A few observations. One is that, in Suburbia, all the freeways, freeway exits, service areas and town crossings look and feel very similar, almost interchangeable. This can be disconcerting. Someone called this "no-places".
Another is that this uniformity is actually by design and is part of the business model of restaurant chains such as McDonald's, or store chains and supermarkets. The idea is that if the shopping or eating experience is the same no matter where you are, it's supposed to be reassuring to the traveller, or the person who moves house frequently. It makes it easier by design to move about in search of work, or to travel. But it can be an impoverishing experience compared with what happens when one moves to a substantially different place. By contrast, every country in Europe, even different regions, have different look and feel of the construction, and different business chains with different brands and different procedures.
Finally, I once saw a lecture by lee Smolin where he attempted to develop this idea that in order to have individual points the view from each of them has to be sufficiently different (and so, that in a highly regular grid of points there is really only one point). We have met the enemy, and he is us — Pogo
The other thing gone missing during the ars (and partly not reinstated) is fences. I am always astonished about that...
<this is a snarky post!!!>
My attempts were equally, if not more, hideous. A friend and I had taken a ride around downtown, since he'd never visited. Needed to get on Memorial to get back across the river to the Parkway. Somehow wound up on Ohio. "Do you know where we need to be?" he asked. "Yeah, about a hundred feet higher and going West."
Wound up spending an hour and a half going up to, and then through, Georgetown to the Key Bridge.
Needless to say, I'm not a big fan of Mr L'Enfant, and I haven't driven in the city since. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
yes, and utilitarian, pragmatic....
or best: techno! ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
the best thing about them is how if you momentarily forget where you're going, (!), you can keep spinning till you find the right womb-door.
(disclaimer: i used to love getting on the circle line in london and going peoplewatching round and round for free!)
the worst...italians haven't got the hang of them yet, and sometimes stop and give right of way to incoming traffic....
still way better than stoplights, (boring and fume-y), or the california system of first come first served, (polite, but over ritualistic)..
i bet roundabouts save energy... they sure feel like they do.
as metaphors, they rock. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
