On Apr 25, 6:39=A0pm, "Juan M" <jdmollanSPAMME...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Not funny, but interesting...
> Great quotes on "real cities,"
> It often appears that the only functional cities in North America are
thos=
e
> that reached maturity before the dominance of the automobile over the
city=
..
> Cities like New York, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago had their
> infrastructures, including trans****tation, =A0well in place before
everyon=
e
> owned a car or two (the late 1920s). These follow the European models;
> cities in which you only move your car when you leave the city.
> The cities that were built (or matured) after that date are generally
> sprawling collections of low-density suburbs, strip malls and shopping
> centers like Phoenix and Los Angeles and the many housing-shopping
tracts =
of
> Florida that have no focal centers, either culturally or commercially.
> The less populated states of the Rockies and Great Plains are even
worse. =
=A0A
> Wyoming "city" of 5000 might be two blocks wide and five miles long
along
> the old highway with absolutely no thought =A0of planning, aesthetics or
e=
ven
> function. =A0Without a motor vehicle, life there is almost impossible.
> The only truly great cities that seem to prosper in the modern world are
> Canadian: Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Most Manhattanites do not have cars! In the mass transit capital of
the nation, you don't need one!eh Albeit, Manhattan (aka Gotham City,
Metropolis, Big Apple, Concrete Jungle, The City, The City That Never
Sleeps, World's Second Home, The Empire State, The State That Has
Everything, The Greatest City In The World) IS the 'birthplace of
gridlock!'eh So much so that Billionaire Mayor Bloomberg (4th Jewish
Mayor of NY) wanted to implement a toll-fee to enter The City! LOL!
Luckily, the bill was turned down by Albany! It's bad enough that we
have to pay $10 to go to Staten Island, ala The Verrazano Bridge. -D,
NYC "When it opened in 1964, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was the
world's longest suspension span. The bridge was named after Giovanni
da Verrazano, who, in 1524, was the first European explorer to sail
into New York Harbor" - MTA.."Local public trans****tation debuted in
America in 1827 when a twelve-seat stagecoach began operating along
Broadway from the Battery to Bleecker Street. In 1831 the omnibus, a
horse-drawn vehicle, was introduced in Manhattan. In 1832 the nation's
first railroad, a horse-draw streetcar line, was constructed" - LITTLE
BIG BOOK OF NEW YORK.."John Hertz, who founded the Yellow Cab Company
in 1907, chose yellow for his cabs because he had read a study
conducted by the University of Chicago that indicated it was the
easiest color to spot" - IBID.."There are 40,000 licensed taxi drivers
and 12,187 licensed taxicabs in NYC" - IBID.."Metered taxis first hit
NYC streets on October 1, 1907" - IBID.."Passengers pay well over $1
billion in fares and tips each year" - IBID.."When you get caught
between the moon and New York City - the best that you can do is fall
in love" - CHRISTOPHER CROSS, ARTHUR'S THEME (co-penned by sweets Burt
Bacharach and Carol Bayer Sager - NYer)
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