On Mon, Apr 28, 2008 at 3:25 PM, Steve Desjardins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > If civilization falls, there wouldn't be any more donuts and we wouldn't > need the roads anyway.
Good thing i got out of surveying then. Phewww. Dave > > >>> "Bob W" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 4/28/2008 3:00 PM >>> > > > > > > I'm originally from around there. I like Boston, but there is > > absolutely no way to actually give directions. The street system is > > based on 17th century cow paths. > > > > I like the chowder and donuts, however. > > > > it's the only way to lay out a city properly. It means the human > element is retained. Most old towns and cities around the world were > laid out that way, or some similar way. If you look at the places that > have big, straight, wide streets and grid plans they tend to be places > where an invader or tyrant has bulldozed the old town so that he could > have somewhere for military parades where the rebellious locals > wouldn't be able to throw up barricades quickly. > > The Anglo-Saxons when they came to England built their new towns on a > grid plan, and they seem to be the main exception to my little rule of > thumb, having applied the same principle in the new worlds they > discovered in later centuries. > > Similar rules apply to roads. Where they have developed of their own > accord they have followed old drove roads, with few difficult hills > that cattle and people can't easily get up, sticking to contour lines, > and nowadays making for pleasant cycling. Invaders on the other hand > tended to build straight roads, obliterating local ones and dominating > the landscapes. Roman roads, autobahns, motorways. If civilisation > collapses and we lose motorised transport, the motorways will fall > into disuse because they go straight up and down hills, and people and > animal-drawn transport won't be able to use them. > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > > !SIG:48161fed244432518321199! > > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > -- Equine Photography www.caughtinmotion.com http://brooksinthecountry.blogspot.com/ Ontario Canada -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
