#URBANISM

[atlurbanist]

From a 1953 ad: "In Atlanta more people travel transit than in most cities"!

A friend sent me this fascinating clipping from 1953, touting Atlanta's transit system. It comes from the Southern Israelite (weekly), May 15, 1953.

It reads:

"In Atlanta more people travel transit than in most cities | A study of 15 other cities with populations similar to Atlanta's shows that the number of rides on Atlanta's transit system per capita is greater than that of any city in the list, except only one."

"In 1952 the average Atlantan rode with us 184 times. The average person on the other 15 systems rode only 134 times -- 27% less than Atlanta!"

"Although the number of autos in Atlanta has doubled since 1946, the number of rides per capita has decreased only 38%. The average decrease in the other cities was 43% and in one 59%."

"So, while we've lost a lot of riders -- just as every other transit system in the country has -- our loss has been far smaller. And we attribute that to the fact that Atlanta has one of the nation's finest transit systems."

The photo in the ad shows a trolleybus. Streetcars that ran on tracks were phased out in 1949 in Atlanta, leaving the overhead wires in use by only trackless trolleys, or trolleybuses. The last run of a trolleybus in Atlanta was in 1963.

The history of mass transit in Atlanta reaches back to the mule-drawn streetcars of 1871. The city once had an extensive system of electric streetcars, with rail that reached out as far as Marietta. Many of our intown neighborhoods developed originally as streetcar suburbs of the historic Downtown commercial area.

It's important to remind ourselves that Atlanta has been a "car town" only for part of its history. It was a trolley town for a long time. Hopefully we're heading into a future where the city's transportation mix has lower focus on personal car ownership and a higher one on transit, walking, and cycling.

[bb-archives]

berlin, germany

[rabbitrah]

"Le repos du fakir" (2003), Stéphane Argillet and Gilles Paté

[sylviaodhner]

The Shopping Center Disconnect

[whereserpentswalk]

Fuck hostile architecture, I want unhostile architecture. I want benches to be designed to be as easy as possible to sleep on. I want little places for pigeons to nest to be purposefully put on buildings. I want people designing public spaces to think about what they'd be like to skateboard on. I want "Please loiter" signs. I want people to be kind. I want...

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[transit-fag]

Fuck it, Urbanism hot take night, none of you bitches actually know what gentrification is

[heronhawk]

[thebreakfastgod]

America's Roads: Dangerous by Design

[archiveofaffinities]

Hong Kong

[typhlonectes]

Responsible lighting for wildlife/nature and sky viewing.

via: Driftless Stargazing LLC

[naesarchive]

Early 2000's architecture of Hong Kong. Photographer: Michael Wolf

[sylviaodhner]

Cars and Independence

My Patreon

Update: This comic has received a lot of both positive and negative attention, and I decided to post a follow-up comic to address some of the criticism: Revisiting Independence

[bhrarchinerd]

Ad from the Wichita Falls Times: 20 Feb 1927

Cars in cities have been a problem for a century, and we've known the solution to that problem for a century.

[whereserpentswalk]

I have decided to become a walkablity extremist.

Cars should not be allowed in towns and cities at all. The only places where they should be at all present is in rural areas where any other means of transportation should be impossible.

High speed rail networks should allow for a trip from Mexico city to Montreal in under 24 hours.

All public transportation should be 100% free.

Lawns should not exist.

It doesn't make sense for single family homes to be built in most American cities.

Architecture must be beautiful again.

Every commercial street should have at least one bench.

Public restrooms must be free, common and accessible.

The pigeons are not enemies. The pigeons are freinds.