(no subject)

[rdcf.livejournal.com]

I just read on boston.com where a Tufts senior was struck and killed by two cars while walking near the intersection of Broadway and Wallace near Davis Square last night. Everyone be careful out there okay?

My sincere condolences to her family and friends. May she rest in peace.



Tufts senior is struck, killed while walking in Somerville
November 23, 2005

A Tufts University senior from Bulgaria was struck by two cars yesterday and killed while she was walking near Davis Square, police and a school official said.

A Tufts spokeswoman identified the victim as Boryana Damyanova, 22, of Sofia, Bulgaria. Damyanova was at Broadway and Wallace Street about 6:22 p.m. when she was struck by the vehicles, police said.

She was transported to Somerville Hospital, where she died.

Somerville Police Sergeant John Aufiero said both drivers remained at the scene of the accident, which occurred in what is known as a high-traffic area for both cars and pedestrians. Nevertheless, Aufiero, an 18-year veteran of the Somerville Police Department, told the Globe he could not remember a fatal accident at the intersection.

Alcohol was not a factor in the accident, Aufiero said.

No charges were filed last night. However, the accident is under investigation by Somerville and State Police.

Damyanova, according to her profile on facebook.com, a networking website for college students, had expected to graduate in May with majors in finance and international relations.

A profile written for a Tufts international relations colloquium in which Damyanova had participated in 2004 said that she planned to pursue a career in corporate law.

Comments

Re: Tragedies like this never have to happen.

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I don't understand why anyone who lives in the city owns a car. I mean the whole point of the city is that everything you need is nearby or accessable by public transportation.

Because the transit system is built on a spoke-model, which means that not only are there areas in the city you can't easily reach (45min+ commute minimum), but there are places further out you can't get to at all. It's hugely inefficient for many people because instead of just being able to move from one spoke to another, they have to go all the way in and all the way out.

Not only that, it's the height of hubris to assume everyone has a choice about whether they have a commute or not - people don't always get the perfect job with the minimal commute.

Re: Tragedies like this never have to happen.

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

It's hugely inefficient for many people because instead of just being able to move from one spoke to another, they have to go all the way in and all the way out.

As someone who buys a bus pass each month, I think that most people do not realize that bus routes seem to run from spoke to spoke almost intentionally. I live near Davis and work near Lechmere. 87 and 88 run directly between these points. If I want to go to Harvard after work, I can jump on the 69 bus. Want to get over to the western part of the Green line? Hit the 66 bus from Harvard. Want to get to the orange line? Check out the 89 bus.

Re: Tragedies like this never have to happen.

[siderea]

I lived in Medford on the 96 line, a good 40min by foot to Davis Sq. I had the mixed blessing to get a job at BU, in west campus. My commute (96->red->green b) was as much as two hours each way.

Re: Tragedies like this never have to happen.

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

*dryly* As a fellow bus rider, I had no idea.

More seriously, my point still stands. The buses do not completely cover the spokes, and do not run anywhere near as frequently - years ago I took the 90 from Davis to Sullivan for work, and if I missed it, I was screwed, as it came all of once an hour. There are still areas that buses don't cover easily.

It's times like this that I envy the grid of Chicago and NY, which have much more comprehensive transit systems with fewer holes.

Re: Tragedies like this never have to happen.

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

It's times like this that I envy the grid of Chicago and NY, which have much more comprehensive transit systems with fewer holes.

As someone who lived for a while in the Chicago area, I find this idea humorous. Have you seen the Chicago train map (http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/rail/rail.html)? Spokes all the way.

It was a joke among my friends that getting anywhere in the metropolitan area required going via the Loop.

Want to go from Western, on the Blue Line, to Midway? Via the Loop...

Heaven forbid you live on a Metra line (suburban rail) in Chicago - the L system does not go to Union Station. This would be like North and South Station not being on the T in Boston.

I have not spent quite as much time in New York City, but will agree they have a somewhat better system than Boston. Holding up Chicago as an example of a good system, though, is laughable.

