August 25th, 2010
World Wide Wednesday: Mobile Food, Noisy Hybrids, Fighting for the Empire, Moscow Traffic
By Hilary Best // 6 Comments
Each week we will be focusing on blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. We’ll be on the lookout for websites outside the country that approach themes related to urban experiences and issues.
• NPR chronicles a growing trend for start up chefs who use trucks, trailers and mobile homes to sell their food to the masses. The overwhelming expense of starting a restaurant isn't stopping these gastro-preneurs from practicing their art.
• The Globe and Mail reports that for $148 U.S., Japanese Prius owners can now install noise makers into their hybrid cars. The devices make a whirring sound equivalent to the noise of a regular car engine; regulators and automakers hope the move will reduce the number of pedestrian-hybrid crashes which are twice as likely than with conventional engines. The device may soon be made available in other markets.
• New Yorkers are fighting a contentious battle between preserving their iconic skyline and increasing density near the Penn Station transit hub. The New York Times reports on a 1,216 feet tower proposed for 34th Street, two avenues west of the Empire State Building. While the City Planning Commission has approved the tower, Community Board 5 has not - citing an unusually large zoning bonus for the development.
• The New Yorker has a delightful video teaser this week for an article on the relentless traffic of Moscow. Author Keith Gessin identifies the city's limited access points and wide roads as major problems and notes the creative solutions proposed by Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Gessin wonders if it isn't Russians' habituation to waiting in soviet-style lines that keeps them in their cars in spite of the interminable waiting this entails.
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Comments
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Actually the 'silence' of electric cars is a significant problem. In urban areas it may be less of an issue since we have all by now been 'socialized' to expect cars everywhere, but in the country where cars are few and far between this can lead to some very dangerous surprises.
Yaaah that whole noisemaker thing is ridiculous. I can see fuel companies using the no-noise issue as an excuse to support automobiles that run on fossil fuels, though. Classic corporatist move.
Personally, the noise gas and diesel engines make is increasingly grating on my nerves. They're SO loud! I don't notice it until I'm walking down a quiet street and suddenly a car zips by me and almost blasts out my ears with its rumbling and roaring. I look forward to living in a city that will one day ban gas/diesel engines, if only to get some peace and quiet. Noise pollution is incredibly underrated.
I imagine the pedestrian security issue surrounding electric engines will be resolved when Smart systems are integrated into our transit system so that the car itself will be programmed to avoid pedestrians/objects to minimize risk of collisions or other accidents. With all luck it will happen sooner rather than later.
It would be great to be able to order a car to my door and just hop in with a pre-programmed route so I don't have to drive myself. Just close the door, open up a book or magazine to read on my ride, and let the car do the driving for me. :)
Niomi: you should try calling a taxi. It's really close to the experience you describe. :-)
Zvi: When driving at 50km/h (or faster), I'd say that electric cars are about as noisy as their gasoline counterparts. When you listen to an average car's noise, it's mostly tires and friction, not the engine. Since most rural roads are 70km/h or faster, I still stick to my opinion that Prius vuvuzelas would be annoying and useless, even in the country.
-X
WEIRD unrelated comment: I noticed a while ago that Spacing's logo does not correspond with most of Montreal walk signs (I know I know, Spacing is not only Montreal, but anyway...). Spacing's logo corresponds to most walk signs in most North-American cities (at least the ones I've visited), which look like a guy "slouching" (is this the right word?). However Montreal's walk signs feature a happy guy with a straight torso: http://www.flickr.com/photos/djpbrown/4097268128/ see the difference?
Interesting observation Adolfo. The walk sign icon is carried over from the Toronto blog and is used across the Spacing network. Not sure if it's based on the Toronto walk sign or is just a generic icon they picked up somewhere. I like our walk guy more though, he/she seems happier and more confident.
Oh wow... that Prius noise maker is so wrong on so many levels...
http://www2.toyota.co.jp/jp/news/10/08/image/pri_souti_1008_03.asx
Seriously, how about just keeping an eye on the road and avoiding pedestrians instead of making a racket expecting everyone to jump out of your way!?
Cars also have a built-in noise maker: the horn. If you sneak behind someone in an alley like in the video, a simple "beep" of the horn or flashing the headlights if it's dark should suffice.
-X
Comment by Xavier
August 25, 2010 | 4:41 pm