Two-tier society
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Each time I see cycleways & paths still treacherous hours after the roads have been cleared, I recall this 99% Invisible episode.
"In Sweden, the council reversed its approach and plowed side-roads & paths first. It had a huge impact, reducing number of people admitted to emergency centres, particularly women. It had an economic impact from lower healthcare costs. Driving through a few inches was less dangerous than walking through snow, particularly if pushing a pram."
@CiaraNi I love the stories that 99% Invisible finds! I havenโt listened to this one so thank you for sharing!
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My motto for my city is "Fort Worth, the town that sidewalks forgot." At least there was this attempt at North Tarrant and Riverside.
@Enema_Cowboy @CiaraNi It's taken my city, Round Rock, TX, a while to get with the idea that we should have sidewalks. It was dismaying to see new developments without sidewalks, but that seems to be a thing of the past.
I often think of the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" when I encounter a sidewalk that just, well, ends!
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Each time I see cycleways & paths still treacherous hours after the roads have been cleared, I recall this 99% Invisible episode.
"In Sweden, the council reversed its approach and plowed side-roads & paths first. It had a huge impact, reducing number of people admitted to emergency centres, particularly women. It had an economic impact from lower healthcare costs. Driving through a few inches was less dangerous than walking through snow, particularly if pushing a pram."
@CiaraNi that chapter of the book is what I think about every time this happens, as well. Today was a rare occasion of me taking the bus, and I had to traverse one of the dumbest results of the pedestrian areas not being prioritized: the forever icebergs that form when they just throw sand and gravel on the problem, rather than just scrape the snow right away. I refuse to believe that's even resource saving over a winter season, as they have to come back and throw more gravel on it regularly.
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Two-tier society
@CiaraNi Car-centric thinking. It's dumb and annoying.
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@CiaraNi I was just thinking this today when a road in my small village had been cleared by piling 20 cm snow onto the pavement.
@holsta Yes! Good point. This bothers me too. It feels so dismissive and rude, even โ literally shovelling a problem away from drivers in their metal shields and onto exposed, unprotected cyclists and pedestrians. This photo is from a previous snowfall, but the same problem is everywhere in Aarhus too today. I saw people with mobility aids struggling to clamber over slippery mounds of cleared road snow that block the kerb cuts at pedestrians crossings.
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@CiaraNi I love the stories that 99% Invisible finds! I havenโt listened to this one so thank you for sharing!
@monstreline Me too. It's a brilliant podcast. Always fascinating stories, so well told.
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@CiaraNi that chapter of the book is what I think about every time this happens, as well. Today was a rare occasion of me taking the bus, and I had to traverse one of the dumbest results of the pedestrian areas not being prioritized: the forever icebergs that form when they just throw sand and gravel on the problem, rather than just scrape the snow right away. I refuse to believe that's even resource saving over a winter season, as they have to come back and throw more gravel on it regularly.
@eivind The 'forever icebergs' โ that's a great phrase for them. Takk, den lรฅner jeg. Yes, great point. This a self-defeating problem.
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@CiaraNi Car-centric thinking. It's dumb and annoying.
@RandamuMaki It is. It's a resilient problem. We are lucky that our city is not generally car-centric, with bikes and pedestrians often given right-of-way over cars and with people-centred infrastructure. But for some reason, the exception is during snow. It can takes days before the paths are cleared, even in the busy city centre.
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My motto for my city is "Fort Worth, the town that sidewalks forgot." At least there was this attempt at North Tarrant and Riverside.
@Enema_Cowboy Oh my. I thought at first that this was a poorly designed path that took a weird winding route with an unseen bit around a bend. Then I read your Alt Text (thanks) and understood it is two unconnected 'paths' that just ... stop. A 'stroad' - what a word, what a concept! Thanks for sharing this.
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@Enema_Cowboy @CiaraNi It's taken my city, Round Rock, TX, a while to get with the idea that we should have sidewalks. It was dismaying to see new developments without sidewalks, but that seems to be a thing of the past.
I often think of the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" when I encounter a sidewalk that just, well, ends!
@davemq @Enema_Cowboy Am glad to hear that the phenomenon of residential areas being built without paths seems to be dying out. I hope those peculiar paths that just 'stop' get replaced in the future by proper integrated pedestrian infrastructure.
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Two-tier society
@CiaraNi You do mean 3 tier donโt you? Look at the path for walkers.
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