29 ms·

I've never been there but I heard in Houston the human-scale areas are actually underground. It's called the Houston Tunnel System. Picture: http://www.downtow

I've never been there but I heard in Houston the human-scale areas are actually underground. It's called the Houston Tunnel System. Picture: http://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/photos/2010-02-17/Payne_396668_Pennzoil_tunnel_rp_486x360.jpg http://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/photos/201...

exhilaration 12y ago
Montreal has something similar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_City,_Montreal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_City,_Montreal
prawn 12y ago
I guess that has advantages protecting against the elements, but then I wonder if you lose a lot of the charm of open air streets? Al fresco dining (areas near İstiklâl Caddesi in Istanbul), getting lost in windy residential alleys (Kotor in Montenegro), narrow Parisian streets, the lost hutongs in Beijing, etc. Toronto has PATH - 29km of underground pedestrian tunnels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATH_(Toronto) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATH_(Toronto) I do think working vertically is a solution, whichever way it's approached. Just needs to be a little more organised than areas with urban monorails like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur where your walking is constantly interrupted with stairs to cross streets, or vistas are blocked by raised train lines.
ufmace 12y ago
I live in Houston, and have been in the tunnels a few times. They connect a lot of the bigger office buildings downtown with a lot of assorted restaurants and fast food. The thing is that the tunnels, and most of downtown Houston, are very business-centered, and have almost no activity outside of normal business hours. Downtown in general has been picking up some in the last few years, but activity in the tunnels is still basically nonexistent on evenings and weekends. There are some human-scale areas here with more regular activity, but they're relatively small and widely separated, and public transit is pretty limited.

exhilaration 12y ago

Montreal has something similar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_City,_Montreal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_City,_Montreal

prawn 12y ago

I guess that has advantages protecting against the elements, but then I wonder if you lose a lot of the charm of open air streets? Al fresco dining (areas near İstiklâl Caddesi in Istanbul), getting lost in windy residential alleys (Kotor in Montenegro), narrow Parisian streets, the lost hutongs in Beijing, etc. Toronto has PATH - 29km of underground pedestrian tunnels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATH_(Toronto) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATH_(Toronto) I do think working vertically is a solution, whichever way it's approached. Just needs to be a little more organised than areas with urban monorails like Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur where your walking is constantly interrupted with stairs to cross streets, or vistas are blocked by raised train lines.

ufmace 12y ago

I live in Houston, and have been in the tunnels a few times. They connect a lot of the bigger office buildings downtown with a lot of assorted restaurants and fast food. The thing is that the tunnels, and most of downtown Houston, are very business-centered, and have almost no activity outside of normal business hours. Downtown in general has been picking up some in the last few years, but activity in the tunnels is still basically nonexistent on evenings and weekends. There are some human-scale areas here with more regular activity, but they're relatively small and widely separated, and public transit is pretty limited.