Re: Tragedies like this never have to happen.

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

My bad, I was talking about the bus lines in Chicago, as far as the grid - not the trains! I was there for two years - I know they suck.

There is always room for improvement.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Others have responded with good info on buses, which, while not perfect, are quite capable of getting folks around the Boston area fairly effieciently. It's true that there are places that aren't so accessable, and that's something that should be fixed. But it won't happen if we, as a community, don't demand it. If you can't get to where you live, or work easily by the T, then let your elected and appointed officials know, and rally your neighbors to do so as well. Somerville, where I live, has terrible T access, and so a bunch of folks started a campaign called Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP, which I had a very, very small part in starting), to let the city and the T know that Somerville deserves quality public transportation. And it's working. There is a real committment now to bring a subway stop into Union Square as well as building the original Green Line extention out to Tufts in Medford (a project that had ling been stalled at the MBTA). The more we demand safe, responsible, reliable, and efficient public transportation optrions, the more we will have.

And, as far as your comment about hubris, I would say that you might want to reconsider, as I have absolutely no assumptions that anyone has the choice of having a perfect job with a minimal commute. I myself have never had a perfect job. But I have always had a minimal commute, since that is my only option. If my commute is not minimal, I cannot get to work, period. Thus I take the most appropriate job I can that is near where I live.

It's all about priorities. You can make sustainable and healthy society your priority, or you can make a perfect job and the status quo your priority. And, if you succeed at the former, you might be able to get the latter too.

Re: There is always room for improvement.

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

I'm completely in favor of pushing for better and more extensive public transit options. You'll find no argument here.

And, as far as your comment about hubris, I would say that you might want to reconsider, as I have absolutely no assumptions that anyone has the choice of having a perfect job with a minimal commute.

Well, your comment I quoted about cars seems to suggest otherwise. Some people end up with jobs - pefect or otherwise - where they need a car, either because the T doesn't reach that far (as in the case of my wife), or because the commute time is ridiculous (1hr+)

I myself have never had a perfect job. But I have always had a minimal commute, since that is my only option. If my commute is not minimal, I cannot get to work, period.

It's not necessarily an issue between perfect job or minimal commute. My point is sometimes it's a choice between job-that-requires-commute and no job.

As someone who is completely transit bound, I've been lucky to find jobs I can get to. But if I had to (because of circumstance, whatever) take a job that required an insane T-commute, or going somewhere the T didn't reach, I'd have to consider getting a car.

Re: There is always room for improvement.

[turil.livejournal.com]

"It's not necessarily an issue between perfect job or minimal commute. My point is sometimes it's a choice between job-that-requires-commute and no job.">

There are other options! Yes, you could choose to have no job (like happened to me for a year and a half recently which blew away all my husband's and my savings), moving to where jobs were, or finding other ways to survive/make money (like my mom, who chose to live in the middle of nowhere and can't legally drive a car does). Plus, when you live in a city there are pretty much always jobs, they just may not be ones you really want to do, but if that is the best option, you learn to live with a job you don't like, until you can find a better option.

Re: There is always room for improvement.

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

My point being that for most people, if the options were:

a) blowing through your savings*
b) taking a job that either doesn't pay what you need to subsist or doesn't use your core skillset (ie a "just get by" job)
c) get a car to be able to get to a job that enables you to make a decent wage, etc.

most people would choose c, and it's certainly less ruinous in the long-haul than the alternatives. Living near the T/buses is definitely highly recommended (I do it!) but we still run up against that "holes in the grid" problem we mentioned earlier.

Obviously, it seems like you'd be willing to subsist rather than get a car even if it meant a better job and living situation - that's your right.

As far as your assertion there are pretty much always jobs out there that'll make cost of living, that's a bit too optimistic in my opinion. I was underemployed (temping, admin stuff) for 3 years, and I almost ended up having to move home because the jobs I could find were increasingly not able to allow me to live close to transit, and I have other friends who fell into similar circumstances. So we'll have to agree to disagree.

* been there, done that, feel for you both.