauthorized mobiles appearing unexpectedly at locations around the city. I expect they’ll soon be overdone, but for
now the mobiles seem an attractive addition to city life.
Chairs for a New York City Park: The
bounds of imagination were pushed by a design competition for seating in New York City’s
Battery Park. Some of the ideas seem
inspired, other seem contrived. I was
pleased to see that William H. Whyte’s conclusions
about the value of moveable public seating haven’t
been forgotten, but suspect that theft might be a bigger problem than the park
supervisors expect. Especially if the
chairs become iconic.
Singing
Streetlights: To compete with San Francisco and New York City, Seattle
rolled out singing streetlights. The lights, in addition to providing
illumination, respond with sounds to the approach of pedestrians. It might seem like a gimmick, but reports
show that the public is enjoying the interaction.
This was
fun. I’ll be back in three months with
more quirkiness.
As always,
your questions or comments will be appreciated.
Please comment below or email me.
And thanks for reading. - Dave Alden (davealden53@comcast.net)
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