vision2020@moscow.com: Re: pieces of the puzzle

Re: pieces of the puzzle

Fritz Knorr (fritzk@moscow.com)
Fri, 12 Apr 1996 08:46:32 -0700

>Actually, it's shorthand for my usual rant about:
>"The-organizing-principle-of-America-is-the-automobile-people-won't-go
>where-they-can't-drive-and-park-dammit-would Walmart-build-parking
>lots-where-customers-ride-shuttle-buses?-only-kids-under-sixteen,-
>pointy-headed-professors-and-granolas-ride-bikes-public-buildings
>need-adjacent-parking-for-customers-and-employees,blah,blah,blah.
>
>Aren't you glad I abbreviated it? :-)

OK. But I also detected a note of
we-keep-deluding-ourselves-that-anyone-wants-a
liveable-community-all-they-really-want-is-a-place-to-drive-and-park-if-we-w
ant something-nice-it'll-only-come-by-sneaking-it-along-with-some-other-ugly
development-because-a-direct-approch-to-a-human-scale-livable-community-will
always-fail.

I dunno, poetry is always open to interpretation.

Let's face it - automobiles are the dominant species in out community.
Humans have completely lost control. Autos are greedy and dangerous, and
taking them on in a direct confrontation will always fail. They got us
beat. The only way to get something built for humans is to _sneak_ it by
the autos. The Mountain View project failed because it was human oriented
construction right on the auto's turf. It was a direct provocation. They
figured it out right away.

So, for downtown, remember, autos really don't like parkades. You can
squeeze in urban autos when you really have to. But even they never
actually like it; although they'll tolerate it, barely. But you take the
country born and bred autos around here; why, they would never go in one of
those things.

50 cents an hour?? Forget it. Let's go to wal-mart.

Fritz


This archive courtesy of:
First Step Internet