4 ms·

The counter-argument to that is fresh façades and glorious airport atriums are also a bit of a boondoggle. You're right about poorly maintained public spaces h

by pinot 8y ago

The counter-argument to that is fresh façades and glorious airport atriums are also a bit of a boondoggle. You're right about poorly maintained public spaces however. Civic Center BART station comes to my mind.

fredley 8y ago
Not entirely. The feeling imparted to you by the space you're in can have quite a profound effect, particularly if it's the kind of space you're reasonably likely to get trapped for hours at a time under stressful circumstances. Yellowing, misplaced ceiling tiles and a general sense that you're in the 1950's chapter of Portal 2 aren't great.
- aylmao 8y ago
  Completely agree. For some public transport in the US it's not just a matter of outdated facades either-- the spaces just seem have gone fully unmaintained and uncleaned for decades. I remember I had to stop and change trains at the Chambers Street station in NYC once, and it was depressing. My connection couldn't come quickly enough (see picture in [1]). At this point a big improvement wouldn't just come from a facelift, even just a sponge, a broom and some care would make things immensely better. [1]: https://www.amny.com/transit/nyc-subway-stations-garbage-dumps-fail-to-meet-cleaning-standards-according-to-audit-1.10437148 https://www.amny.com/transit/nyc-subway-stations-garbage-dum...
  - fredley 8y ago
    > The audit shows that tracks in seven stations -- just 3% of the 276 underground stops -- met New York City Transit's cleaning schedule, once every three weeks. More than half the stations got between four and eight visits from an 11-person cleaning crew a year, according to the audit of cleaning records between July 2013 and June 2014. This blew my mind. The London underground isn't exactly spotless, but it's cleaned (at least once) every day.
  - paleotrope 8y ago
    I'm always amazed when the T shuts down a line in Boston because trash on the track has caught on fire. We are talking a subway system that doesn't run trains from 1am to 5am and they can't even afford to hire cleaners.
mixmastamyk 8y ago
Maybe not, the article discusses the fact that infra projects are 1/4 the price outside the US.

by pinot 8y ago

fredley 8y ago

Not entirely. The feeling imparted to you by the space you're in can have quite a profound effect, particularly if it's the kind of space you're reasonably likely to get trapped for hours at a time under stressful circumstances. Yellowing, misplaced ceiling tiles and a general sense that you're in the 1950's chapter of Portal 2 aren't great.

aylmao 8y ago
Completely agree. For some public transport in the US it's not just a matter of outdated facades either-- the spaces just seem have gone fully unmaintained and uncleaned for decades. I remember I had to stop and change trains at the Chambers Street station in NYC once, and it was depressing. My connection couldn't come quickly enough (see picture in [1]). At this point a big improvement wouldn't just come from a facelift, even just a sponge, a broom and some care would make things immensely better. [1]: https://www.amny.com/transit/nyc-subway-stations-garbage-dumps-fail-to-meet-cleaning-standards-according-to-audit-1.10437148 https://www.amny.com/transit/nyc-subway-stations-garbage-dum...
- fredley 8y ago
  > The audit shows that tracks in seven stations -- just 3% of the 276 underground stops -- met New York City Transit's cleaning schedule, once every three weeks. More than half the stations got between four and eight visits from an 11-person cleaning crew a year, according to the audit of cleaning records between July 2013 and June 2014. This blew my mind. The London underground isn't exactly spotless, but it's cleaned (at least once) every day.
- paleotrope 8y ago
  I'm always amazed when the T shuts down a line in Boston because trash on the track has caught on fire. We are talking a subway system that doesn't run trains from 1am to 5am and they can't even afford to hire cleaners.

mixmastamyk 8y ago

Maybe not, the article discusses the fact that infra projects are 1/4 the price outside the US.