To Grid Or Not To Grid, That is the Question

To Grid Or Not To Grid - That is the Question

An interesting article by city planner Pete Pointer, FAICP, ALA, ITE on the grid system in city development in the Journal of City Development.

journalofcitydevelopment.com/#!nitty-gridy/c5ag

journalofcitydevelopment.com

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Having grown up in the midwest I am a grid guy. There is nothing wrong with some curvilinear streets and cul de sacs to give our urban landscape a little diversity. But they should connect back into a logical grid and not just meander aimlessly. And good planning demands that cities and counties examine their grids, and prepare a plan that proposes to connect and realign roads to complete a logical grid.

Connecting The Grid

The effort above should be made by the Sarasota Manatee MPO with the two County and municipal goverments. The plans should be incorporated into Land Use and Transportation Plans

The maps show planned connections to improve the grid in eastern Will County south of Chicago. As the area urbanizes the "Kinks" in the grid should be "worked out", with logical connections made.

It is remarkable how little planning effort is made to improve the base road grid of a community. A little thinking and planning can make the grid much better. There will always be some misalignment of roads and some roads that do not connect. A good plan should make sure that logical connections are planned and that they are developed before or when new development occurs.

Part of the reason that we do little of this is that most of us focus on our community only, with minimal thought about connections to other communities. Or we may come up with a good connection but it fails at the next town.

Transportation planning is often focused on major road development, or on programming of funds for improvements. There is seldom anyone looking at the overall grid of a large area and coming up with logical plans for improvements over time.

The road realignment plan should be integrated with the land use plan. And realignments at County and State lines should have special interest since their is no single entity paying much attention to these important connections. The map below shows road realignments with the land use plan for eastern Will County with the proposed third airport for Chicago.

The map below shows the plan for connecting local roads between Illinois and Indiana south of Chicago.

Of course one of the concerns is that it will take many years for this area to develop. Will the local planners consider this when they approve a land use decision? Often they will not and we are then left with irritating dog legs in our grid.

Brain Cells Found

Scientists find intact brain cells in skull of man killed in Vesuvius eruption nearly 2,000 years ago.

Leave the brain cells alone.

It's 2020, OK?

Who knows what could happen!

Blog Vlog Plog Slog

A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). ... Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

I have been in the blogging business for a long time and have over 500 blogs. All of my blogs are on this site: blogscraigh.blogspot.com

Just last week I learned the word VLOG, which is a mash up of Video and Blogs = Vlogs.

As it turns out, I have been a Vlogger for some time and did not know it. Some of my video blogs are:

videohullinger.blogspot.com

videosmoas.blogspot.com

videossarasotasistercities.blogspot.com

109thvideo.blogspot.com

Still, I wanted a video blog that said Vlog. So I created this one:

vlogcraig.blogspot.com

Such a DEAL! Still a little embarassed that I did not know the word Vlog.

But a lot of my blogs are just photos. So I thought perhaps I could invent the term Plog, which would equal Photos + Blogs. So I searched to see if the term was alread in use.

The first two definitions I found were:

Plog is the verb for the noun Plogging which is jogging and picking up litter.

Plog - portable, simple and extensible C++ logging library

So I was in the hunt to invent a new acronym. Then I found this definition.

(1) (PHOTO bLOG) A blog that is primarily used to display photos. Generic blogging services may be used, but plogs that are designed specifically for displaying photos are also created. Like a blog, postings are displayed in chronological order. In contrast, photo sharing websites offer features such as editing, folder organization and photo printing. See photo sharing site, blog service, vlog and blog.

Bummer. I can't say that I coined the word - It is already out there. I have a large number of Plogs - a few below:

12ru.blogspot.com

waterfrontatmainstreet.blogspot.com

bigphotoswaterfront.blogspot.com

photossarasotasistercities.blogspot.com

The definition for plogger is a little more convuluted:

Someone who picks up litter while jogging.

A blogger who is paid by an organization to blog in a way that benefits that organization. Virtually synonymous with Troll.

A “Plogger” Is a Runner, but More Smug

Plogger is a sophisticated photo gallery application for the web. It is an open source software that is available freely for the users to create, edit and manage online photo galleries. It has several enhanced features that are not complicated yet are very powerful that can easily be adopted by any users.

OK, it appears that the term Plogger is out there but not used much the way I envision. So here is my definition:

PLOG - PHOTO bLOG a Blog that is primarily focused on photos.

And it follows that Planner who Plogs is a PlogPlanner, and a photo blog for planners is a PlannerPlog. OK, I will claim credit for the term PlogPlanner, and I are one.

