New York New York, so good they... apparently have no traffic regulations
Well sorry about the delay in the next post. A mix of being lazy and being away in New York learning about the US health system. More on the learning about American health on the soon to come sister site, but it was interesting to be in London's only realistic challenger as World capital. Perhaps particularly on the fifth anniversary of 9/11
The big impressions were the uniqueness of the place - what I hadn't realised was that the 5 boroughs is about half the size of greater London but has a population which is 1 million greater, so the population density is far far greater than London's. This is particuarly true of Manhattan. Manhattan is about the same size as zone 1 (the centre of London), but has a resident population of about 1.7 million. The thing about the very centre of London is of course that very few people actually live there (the heavy population density is a mile or so outside of the centre of town) - so the population in zone 1 is little more than 500,000.
The resulting density creates a kind of chaos I wasn't expecting. Particularly in crossing the road. Seriously. The old, iconic, walk/don't walk signs have been largely replaced Euro style little green men, and for some reason these are completely ignored by drivers who chicane around pedestrians using a zebra crossing with impunity. Given the brilliant invective that flows pretty routinely from the locals it was amazing that pedestrians just took this. Truly the car is king.
One sight which may be significant of something is the changing nature of the big yellow taxis. Sure the old Fords were still there with the huge hoods and trunks, but the newest, cleanest cabs..? Toyota people carriers. Those healthcare premiums are starting to bite.
The big impressions were the uniqueness of the place - what I hadn't realised was that the 5 boroughs is about half the size of greater London but has a population which is 1 million greater, so the population density is far far greater than London's. This is particuarly true of Manhattan. Manhattan is about the same size as zone 1 (the centre of London), but has a resident population of about 1.7 million. The thing about the very centre of London is of course that very few people actually live there (the heavy population density is a mile or so outside of the centre of town) - so the population in zone 1 is little more than 500,000.
The resulting density creates a kind of chaos I wasn't expecting. Particularly in crossing the road. Seriously. The old, iconic, walk/don't walk signs have been largely replaced Euro style little green men, and for some reason these are completely ignored by drivers who chicane around pedestrians using a zebra crossing with impunity. Given the brilliant invective that flows pretty routinely from the locals it was amazing that pedestrians just took this. Truly the car is king.
One sight which may be significant of something is the changing nature of the big yellow taxis. Sure the old Fords were still there with the huge hoods and trunks, but the newest, cleanest cabs..? Toyota people carriers. Those healthcare premiums are starting to bite.
posted by Exiled in mainstream at
5:21 PM
1 Comments:
I wonder did you hear the disabled help for the blind at road crossings.
Sounds like a bird chirping. I visited a road crossing in San Diego
it was a perticularly nasty The sound this one made was Cuckoo, Cuckoo. It
had the desired effect I crossed very quickly.
By
Anonymous, at 5:55 PM
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