Ants
As I was sitting in a resturant, watching the busy traffic fill Ponce De Leon Ave., I started to think about space and the relationship of comfort. Some people want to be around others just to have them close, to feel the buzz of energy going on is other people's lives, and personal space is given up for comfort. Others may want complete space from everything, freedom to walk for miles, drive for miles, with no one around, that is comfort to them.
How do you transition a city to have less space to roam, more people in it, and have the comfort of personal and literal space? Atlanta is going through this transition now. Housing and Commercial Developments have grow exponentially since I've been in this city. The first years of college, the city had traffic problems, too many drivers, but everyone lived on the out-skirts of the city. Those that needed to commute in, did. Those that didn't, usually lived outside, only to come in on special occasions or that once-in-a-while weekend night. Now, we have so much housing development, the hum is back in this ant hill.
People are falling over each other whie living in the city, mainly because they refuse to get rid of their cars and legislate for good public transportation. With gas being so expensive, I'm glad I can walk to work - or it's close enough too. I don't want to move out of the area, because driving 30 min to work isn't fun.
When the Segway came out, it promised of times when personal travel would be fast, inexpensive, quiet, and stressfree. I can't imaging planning a city where people were trying to go really fast on personal carts because the space has gotten limited. The car is a bloated version of our bodies and as space gets limited, the cars get smaller, the people more packed in. Each city humming like an ant colony with cars driving all over eachother just to keep the status-quo going.
I guess this post is a my disgust with growth without actually growing, but more like shrinking.
How do you transition a city to have less space to roam, more people in it, and have the comfort of personal and literal space? Atlanta is going through this transition now. Housing and Commercial Developments have grow exponentially since I've been in this city. The first years of college, the city had traffic problems, too many drivers, but everyone lived on the out-skirts of the city. Those that needed to commute in, did. Those that didn't, usually lived outside, only to come in on special occasions or that once-in-a-while weekend night. Now, we have so much housing development, the hum is back in this ant hill.
People are falling over each other whie living in the city, mainly because they refuse to get rid of their cars and legislate for good public transportation. With gas being so expensive, I'm glad I can walk to work - or it's close enough too. I don't want to move out of the area, because driving 30 min to work isn't fun.
When the Segway came out, it promised of times when personal travel would be fast, inexpensive, quiet, and stressfree. I can't imaging planning a city where people were trying to go really fast on personal carts because the space has gotten limited. The car is a bloated version of our bodies and as space gets limited, the cars get smaller, the people more packed in. Each city humming like an ant colony with cars driving all over eachother just to keep the status-quo going.
I guess this post is a my disgust with growth without actually growing, but more like shrinking.
hum... it sounds like you either have to adjest to more of a city life or trade off and accept a longer commute to work.
Posted by
Kris |
10:26 AM