#introduction
New instance new intro!!
I'm somcak, a #librarian currently in #Ohio. I have 2 mini #dachshunds & 2 #cats.
I've been on Mastodon since October 2022, this is my 4th server.
I use content warnings for all sorts of stuff! I always make sure there's #AltText & #CamelCase for my own posts as well as those I boost. #Accessibility matters.
I enjoy learning about #history and #archeology, particularly the #neolithic.
I'm also interested in #UrbanPlanning & making communities greener.
@c_9@pluralistic Pretty much every large downtown area in Ontario owes its demise to amalgamation with suburbs and exurbs by Mike Harris. At the time I was young and thought getting rid of the various regional bodies was a good idea. When I became more locally aware, I realized how this decision prevents every good urban planning idea from moving forward. #ONPoli#UrbanPlanning
Concerned about microplastics? Research shows one of the biggest sources is car tyres
A lot of the emphasis on reducing microplastics has focussed on things like plastic bags, clothing, and food packaging.
But there's a growing body of research that shows one of the biggest culprits by far is car tyres.
It's increasingly clear that we simply cannot solve the issue of microplastics in the environment while still using tyres — even with electric-powered cars.
"Tyre wear stands out as a major source of microplastic pollution. Globally, each person is responsible for around 1kg of microplastic pollution from tyre wear released into the environment on average each year – with even higher rates observed in developed nations.
"It is estimated that between 8% and 40% of these particles find their way into surface waters such as the sea, rivers and lakes through runoff from road surfaces, wastewater discharge or even through airborne transport.
"However, tyre wear microplastics have been largely overlooked as a microplastic pollutant. Their dark colour makes them difficult to detect, so these particles can’t be identified using the traditional spectroscopy methods used to identify other more colourful plastic polymers."
"Microplastic pollution has polluted the entire planet, from Arctic snow and Alpine soils to the deepest oceans. The particles can harbour toxic chemicals and harmful microbes and are known to harm some marine creatures. People are also known to consume them via food and water, and to breathe them, But the impact on human health is not yet known.
"“Roads are a very significant source of microplastics to remote areas, including the oceans,” said Andreas Stohl, from the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, who led the research. He said an average tyre loses 4kg during its lifetime. “It’s such a huge amount of plastic compared to, say, clothes,” whose fibres are commonly found in rivers, Stohl said. “You will not lose kilograms of plastic from your clothing.”"
"Microplastics are of increasing concern in the environment [1, 2]. Tire wear is estimated to be one of the largest sources of microplastics entering the aquatic environment [3,4,5,6,7]. The mechanical abrasion of car tires by the road surface forms tire wear particles (TWP) [8] and/or tire and road wear particles (TRWP), consisting of a complex mixture of rubber, with both embedded asphalt and minerals from the pavement [9]."
Firefighters contend a Los Angeles complete streets ballot measure would cost lives by slowing down fire trucks.
But drivers killed 336 people in L.A. last year, compared to 14 who died in fires.
"What's especially bonkers about the firefighters' opposition to HLA is that they are almost alone. The list of groups that have endorsed it is not just long -- it's also among the most diverse you could ever imagine in Los Angeles."
Following on from the great reaction video of @nerd4cities I've released my own responding to the question -'Does Urban Planning YouTube have a HUGE problem?'
If you care about the planet, please make sure you sit down before you start reading this post about ExxonMobil.
So.
The CEO of ExxonMobil just said this in an interview: "We’ve waited too long to open the aperture on the solution sets in terms of what we need, as a society, to start reducing emissions."
Who's the most influential voice on climate change? Who's to blame for inaction on climate change?
According to the CEO of ExxonMobil, it's environmental activists.
No, really:
"Frankly, society, and the activist—the dominant voice in this discussion—has tried to exclude the industry that has the most capacity and the highest potential for helping with some of the technologies."
Oh, and the CEO of ExxonMobil also apparently thinks consumers are to blame for climate inaction:
"Today we have opportunities to make fuels with lower carbon, but people aren’t willing to spend the money to do that."
Gets better.
He thinks unnamed 'people who generate emissions' should pay for it. (Rather than, say, major transnational oil companies.)
"People who are generating the emissions need to be aware of [it] and pay the price. That’s ultimately how you solve the problem."
So, remind me again. Who knew about climate change before most of the public?
"Exxon was aware of climate change, as early as 1977, 11 years before it became a public issue... This knowledge did not prevent the company (now ExxonMobil and the world’s largest oil and gas company) from spending decades refusing to publicly acknowledge climate change and even promoting climate misinformation."
And just who, exactly, stood in the way reducing emissions all these years?
"ExxonMobil executives privately sought to undermine climate science even after the oil and gas giant publicly acknowledged the link between fossil fuel emissions and climate change, according to previously unreported documents...
"The new revelations are based on previously unreported documents subpoenaed by New York’s attorney general as part of an investigation into the company announced in 2015. They add to a slew of documents that record a decades-long misinformation campaign waged by Exxon, which are cited in a growing number of state and municipal lawsuits against big oil."
