Dreams for the City

myasiantrip:

Taipei 101

As usual, reblogging photos of one of my favorite cities. I love the street life of Taiwan. There’s really nothing like it here in the US. 

(via ileftmyheartintaiwan)

emlocke:

World’s Subways Converging on Ideal Form | Wired Science | Wired.com
By Brandon Keirn
May 15, 2012

After decades of urban evolution, the world’s major subway systems appear to be converging on an ideal form … [Statistical physicist Marc] Barthelemy and National Center for Scientific Research complex systems analyst Camille Roth focused a network analysis lens on the aforementioned cities’ subways, along with Barcelona, Beijing, Berlin, Chicago, Madrid, Mexico, Moscow, Osaka, Paris, Seoul and Tokyo … Patterns emerged: The core-and-branch topology, of course, and patterns more fine-grained. Roughly half the stations in any subway will be found on its outer branches rather than the core. The distance from a city’s center to its farthest terminus station is twice the diameter of the subway system’s core. This happens again and again.

“Many other shapes could be expected, such as a regular lattice,” said Barthelemy. “What we find surprising is that all these different cities, on different continents, with different histories and geographical constraints, lead finally to the same structure.”

Subway systems seem to gravitate towards these ratios organically, through a combination of planning, expedience, circumstance and socioeconomic fluctuation, say the researchers … The convergence “is a sign that there are some basic, profound mechanisms that drive the development of urban systems,” said Barthelemy. 

Very cool. I also like seeing the addition of ring-lines that connect the outer branches of the system. 

(via humanscalecities)

curiousaleta:

wbsloan:

NYC#091 

One of the world’s most beautiful buildings. 

thisbigcity:

urbanination:

Christopher Fennel’s bus shelters made from decommissioned bus bodies. 

用報廢公車打造公車站。

Shelter, recycling, public art, and transportation promotion all in one structure. I like. 

nohhongchul:

六合夜市/Lihue Night Market,Kaohsiung Taiwan

I wish the US had night markets. 

(via ileftmyheartintaiwan)

everythingyoulovetohate:

tiiiiiite.

the sears tower should be taller.

(via akufuncture)

nohhongchul:

Love River,Kaohsiung Taiwan

(via takemetotaiwan)

curiousaleta:

massurban:

“Public Transportation Systems Are Leaving People With Disabilities Behind

Sarah Laskow. May 10, 2012

To use New York City’s paratransit service—the on-demand public transportation system for people who can’t use the bus or the subway system—a customer must call one to two days in advance, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. She can request a pickup time or submit an appointment time by which she must reach her destination, but not both. The driver will pick her up anywhere from 30 minutes before to 30 minutes after the agreed-upon time. If anything changes, the customer must call three hours in advance to cancel the trip.

That’s more hassle than most people would put up with to visit a doctor or have dinner at a restaurant or go to the store. And that’s how the system is supposed to work. Before the Americans with Disabilities Act passed more than 20 years ago, there was no guarantee that public transit would serve disabled people at all. The ADA required paratransit service as a supplement to public transportation systems, as well as increased access on regular public transit routes for people with disabilities.

But advocates for disabled people are still fighting for better transportation options. At last count, there were 2 million people with disabilities in the United States who never leave their homes. More than a quarter—560,000 people—say that’s because of transportation difficulties. The American Association of People with Disabilities notesin a new report that only 20 percent of Amtrak stations have complied with ADA standards. Major subway systems are only required to make “key” stations accessible.

And for people with disabilities—particularly those who use wheelchairs—taxis are rarely an option. In New York City, for example, only 233 of more than 13,000 taxis are wheelchair-accessible, less than 2 percent of the city’s taxi fleet. The nonprofit Disability Rights Advocates brought a lawsuit against the city, which controls the taxi fleet through a licensing system, demanding that number be increased. Late last year, a district judge ruled that city must create a comprehensive plan for providing taxi service to the disabled. 

New York is in the middle of designing the “Taxi of Tomorrow,” a fuel-efficient cab decked out with USB ports and other luxuries. At one point, it looked like these cabs might be wheelchair-accessible, but the Mayor’s office wasn’t particularly interested in prioritizing that. Now, Comptroller John Liu (a likely candidate in next year’s mayoral election) says he’ll block the taxi contract unless all new cabs can accommodate wheelchairs. 

Part of the reason it’s so difficult for public transit system to serve people with disabilities is that they’re woefully underfunded. It’s important that cities make it possible for people to get around without cars in order to create dense neighborhoods and keep pollution down. But it’s also important that those systems don’t leave people with disabilities stranded in their homes or on a street corner, unable to get where they need to go.”

Via: GOOD Magazine

Photo: via (cc) Flickr user man pikin

Let’s not forget about people who need a little extra accommodation to get from here to there.

theworldwelivein:

The Lincoln Memorial (by Stuck in Customs)

I always wonder when people take these pictures. Every time I go to the Lincoln Memorial its crawling with people and is in no way a serene or majestic seeming place.

hejjmobejjmo:

Yikes bikes! (Taken with Instagram at OHSU Center for Health and Healing)

Where can I get myself some bike parking like this? I’m jealous.