Urban Pet Peeves

[dubu]

it smells like weed here too. lots of people grow it in there yard, i think thats why. or grow it inside maybe

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by dubu

it smells like weed here too. lots of people grow it in there yard, i think thats why. or grow it inside maybe

You are in Bend Oregon though. It could be a neighbor bending oregano leaves, that's a cheap knockoff.


For Montreal, Most people here will contend, nothing like the traffic diversions from road demolition and construction.

The past 4 years have been pretty intense due to the overhaul of The Turcot Interchange that mixes highway 20, 720 and 15 at the western entrance to downtown. When the project started, talk about rebuilding or building a new span to replace the super sollicited Champlain Bridge eventually got the go ahead. The 7 km bridge started and is slated to complete in December. The project is massive and involves rerouting the access routes to Nun's Island, the Bonaventure expressway to downtown, and the 15 North and South. The South Shore approaches are often a nightmare too on the Brossard side due to reconfigurations. The bridge was also modified in design to accept a new suburban rail line which will also create a lot of ruckus in the city and West end suburbs where new branches will extend from an older line tunnel under Mount Royal. The city decided to spend an enormous amount on rebuilding infrastructure. There are orange cones and bollards everywhere, so there is no let-up outside the highways, the streets are jammed around downtown neighborhoods for years on end...

[The North One]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

The smell. New York smells like rotting garbage and urine during the summer. San Francisco smells awful too.

They really fucked over New York when the planners omitted alleys, now it's doomed to a forever stinky fate with garbage on the streets.

[Jaborandi]

I really dislike gum coins on the sidewalks. Disgusting!

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by The North One

They really fucked over New York when the planners omitted alleys, now it's doomed to a forever stinky fate with garbage on the streets.

The smell is because New York City uses a combined sewer system (storm drains and sewers share the same pipes). San Francisco also does this. On hot days you can literally see steam coming out of the grates.

[ChiMIchael]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

One of my biggest pet peeves with my neighborhood (and so many other chicago neighborhoods) is the presence of stupid fucking suburban-style drive-thru/surface parking lot fast food chain restaurants.

There are three egregiously horrible examples within a half mile of me (McShittles, Burger Fuck, and Bendy's)

I wish they would all find a way to just go and fuck off.

If you are referring to Edgewater, they don't have many chains until you approach the Loyola Campus. At least along Broadway and Sheridan.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by ChiMIchael

If you are referring to Edgewater,

nah, i'm referring to lincoln square.

this suburban shitbox.

this suburban shitbox.

and this suburban shitbox.

Originally Posted by ChiMIchael

If you are referring to Edgewater, they don't have many chains until you approach the Loyola Campus. At least along Broadway and Sheridan.

the bulk of loyola's campus is north of devon, and therefore in rogers park.

but there is that horrible grouping of 3 standalone drive-thru/parking lot chain restaurants (DD, popeye's & starbucks) on broadway just south of devon.

that kind of utter suburban style garbage is found way too frequently throughout chicago's neighborhoods, even in the more urban ones with pop. densities north of 25,000 ppsm.

i fucking hate them all.

Originally Posted by badrunner

The smell is because New York City uses a combined sewer system (storm drains and sewers share the same pipes). San Francisco also does this. On hot days you can literally see steam coming out of the grates.

chicago has combined sewers as well (as do just about all older cities), but for whatever reason, it doesn't smell.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

chicago has combined sewers as well (as do just about all older cities), but for whatever reason, it doesn't smell.

Some cities do a better job of mitigating the smell than others. San Francisco and New York are probably the two worst offenders in this area, probably owing to older infrastructure and population density.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

I've always wondered: Do they actually do anything or are they a sham to make you feel like if you wait long enough the light will change? I'm serious. I'm not actually sure they are hooked up to anything but I push them anyway like a fool.

I think some places have ones that are just for show but here they all definitely work. Which is really annoying since that's the only way the walk signal will come on even when the traffic lanes get a green light. So if you get to the button a split second after the vehicular signal turns green you either have to wait a whole light cycle or walk against the pedestrian light and have turning motorists blow their horns and point disapprovingly at the "don't walk" light. HUUUGE pet peeve.

And just as bad, intersections with traffic lights that are triggers by the magnetism of a car but that don't detect a bike. You either have to sit there and wait at the red light until a car also gets there, walk over and push the pedestrian button, or go against a red light. I usually prefer the latter because if the traffic regulations don't recognise or respect me, I feel no obligation to recognize or respect them. These things have to be mutual.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by The North One

They really fucked over New York when the planners omitted alleys, now it's doomed to a forever stinky fate with garbage on the streets.

I have yet to encounter a city that doesn't have garbage on the streets. How would that even work?

Also, what do alleys have to do with anything? Planners didn't "omit" alleys, that's how like 90% of cities on earth work. The U.S. is a very odd case with alleys everywhere.

[ChiMIchael]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

nah, i'm referring to lincoln square.

this suburban shitbox.

this suburban shitbox.

and this suburban shitbox.




the bulk of loyola's campus is north of devon, and therefore in rogers park.

but there is that horrible grouping of 3 standalone drive-thru/parking lot chain restaurants (DD, popeye's & starbucks) on broadway just south of devon.

that kind of utter suburban style garbage is found way too frequently throughout chicago's neighborhoods, even in the more urban ones with pop. densities north of 25,000 ppsm.

i fucking hate them all.

