thinky thoughts about Aurora
Jun. 1st, 2019 06:14 pmI took the bus again to pho with ![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
speedie316 and friends. That means I go for tens of miles up Washington state road 99, AKA Aurora Avenue, the butt-ugly six-lane arterial that goes most of the length of Puget Sound.
Taking the bus on Aurora, even while the sun is still up, means you will encounter colorful individuals in a variety of suboptimal mental states. But that isn't what I really wanted to write about.
What I really wanted to write about was the game I played with myself as I stared out the window. (I forgot my AirPods.) I tried to estimate what fraction of the street frontage was directly devoted to cars - car dealerships, repair, parts. As you'd expect, that figure was about half for much of the trip, and even higher if you add in other businesses that aren't car-related but configured especially for cars, like drive-in restaurants and big-box stores.
What happens if cars suddenly go away? What if a sensible if delayed response to global heating (yes, heating) zaps them and replaces them with mass transit? There will be a whole lot of big buildings looking for tenants. Arts and entertainment may actually stand a chance in this town again, at least until the housing fills in. Yes, this is probably a pipe dream, but what a lovely pipe dream it is.
speedie316 and friends. That means I go for tens of miles up Washington state road 99, AKA Aurora Avenue, the butt-ugly six-lane arterial that goes most of the length of Puget Sound.Taking the bus on Aurora, even while the sun is still up, means you will encounter colorful individuals in a variety of suboptimal mental states. But that isn't what I really wanted to write about.
What I really wanted to write about was the game I played with myself as I stared out the window. (I forgot my AirPods.) I tried to estimate what fraction of the street frontage was directly devoted to cars - car dealerships, repair, parts. As you'd expect, that figure was about half for much of the trip, and even higher if you add in other businesses that aren't car-related but configured especially for cars, like drive-in restaurants and big-box stores.
What happens if cars suddenly go away? What if a sensible if delayed response to global heating (yes, heating) zaps them and replaces them with mass transit? There will be a whole lot of big buildings looking for tenants. Arts and entertainment may actually stand a chance in this town again, at least until the housing fills in. Yes, this is probably a pipe dream, but what a lovely pipe dream it is.
