Simple way to improve your neighborhood
We are living in the XXI century, and we can access any information on the Internet whenever we
desire it, we could buy nearly anything there and work remotely, all inside our homes. But we still
need wander around our neighborhoods and cities. And there are still plenty places we could
improve. And Jeff Speck has an idea, how we should do it.
desire it, we could buy nearly anything there and work remotely, all inside our homes. But we still
need wander around our neighborhoods and cities. And there are still plenty places we could
improve. And Jeff Speck has an idea, how we should do it.
Link to the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wai4ub90stQ
1. Do you agree with the Jeff’s arguments? Why or why not?
2. Do you have any place in your neighborhood, that could be improved?
3. How would you improve any important place in your area or city?
Comments
Yes, there are lots of places that can be improved in my neighborhood.
Considering that I have enough financial supplies I would start from making my area/city more "green" and more eco-friendly, maybe first step would be investing more in solar panels that can be installed on roofs of office buildings, schools, and medical establishments.
2. There’s a program in Warsaw called participatory budgeting that attempts to improve a city on the locale scale by inviting population to suggest ideas and vote for them to be implemented. I’ve never been able to come up with something.
3. As I said before I don’t really know. I don’t spend much time on thinking how to improve the city. I’d prefer if someone took care of it for me.
This guy is great. I totally agree with this point of view. Look at how his thinking is different than our everyday decision making. When you focus on a goal which should be good for the community, not for the one person, it changes the way you look at problems and then solve them. I understand not everyone might be so enthusiastic about those ideas, but they are clearly working, thought through and also decently backed up by facts.
I can't find any ideas now but I have another way to think about it now, when I observe the city.
A lot of places in my neighborhood could be improved because most of the roads and pathways are very old or have poor quality and need fixing.
I would invest in a 3rd subway line and forbid cars from entering the city center - it would limit air pollution and traffic jams.
Changes to the faster access to more traffic areas.
As for the third subway line: there is no doubt, it should be build as fast as possible, but - in my opinion - it should be same as the circle line in Moscow or St. Petersburg. In Warsaw it could connect both main train stations (East and West), the Dworzec Gdański on the north and the Wilanowska metro station on the south.
I agree that congestion is one of the biggest problems nowadays in the cities. As someone correctly observed before, a lot of cities, such as London or Bergen in Norway have already introduced solutions for car regulations in their city centres. It is very important to be able to live in a city where you feel space and freedom and not fumes and car horns all the time.
2. Do you have any place in your neighborhood, that could be improved?
Yes, recently I have observed that trees are being cut down in front of my windows instead of planting new ones. Those trees are absolutely necessary especially in areas where distribution of building is tight and neighbors can see from their windows what is happening in your appartment. Trees make for a block in such situations.
3. How would you improve any important place in your area or city?
In Warsaw I think we should move toward the Rings (just like in Berlin or London) that would reduce the congestion and make moving from one part of the city to another much faster.
Certainly there will be many such places. There are definitely not enough trees in the area. It could use a fountain, maybe more parking spaces.
Hard to say. Maybe more seats in the park. Renewing some places
Yes, I never take his point of view but it is good. The nearest area can shape our life.
Do you have any place in your neighborhood, that could be improved?
I think there are many of that places but also I can find many places that are good like parks.
Hmm in neighborhood not really but i know a dozen places where more deterministic means of committing would be nice so called "Falenica" is one of them even though we have 2 buses and "regular" train there they are heavily unreliable.
In Warsaw i would focus on subway expansion as costly as it is a proper subway system in Warsaw could solve many problems in capital of Poland.
Yes, I agree, and I think in cities people must develope public transportation more. Because it really saves time, our environment, and our health..
2. Do you have any place in your neighborhood, that could be improved?
I think we can start from improving our housing, by using "energy effective" tech, cars, etc.
3. How would you improve any important place in your area or city?
I live in flat, but if I would live in house, I could use solar panels, for providing electricity for myself, and selling it to electric network.
No, I’m leaving in very green and quiet neighborhood for sure it could be better with some solar panels but it not in my power to change it. Also, my neighborhood has some transport problems to get out of their by car, but in my opinion, it for best as it motivates to use trams.
I would improve the city center, the place around palace of Culture. It could be amazing place to hang out but now, its gray and ugly. I know there are plans to create "Central park" exactly there but I am not sure when or if would it even happend. Hopefully "Rotunda" is being renovated right now, which is nice as it is well known spot in the center and everyone knows where it is.
I agree with Jeff, because in my opinion city planning has the biggest impact on everyday life of everyone, city that is planned good has less polluted air, less traffic, less cars and less health problems, so, quality of life is much better.
Biggest problem in my neighborhood is traffic and lots of cars. I think it can be improved with a group of good profesional city planners and grant from local government or city hall.
As i said, it would be great if city planners started working on reducing traffic, that will let the city "breath". It can be done by checking cars, upgrading municipal transport and creating more parking spots.
But if i comes to main subject im not so sure about what is said there. In fact suburbs are great way of escaping concrete jungle. Living almost in forest motivate me to move and run or ride a bike. Driving to my work isnt really hard as im not crossing any major routes and when i drive to my gf im just going to bypass and it takes about 35 minutes. In my opinion warsaw is really great city when it comes to its desing. We just lack some minor improvements and repairs of roads.