A Few Ways My City Really Sucks

I'll start with the assumption that we are all agreed, Anthropogenic Global Warming is a fact. Humans are wrecking the place, and we have to change things to fix it. Calgary is a big player in this global game because we are the oil and gas capital of Canada, and Canada is a major player in this game because of the oil and gas and oil sands in Alberta. Calgary is a very car-oriented city; there have been any number of times I have wanted to walk somewhere and simply couldn't because of how the roads were constructed with no option for pedestrians.

The City of Calgary is making noises about how we should all get out of our cars and use public transportation, then they jack public transportation fees sky-high, start charging for using park-and-ride lots, and don't even have service to large parts of the city in off hours. They go out of their way (literally, with new construction projects) designed to keep people in their cars longer by eliminating road after road as a commuting access.

I am having a really hard time figuring out what their end game is; you want us in our cars longer, but you want us out of our cars, but you want us to have to take cars, but you want us to pay more for public transport; my head hurts just trying to wrap my brain around any possible logic they might be using. I weep for the future of humanity.

The cynic in me says:
people in cars longer = more fuel burned = more tax money for the city.
People on public transport paying sky-high fairs = more tax money for the city. (assuming it's publicly controlled)

But it's probably just poor planning as usual.

Oh, can I play too??

A Few Ways My City Really Sucks:

- It is a meth production center.

- It is economically depressed.

- It offers very little in the way of entertaining venues.

- The city council is corrupt. (The council has been paid off to allow violations of hight restrictions on new riverfront developments.)

- The police don't enforce laws against noise pollution.

- The city's infrastructure does not support or encourage environmentally friendly commuting.

Ooh, how about mine?

- It sprawls worse than any city in America except possibly Los Angeles. It's a long drive to get anywhere, and walking is virtually useless. Houston's city limits are over thirty miles across.
- To add to the misery, the public transit blows.
- It's the home of the Bushes, Tom DeLay and Ron Paul.

Oh, Sweet Boston, where do I begin...

The Big Dig
Was (is?) the world's largest public works project ever. It was also the most over-budget, lasted ten years longer than it should have, and was functionally deficient (obsolete) before it even opened for traffic. Then it opened for traffic and collapsed on some poor woman and her little girl, killing the woman. From a practical standpoint it continues to be a huge pain in the ass because still, to this day, every goddamned time I drive into Boston the exits are different and I end up getting partially lost.

That Dirty Water
The Charles River was the Nation's most polluted waterway for years, up until (I think) the 90's. I used to work in Cambridge right on the water, and it was stank-nasty-smellin'. I think Atlanta's Chatahootchie River stole the title of Most Polluted away from Boston, but only with I fight.

At midnight they roll up the sidewalks and shut out the lights.

No matter what race, nationality, color or creed you are, there's a neighborhood in which you can get your ass kicked just for showing your face.

The public transportation system is dirty, dilapidated and dangerous.

Our idiotic Governor wants to raise our gas tax.

On the bright side, we've got awesome museums, a proud place in American history and dicriminalized marijuana.

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Originally posted by tirial

The cynic in me says:
people in cars longer = more fuel burned = more tax money for the city.
People on public transport paying sky-high fairs = more tax money for the city. (assuming it's publicly controlled)

But it's probably just poor planning as usual.

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I have, for quite a number of years now, held on to a single conspiracy theory and that is that the Powers That Be in Calgary are designing the roadways and public transportation under the specific direction of the oil and gas companies that make this city work. It is the only possible explanation for 50 years of staggering incompetence in our infrastructure department. Our main north-south corridor, Deerfoot Trail, has been running at 150% of it's designed capacity for a couple years now and it was built such that it can't be expanded without demolishing about a dozen major intersections, all of which should have been cloverleafs in the first place and almost none of which effectively move vehicles, which is kinda the point of a freeway. And that's just the beginning -- there have been numerous road projects in the last decade or so that have opened to much fanfare and have been over capacity the day they opened, causing people in City Hall to scratch their heads and say, "Gosh, I had no idea so many people would use this new road!" Are you fucking kidding me? You didn't know that a road that feeds communities with tens of thousands of people in them would be used by tens of thousands of people?!? Or how about 16th Ave N, which is a major thoroughfare and part of the Trans-Canada Highway -- apparently City Hall began talking about expanding that road in the early 70s when it became apparent that it was badly over capacity. They finally began work on that project three years ago, to achieve the amount of road space needed in the 70s for a city whose population has more than doubled since then.