And then I think we can expand the "7 P's of Planning" to the "8 Ps of Planning". Preliminary Prior Planning Prevents Pitiful Poor Plog Planning.

My wife says enough now, get some sleep. She refers to my efforts as SLOG "SillyBlog"

TEOTWAWKI

Another fine acronym that all planners will want to use.

TEOTWAWKI

The end of the world as we know it.

The end is nigh!

I hope not

Were all gonna Die!

Well, yes, none of us gets out of this alive, but not soon, I hope.

Events in the Life of a 70 Year Old

Years	Event	Total Died	Annualized
		(to date)	Rate
2020-present	Covid-19	200,000	300,000+-?	*
1981-2020	HIV Aids	675,000	17,308
2001-present	Afghanistan	1,833	96
2003-2011	Iraq War	3,836	426
Sep 11, 2001	911	2,977	2,977
1955-1975	Vietnam War	58,220	2,911
1950-1953	Korean War	33,686	8,422
1952	Polio	3,000	3,000

*guestimate	for 12 months	200,000 first	seven months

The events above imacted the lives of people presently 70 years old. For some of Polio was among our first memories when we were very young. Our wars have been sad events, with Vietnam our a major challenge when we turned 18. HIV AIDS has been with us for 40 years. 911 was an enormous shock. And Covid-19 has made a very major impact in only seven months.

The Tyrrany of SSgt Fitbit

My friend suggested that I start using a fitness watch to better condition the old ticker. So my wife purchased a Fitbit Versa 2.

Her name is SSgt Fitbit. Like most men I am trained to listen to and instantly obey women. And she is a Marine Staff Sergeant - a Platoon Sergeant - trained to get people to perform.

SSgt Fitbit’s mission was to gently prod me into better condition. She would track my pulse and count my steps, and relay this information to my phone and computer. She was very smart.

Initially she got me to walk 10,000 steps a day. This was easy. Although the science for walking 10,000 steps is nil. The magic number “10,000” dates back to a marketing campaign conducted shortly before the start of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. A company began selling a pedometer called the Manpo-kei: “man” meaning 10,000, “po” meaning steps and “kei” meaning meter. It was hugely successful and the number seems to have stuck. It has as much scientific validity as "an apple a day keeps the Doctor away."

Still, it was truly meet and right and salutary. I would happily and leisurely walk my steps.

Then SSgt Fitbit started cracking down. She started making me track active minutes. That was ok. The magic watch on my wrist did its thing and put it on the phone.

But then, as so often happens, she became pushy and
demanding. She started requiring me to perform active zone minutes. You have to push your pulse up to at least 93 beats

per minutes and then push it up to 113 beats per minute for double zone minutes. And she really wants me to go at 127 beats per minute. No more leisurely pleasure walks - now I am stepping out like a crazed madman sweating in the Florida sun where no one goes except Mad Dogs and Englishmen.

She reminds me of Sgt Daniels, an excellent but demanding young Marine NCO. Sgt Daniels was leading a run of our Marine unit. One Marine stumbled and started to fall out. Sgt Daniels was having none of it. She shouted and yelled and made him complete the run. After that he went to sickbay where they found he had broken his leg.

SSgt Fitibt has taken to exhorting me to go faster in many different languages. It is all telepathic - she is in my head! I know some of the words - Korean - Nakaja, Hebingday! Balyway, Hwang!, and Russian поторапливаться!, but the rest of her exhortations are in a variety of unknown languages. But I understand - move faster and faster.

I could take her off my wrist, or quit charging her, or throw her in the lake. But she has taken over my mind and body!! Invasion of the Body Snatchers!

And she mocks me, laughing and goading me. Oh, the Humanity! Where will it all end?

Planet Planning

To Grid Or Not To Grid, That is the Question

Grid plan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Milton Keynes grid road system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Grid system of roads to cover length and breadth of city - The Hindu

With Council's approval, work on grid system of roads to begin ...

Human Transit: the power and pleasure of grids

Images for grid system of roads

Street Grid system in cities around the country - Straight Dope ...

Grid system of road networks.

Suburban areas to get world class integrated roads - Times Of India

How Grid Systems Promote Urbanism and Winding Streets ...

Connecting The Grid

Brain Cells Found

Blog Vlog Plog Slog

A “Plogger” Is a Runner, but More Smug

TEOTWAWKI

TEOTWAWKI

The end of the world as we know it.

Events in the Life of a 70 Year Old

The Tyrrany of SSgt Fitbit