Eh, fair enough. I kinda prefer it personally even though a good balance is optimal. Reality is that lots of people like cheap and familiar which is why chains won't go away.

That's why I said "approaching." North of Granville you start to see chains. Around Berwyn is another issue too but that's it.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by ChiMIchael

Eh, fair enough. I kinda prefer it personally even though a good balance is optimal. Reality is that lots of people like cheap and familiar which is why chains won't go away.

it's not the presence of chain restaraunts themselves that's my issue, it's the fucking atrocious anti-urban form of 90% of them with their fucking drive-thrus and their fucking parking lots.

fuck them.

fuck them all.

Originally Posted by Crawford

I have yet to encounter a city that doesn't have garbage on the streets. How would that even work?

alleys.

in chicago, >95% of all blocks throughout the city (and even into many of the inner ring burbs) are bisected by alleys.

the garbage goes out back in the alley for pick-up, not out on the street.

that's how it works in alleyed cities.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

alleys.

Yeah, I'm aware, but an alley is a street, obviously.

Just because you have a street behind a residence doesn't mean there isn't garbage collection. That makes zero sense. And garbage doesn't smell better or worse if it's in front of a house or behind a house.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Crawford

And garbage doesn't smell better or worse if it's in front of a house or behind a house.

true, garbage smells bad wherever it is, but if you don't encounter the garbage because it's out back in an alley, then it won't smell nearly as bad as it does if it's out on the street where you're a million times more likely to encounter it.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

And just as bad, intersections with traffic lights that are triggers by the magnetism of a car but that don't detect a bike. You either have to sit there and wait at the red light until a car also gets there, walk over and push the pedestrian button, or go against a red light. I usually prefer the latter because if the traffic regulations don't recognise or respect me, I feel no obligation to recognize or respect them. These things have to be mutual.

Those traffic sensors are a must-have in busy city streets. You need to keep things flowing along the major arteries, not disrupt them on a simple timer. Better yet, implement synchronized traffic lights citywide like in LA. It's a beautiful sight to see green lights as far as the eye can see.


This is the intersection of Eastbound Wilshire Blvd. and Western Avenue intersection traffic signal green lights and pedestrian crosswalk crossing white walking light with the SYNC Signal Sign on the top of the pole viewing and facing Aroma Spa and by Raymond Yu, on Flickr


https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/u...www.google.com

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

I think some places have ones that are just for show but here they all definitely work. Which is really annoying since that's the only way the walk signal will come on even when the traffic lanes get a green light. So if you get to the button a split second after the vehicular signal turns green you either have to wait a whole light cycle or walk against the pedestrian light and have turning motorists blow their horns and point disapprovingly at the "don't walk" light. HUUUGE pet peeve.

And just as bad, intersections with traffic lights that are triggers by the magnetism of a car but that don't detect a bike. You either have to sit there and wait at the red light until a car also gets there, walk over and push the pedestrian button, or go against a red light. I usually prefer the latter because if the traffic regulations don't recognise or respect me, I feel no obligation to recognize or respect them. These things have to be mutual.

Same in Vancouver. If you forget to press the button, the light can change to green for you a million times, but will never say walk. If you press it, on a busy street it will wait for the green light but give a walk signal too. On a smaller street, it will turn the light almost immediately to allow you to cross.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by badrunner

Those traffic sensors are a must-have in busy city streets. You need to keep things flowing along the major arteries, not disrupt them on a simple timer. Better yet, implement synchronized traffic lights citywide like in LA.

San Francisco takes just the opposite approach to traffic and it's actually another pet peeve of mine. In SF they call it "traffic calming" even though it can be "driver infuriating". They purposefully mistime the lights so you have to stop at nearly every corner. We have very few of those "press to cross" buttons. We already have some but are getting more devices that give transit preferences at intersections, stopping the cars so a bus or streetcar can go. And in case you are tempted to run your 10th red light in a row, we are getting more intersection cameras.

With this and all the traffic lanes that have been converted to bike lanes or red-painted making them "transit only", cars now move at a snail's pace everywhere in the city.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by badrunner

Those traffic sensors are a must-have in busy city streets. You need to keep things flowing along the major arteries, not disrupt them on a simple timer. Better yet, implement synchronized traffic lights citywide like in LA. It's a beautiful sight to see green lights as far as the eye can see.

Cities have been doing things that compromised the comfort, safety, and/or convenience of the pedestrian environment in the name of moving more cars more efficiently through cities for over half a century now with everything from wider lanes and streets, higher speeds, rounded corners, building expressways etc. Increased auto throughput just isn't an acceptable excuse for a poor pedestrian experience anymore.

Although it is good to limit the need for vehicles to stop unnecessarily and waste momentum as long as most cars lack regenerative braking.

[pj3000]

I hate that there are not as many obvious prostitutes walking the streets in cities these days.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

I've always wondered: Do they actually do anything or are they a sham to make you feel like if you wait long enough the light will change? I'm serious. I'm not actually sure they are hooked up to anything but I push them anyway like a fool.

I think most prob don't work. There is one I use here quite often and I *know* it works because its pedestrian only and it only turns green if you push it and stop a 6 lane road to cross.