And then there's the issue of the City squeezing or eliminating roads where traffic is flowing reasonably well, as featherlou alluded to earlier. Centre St. N. stops abruptly at about 90th Ave where a bus trap was installed a few years back because apparently people were driving on that road all the way up to Country Hills Blvd (what would be around 120 Ave). The nerve! So you have to detour about 20 blocks out of your way to get back to Centre on the north side of the bus trap. Oh, sorry, from there on it is now called Harvest Hills Blvd, so unsuspecting people don't know that they're just returning to where they wanted to be in the first place. :roll: And there are plenty of other examples of this, where the City discovers that people are making effective, efficient use of a road, so they reduce it from four lanes to two (they like to call this "traffic calming") or shut it down entirely.

If, every once in a blue moon, the City fucked up and did not adequately anticipate how traffic would flow, I might be able to understand it. But these assholes (who get paid a LOT more than I do) seem thoroughly incapable of making things better, no matter how many new roads get built. And this isn't news; as I said, this has been a chronic issue since before I was born here. It has to be a conspiracy to keep us in our cars, burning fuel, and lining the pockets of oil and gas execs and filling the City's tax coffers. Makes me feel all stabby when I stop to think about it.

Obligatory mirror thread. :wink:

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Originally posted by Lucifer

On the bright side, we've got......dicriminalized marijuana.

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Say what? You do? When did that happen? Hello Boston Lettuce. :tongue:

The mayor of this city (Toronto) and his allies on council are getting on my nerves. Their solution to a bunch of gangbangers shooting each other is to harass a legal gun club, they've imposed a nickel fee any time I want to get something in a plastic bag (including when I get food delivered -- what, am I supposed to drive to the delivery place and supply them with a bag?), they've got so many rules about garbage and recycling that I'm tempted to just let stuff pile up in the garage and call a private hauler once a year, and they want the city to pay their legal expenses if they get fed up with criticism and decide to sue somebody for libel.

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Originally posted by Whiskey and Ryan

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Originally posted by Lucifer

On the bright side, we've got......dicriminalized marijuana.

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Say what? You do? When did that happen? Hello Boston Lettuce. :tongue:

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I guess it happened back in November. I voted for it, but didn't think it would actually pass the ballot, and figured if it did it would somehow sort of fade into distant memory without ever actually happening. But, amazingly, it passed into law! Less than an Oz. and you'll only get a $100 (civil) fine - like a speeding ticket.

I hate the way my borough decided to make the two main drags one lane each. Delivery trucks will stop traffic, as will car-show congestion. I don't know what they were thinking, which leads me to believe they probably weren't.

That's Calgary level street planning there, Robyn. "Are people using this road to drive on? We must put an immediate stop to that."

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Originally posted by Winston Smith

The public transportation system is dirty, dilapidated and dangerous.

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I'll never forget the look of confusion dawning on horror on my wife's face when she, never having ridden anything but Japan's hyper-punctual, micromanaged-down-to-atomic-scale subways and trains, asked where the schedules were for the T, and I replied with an evil grin, "there aren't any."

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Originally posted by sublight

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Originally posted by Winston Smith

The public transportation system is dirty, dilapidated and dangerous.

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I'll never forget the look of confusion dawning on horror on my wife's face when she, never having ridden anything but Japan's hyper-punctual, micromanaged-down-to-atomic-scale subways and trains, asked where the schedules were for the T, and I replied with an evil grin, "there aren't any."

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At least with the widespread use of the Internet you can get SOME sort of at least theoretical information about when the trains, subways, and even buses are supposed to be running. When I arrived in Boston in 1987 this was essentially un-knowable information. It was like a closely guarded state secret.

It said a lot that by far the best resource I knew of then for T information (the book "Car-free in Boston") wasn't even put out by the T and had no connection to that agency at all.

[quote=Laughing Lagomorph]

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Originally posted by sublight

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Originally posted by "Winston Smith":2nt5dnbf

The public transportation system is dirty, dilapidated and dangerous.

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I'll never forget the look of confusion dawning on horror on my wife's face when she, never having ridden anything but Japan's hyper-punctual, micromanaged-down-to-atomic-scale subways and trains, asked where the schedules were for the T, and I replied with an evil grin, "there aren't any."

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At least with the widespread use of the Internet you can get SOME sort of at least theoretical information about when the trains, subways, and even buses are supposed to be running. When I arrived in Boston in 1987 this was essentially un-knowable information. It was like a closely guarded state secret.

It said a lot that by far the best resource I knew of then for T information (the book "Car-free in Boston") wasn't even put out by the T and had no connection to that agency at all.[/quote:2nt5dnbf]

I heard once that the trains "run every 4 minutes" during "peak usage" times, but I've never seen anything that even remotely makes me believe this.

I live in a location that is very cold for most of the year.. The past six years in this town I havn't had a car. Its ok, though, just very tough. Gotta bundle up like hell (I'm talking wind blocking ski pants, waterproof hiking boots, a couple coats, wool hat, neoprene face mask for when its really really windy, when its very very icy (sidewalks don't get too much attention around here) you've gotta put on metal cleats.. And your place looks as cold or colder. And I only have to walk about a mile to work and back each day.

