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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Boston used to be the jaywalking capital of the world
When I was in Boston, 1970±1 year, jay walking wasn't limited to pedestrians. On of the first pieces of traffic that I remember seeing was the two cars that met on a side street and passed, not driver side to driver side but passenger side to passenger side. It was a one way street. Sometime later, on a visit, I saw a tourist driving on a six lane one way street looking confused. I was sending thought rays at him imploring him not to ask directions, but he must have had his aluminum foil helmet on. He has no idea how much grief he was spared when the native simply said, "You're going the wrong way."
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
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:Only those who have had the torment of driving in Boston can imagine what a crazy-quilt of one way streets they have. Way back in the thirties the Postmaster of Bridgewater to find a convention site started down a one way street the wrong way.; A red faced Hibernian in blue uniform with badge, blew whistle, clamped his foot on running board of car, thrust his snarling face into window, and demanded "What's your name?" The terrified postmaster stammered :"Murphy, Officer." The cop snarled back "And a foine thing it is for you too. Get the hell out of here!"
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the old cow paths that the streets of Boston were carved out of (so I was told)From the tearing down romantic, fun, interesting myths department: The streets of Boston were not laid out according to cow paths. The city's layout is a fairly standard medieval one. The first two streets in Boston were King Street (now State) and High Street (now several names, including Columbus Av.). High St. ran along "the Neck", which was the thin strip of land connecting the near-island of the Shawmut penninsula (Downtown Boston) to the Dorchester Flats King St. intersected at a right angle and ran out to (and on to) the Long Wharf. Later streets were laid out parallel to High (particularly as the Neck was thickened through filling in the spaces between the numerous wharves) or King, but often curved to avoid the three hills that originally marked the pennisula (hence Tremont St.) or directly connected important sites in the city (the North End and the Common) or ran along the original coastline, but are now well inland (Atlantic Av.). Check out the site below for a wonderful collection of historic Boston maps. Check out the Composite Map, which clearly shows the city's vastly altered outlines. http://www.mappingboston.com/html/explore.htmThe above was based on memories from a college course, so forgive me if I have some names wrong. I certainly won't argue that Boston is easy to get around (particularly by car), but there was some planning that went into it all, even if the results seem to adhere to only bovine logic. EDIT: The link should work now, wow. Sorry for the error in the original posting (my first {url} tag!).
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Flatlander The link won't disply {frustrated-map-lover -e} Or is it just me ...again!
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Flatlander - thanks for the cool map link, and the history of some of the streets. I grew up in the South End, between Columbus Ave. and Tremont Street, both of which you mention. Now I wish I had taken the college course you describe. I think Bostonians were just content with being able to navigate the city's streets (I really can, and can even give directions reasonably clearly!), and don't bother studying their history.
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Hyla, you (and others interested) should read Boston: A Topographical History by Walter Muir Whitehill. I understand that it has just been re-released in an updated third edition by Harvard U. Press, and is available from your friendly neighborhood giant internet bookshop.
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veteran
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How much is the current construction of whatever it's called* going to effect Boston's streets?
*I asked my eldest son the other day, What ever became of Bill S.? (one of his frieends who was always in and out of our house when they were growing up). He replied that Bill has been in Boston for over 2 years making a fortune working on "the Ditch" at least 60 hours a week at high wages.
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How much is the current construction of whatever it's called* going to effect Boston's streets?It is (unofficially) called "The Big Dig," and it will have a major effect on the city, one way or the other. The most obvious effect will be the removal of the big, green, ugly, elevated Central Artery. The highway will be underground, with simplified exits to the surface streets. The resulting vacant strip will be left open mostly for parks and other public buildings (I think I heard something about a botanical garden a while back). Many claim that this will forever ease the horrendou traffic problems of the city, but more thoughtful observers worry about the project's effect on parking and public transportation. If you are telling everyone that it is now so much easier to get into Boston by car, that makes them less likely to take the excellent public transportation system, and makes them need parking spaces, which already run in the neighborhood of $20/hour in some places. Check out http://www.bigdig.com for the official party line, and I will Google for some dissenting opinion to post later. EDIT: I expected to find some strong opposition to the Big Dig online, but this is a bit much: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/2360/bigdig.html.
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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Do I gather then that the excellent system described above by Dr. Bill of making motorists wait for pedestrians rather than vice versa is no longer in effect?
Bingley
Bingley
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Giving the pedestrian right of way is the law in almost every state/jurisdiction.. But in several east cost cities, notable, Boston and NY, it is almost never adhered to.
In NY (I haven't spent enough time in Boston to know that it true there, but I suspect it is..) Both pedestrians and vehicles operate on the idea of "never yield" You might thing that a 3000 pound automobile or 10,000 pound truck is always going to win.. But the masses of pedestrians in both cities changes the odds.. And traffic lights, double parked cars other things slow vehicular traffic down, so, it easier for pedestrians to dart between the cars.
Rudy–(NY Mayor) has tried to enforce no jaywalking.. And in spite of occasionally handing out $50 fines, there has not been much success.. The cops don't want to write the tickets, and no one really wants thing to change..
In some cities, (i.e. Pittsburgh) when you step off the curb, traffic grinds to a halt.. very strange! and in California and Washington (state) traffic will also halt, but cops will give you ticket, on the spot.. And a talking to...
Londoners jay walk too, but not like NY'ers– Italians are like NY'ers. The Japanese are much more like Californians..
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