Looks like the Boring Company's Las Vegas tunnels are going about as well as you'd expect from an Elon project...
"The muck pooling in the tunnel at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip had the consistency of a milkshake and, in some places, sat at least two feet deep. ... At first, it merely felt damp. But in addition to the water, sand and silt—the natural byproducts of any dig—the workers understood that it was full of chemicals known as accelerants.
"The accelerants cure the grout that seals the tunnel’s concrete supports, helping the grout set properly and protecting the work against cracks and other deterioration. They also seriously burn exposed human skin. At the Encore dig site, such burns became almost routine, workers there told Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. An investigation by the state OSHA, which Bloomberg Businessweek has obtained via a freedom of information request, describes workers being scarred permanently on their arms and legs. According to the investigation, at least one employee took a direct hit to the face. In an interview with Businessweek, one of the tunnel workers recalls the feeling of exposure to the chemicals: “You’d be like, ‘Why am I on fire?’”"
Fantastic video on why we continue to support the development of unsustainable places. Sadly, the people who would most benefit from this, won't watch it.
How Cleveland Built a City Devoted to Parking—and How It’s Trying to Undo the Damage and Win Over Skeptics
"Since the 1960s, any single thing built in its borders was ordered by city code to include space for cars. The most glaring headache for developers—other than extending build time —is that parking lots and urban garages are, and have always been, insanely expensive"
What can you get to within a 15-minute walk of your house?
A recent YouGov survey asked Americans what they think they should be able to get to within a 15-minute walk of their house.
Of these choices, I can currently walk to all of them from my apartment, aside from a university (no biggie, I'm not currently studying, although there is a Tafe within walking distance), a hospital, and a sports arena.
How many can you get to with a 15 minute walk from your house?
@uis@milicent_bystandr The architect you're thinking of is a guy by the name of Victor Gruen.
The short version is that he was a socialist from Austria, who wanted to basically recreate the great walkable streets and plazas of Vienna indoors in Minnesota.
His views on cars, ironically, wouldn't be out of place on a @notjustbikes video: "Suburban business real estate has often been evaluated on the basis of passing automobile traffic. This evaluation overlooks the fact that automobiles do not buy merchandise."
He hated cars, and saw this as an antidote to car-dependent development:
"But Gruen had a grander vision. He wanted to re-create in microcosm the walkable, diverse and liveable town centres he so loved in Vienna.
"Part of his motivation was seeing how reliance on the automobile was affecting cities. In his classic book, Shopping Towns USA, Gruen rails against the development of drive-by shopping centres focused on catering to passing motorists.
"The original plan was for commerce to be broken up by numerous attractions like aviaries, fountains and works of art. The mall itself would be surrounded by residences, offices, medical facilities, schools and everything that made a community.
"The mall was inward-looking, not to keep people focused on spending but to shelter pedestrians from cars and away from their fumes and noise.
"Here’s the first painful irony, then. Rather than developing the new mixed-use centre envisioned by Gruen, the only thing built was the mall and car parks. The grand vision was reduced to a monoculture of big shopping brands surrounded by massive car parks, all accessible only by automobile."
Yesterday, I was hit by a car that rolled through a stop sign at a poorly designed 2-way stop. Later, I spoke in front of Columbus City Council to demand that they redesign these intersections, which they have already done elsewhere.
Excuse my outfit, this is what I was wearing when I was hit.
Safe Streets Connecticut: Lessons from mapping pedestrian and cyclist deaths
"A heat map showing where pedestrians and cyclists were killed since 2020...from the process reconfirmed some obvious known facts, and came upon a few other trends. I’m sharing these observations to add context to the heat map"
(The author titled the piece "Lessons From Mapping Death"...catchy, but a bit clickbaity for my taste)
White people invented the suburbs specifically to get away from ni-, I mean, "urban thugs," and we're all continuing the (literally) pay the stupid, stupid price.
See, here's why I think the Parramatta light rail should be extended from Sydney Olympic Park to Strathfield.
It's not just that it would allow it to connect directly to many of the train lines serving the western and northern suburbs, including the T1, T2, T3, and T9. Or intercity trains to the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, and Newcastle.
It's not just that Strathfield is a major bus hub with many services across the western suburbs.
It's not just that DFO Homebush (between Strathfield and Olympic Park) is a busy shopping centre that generates a lot of traffic.
No, the big reason I say it's a good idea is because these photos were taken on the 526 bus, between Strathfield and Olympic Park, on a Sunday afternoon.
New Complete Streets policy under discussion in Columbus
The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) is planning a Complete Streets policy to set a vision and requirements for all new road projects and repairs.
This writer graded the policy 43 out of 100, which sounds bad unless you know that the Ohio average is 36.
@taiwanreporter Putting aside the issue of property rights, and #UrbanPlanning, there’s something either sarcastically witty or downright satanically evil about the mental process of the man who painted that pedestrian walkway and decided just to “jog over” instead curving and making it continuous.
I’d like to think it’s the former, but I’m just not sure.