Could that be a reason for the car-centric transportation society you have?

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Originally posted by Winston Smith

That Dirty Water
The Charles River was the Nation's most polluted waterway for years, up until (I think) the 90's. I used to work in Cambridge right on the water, and it was stank-nasty-smellin'. I think Atlanta's Chatahootchie River stole the title of Most Polluted away from Boston, but only with I fight.

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That's the Chattahoochee, which I can see out my window.

We're becoming the L.A. of the South in terms of sprawl and traffic jams. Local county sheriff departments seem to have major scandals periodically, ranging from having prisoners walk away while the sheriff is making money from having music videos filmed in the jail (Fulton County), to spectacularly failing to secure the courthouse (Fulton again), to, oh, losing an election and hiring your deputy to assassinate the winner (DeKalb County).

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Originally posted by Baldwin

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Originally posted by Winston Smith

That Dirty Water
The Charles River was the Nation's most polluted waterway for years, up until (I think) the 90's. I used to work in Cambridge right on the water, and it was stank-nasty-smellin'. I think Atlanta's Chatahootchie River stole the title of Most Polluted away from Boston, but only with I fight.

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That's the Chattahoochee, which I can see out my window.

We're becoming the L.A. of the South in terms of sprawl and traffic jams. Local county sheriff departments seem to have major scandals periodically, ranging from having prisoners walk away while the sheriff is making money from having music videos filmed in the jail (Fulton County), to spectacularly failing to secure the courthouse (Fulton again), to, oh, losing an election and hiring your deputy to assassinate the winner (DeKalb County).

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Don't forget having our former Mayor go to the Pen. Or a city councilman caught by airport security with a quarter ounce of weed shoved up his ass.

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Originally posted by Clayton_e

I live in a location that is very cold for most of the year.. The past six years in this town I havn't had a car. Its ok, though, just very tough. Gotta bundle up like hell (I'm talking wind blocking ski pants, waterproof hiking boots, a couple coats, wool hat, neoprene face mask for when its really really windy, when its very very icy (sidewalks don't get too much attention around here) you've gotta put on metal cleats.. And your place looks as cold or colder. And I only have to walk about a mile to work and back each day.

Could that be a reason for the car-centric transportation society you have?

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It probably is. It would take a lot of planning and a will that doesn't exist to change the way things are done here (i.e. everyone works downtown, so everyone spends a lot of time commuting).

Rapid Transit is not.

The state does not support Atlanta's MARTA service.

The MARTA lines are limited (certain communities continually vote "No" to allowing the system to expand in fear of certain elements coming to the area). They stop unning close to midnight.

I am shocked when the "20 minute commute" by car is less than an hour. There is major gridlock every single day. People have called in sick because their car needs repair, which amazes me. Some would never consider taking the bus and train to work even if the service is available.

Clayton County (where I live) Board of Education recently regained accreditation on a probationary basis due to the shenanigans of Board members - NOT teacher's or childen's performance.

There are no sidewalks in many communities, so walking and jogging is dangerous. I walk 1/2 mile in the morning to meet my carpool or to catch the bus and I have to jump out of the way of a car at least once a week.

Taxis can't be hailed from the street. You have to either know a nunber or find a taxi stand and the fares are outrageous. 25 miles (my house to the office) is about 70 dollars plus tip.

Liquor sales are banned on Sunday except for bars and restaurants, which I'm sure leads to drunk driving.

People assume I'm a Christian all the time and are alarmed to learn I'm not. "Have a blessed day" is a regular voice mail greeting.

It's hot. We just had a run of days over 95 that beat previous records and everyone is in gridlock running a/c on high adding to the pollution. We've had smog warning regularly lately. "Code Orange!"

The pollen count goes into the thousands during some periods. I never reacted to allergies until moving here. I felt as though I had the flu for most of the spring.

There ARE positives here, but they are for another post.

People across North America talking about their cities' responses to traffic and driving, etc. make me weep for the future of humanity. If we are going to stop Global Warming as all the scientists predict, we'll have to do things that are 180º away from what we are currently doing, and I don't have high hopes for that.

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Originally posted by Clayton_e

I live in a location that is very cold for most of the year.. The past six years in this town I havn't had a car. Its ok, though, just very tough. Gotta bundle up like hell (I'm talking wind blocking ski pants, waterproof hiking boots, a couple coats, wool hat, neoprene face mask for when its really really windy, when its very very icy (sidewalks don't get too much attention around here) you've gotta put on metal cleats.. And your place looks as cold or colder. And I only have to walk about a mile to work and back each day.

Could that be a reason for the car-centric transportation society you have?

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No , your climate is not all that much different than Southern Ontario and a lot of folks use different means of getting around. The more hardy folks tend to do what you do and brave the elements, probably with a lot less clothes. We have a car culture cause we can, the major city powers can annoy us with the way things are done, but they cant stop us from driving.

So it becomes a stand off , neither side has the political juice to enforce its dictats on the other.

Declan

I live in NJ.

Q: How many public officials got arrested for corruption this year? I think we're approaching triple digits, and that includes [del:gbdkygyc]scumbags[/del:gbdkygyc] incumbants of both parties.

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Originally posted by Glazer

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Originally posted by Baldwin

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Originally posted by Winston Smith

That Dirty Water
The Charles River was the Nation's most polluted waterway for years, up until (I think) the 90's. I used to work in Cambridge right on the water, and it was stank-nasty-smellin'. I think Atlanta's Chatahootchie River stole the title of Most Polluted away from Boston, but only with I fight.

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That's the Chattahoochee, which I can see out my window.

We're becoming the L.A. of the South in terms of sprawl and traffic jams. Local county sheriff departments seem to have major scandals periodically, ranging from having prisoners walk away while the sheriff is making money from having music videos filmed in the jail (Fulton County), to spectacularly failing to secure the courthouse (Fulton again), to, oh, losing an election and hiring your deputy to assassinate the winner (DeKalb County).

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Don't forget having our former Mayor go to the Pen. Or a city councilman caught by airport security with a quarter ounce of weed shoved up his ass.

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Or that the fact that the major attractions/landmarks are:
(a) a soft drink museum
(b) a Confederate idol carved on a large rock
(c) a fast food restaurant (an especially large, fast, and greasy one, but still)
(d) an aquarium designed by a focus group of toddlers that keeps killing rare and endangered animals

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Originally posted by Declan

<snip>
No , your climate is not all that much different than Southern Ontario and a lot of folks use different means of getting around. The more hardy folks tend to do what you do and brave the elements, probably with a lot less clothes. We have a car culture cause we can, the major city powers can annoy us with the way things are done, but they cant stop us from driving.

So it becomes a stand off , neither side has the political juice to enforce its dictats on the other.

Declan

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All true. I have green inclinations, but the lure of the personal freedom of driving my own car is too strong for me, and I don't think I'll give it up until someone makes me. And this is from someone who is trying to make an effort to do the right things in a lot of ways. My compromise is to drive a small, fuel-efficient car. I'm thinking seriously about getting a scooter some day, but I'll still be driving a car in winter because a scooter just wouldn't work in winter here.

Here

expense eating out
litter
drunken violence
litter
public transport could be way better.
the rain
the rain
oh god won't it stop raining

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Originally posted by featherlou

All true. I have green inclinations, but the lure of the personal freedom of driving my own car is too strong for me....

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I think this is the root of the matter. What needs to be figured out is the answer to the question, "What would attract people to public transportation instead of the freedom of their own cars?" There can be many answers, but it would seem that unless public transit can be made more attractive, people will still opt for the freedom and comfort and speed of their own cars.

In Calgary's case, it's important to consider that Calgary is a city where winters can be bitter cold--thus, people have a choice of standing for 15 or 20 minutes at a bus stop in subzero temps, or taking their warm car. Guess which will win out? The solution to this would be to provide more frequent service, and/or turn transit centres (where buses turn around and such) into proper station stops that are heated.

Another thing about Calgary and transit: the city's streets were laid out upon a proper grid system. This doesn't always hold true--no city with a deep and wide river valley running through it will have a proper grid--but there is enough of a grid that you can have buses doing nothing but running on grid streets, instead of meandering through neighbourhoods, taking an hour to get somewhere that a car could be at in ten minutes. Solution? Have buses running in straight lines on crosstown avenues (e.g. Country Hills, McKnight/John Laurie, 16th Ave N), and on north/south routes (14th St W, Centre St.). Result? Local buses can still meander through neighbourhoods, but passengers can transfer to grid street buses to get uptown/downtown/crosstown quicker than they can in one bus that meanders.

I don't think there is one solution to Calgary's problems; rather, I think there are a series of smaller solutions such as the two above. They're not perfect and there would probably be some kinks to be worked out, but it would seem to me that they go at least part of the way towards answering the "What would attract people to public transportation instead of the freedom of their own cars?" question.

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Originally posted by An Gadaí

Here

expense eating out
litter
drunken violence
litter
public transport could be way better.
the rain
the rain
oh god won't it stop raining

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Sounds like y'all need an Indian to stand in a pile of trash next to the highway. That's how we got rid of all our litter. And don't worry about the rain. In a few years the Atlantic conveyor will shut down. And y'all wont have to deal with the rain anymore.