phantom tollbooths in Davis Sq. ...

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

apropos of nothing and not a serious proposal but I was thinking about sales taxes last night, the discussion of tolls on 93 south and something to do with all the border violence going on in the world these days. Suddenly I had this image of tollbooths/checkpoints on the roads entering Davis Sq. Weird but interesting to speculate on.

The growth in popularity of the sq. has brought higher rents and housing prices, higher prices in stores and bars and general gentrification. The city of Somerville and the property owners benefit but the residents don't. Would be interesting to have a toll that went to offset the costs of gentrification to people who actually live here.

Comments

Here's an art project: redesign Davis Sq.

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

So reading all these comments and so many viewpoints is interesting. My thought about tollbooths was not specifically about cars - it was about a "use tax" for people who don't live here and are drawn to our cool ambience (...is there an emoticon for tongue in cheek? 8-^) but a lot of people are very concerned about the traffic in particular.

So what would a new traffic pattern be? What is Elm St from the x-Someday to Goodwill was closed to traffic and Highland made two-way (no parking there to allow for the extra lanes).

Why let the urban planners have all the fun mucking things up like they did in Union Square...

Fantasy architecture/urban planning is actually a real thing.

Re: Here's an art project: redesign Davis Sq.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I do think it's a fascinating idea :). I don't begin to know enough about urban planning to know if it's a good one, but it's an interesting one, and I'm glad that people are thinking and talking about outside-the-box ideas.

Have you read Jane Jacobs' Death and Life of Great American Cities? Totally brilliant observations on what makes cities vibrant. One of the best books I've ever read. If you're into these issues and somehow haven't encountered the book, go get a copy posthaste :).

Re: Here's an art project: redesign Davis Sq.

[turil.livejournal.com]

The city has sponsored three (I think) community design forums lead by the wonderful and inspiring Mark Fenton (of the PBS show America Walks fame). These forums were a combination of learning about the possibilites and histories of urban space planning and brainstorming ideas on how to make our own communites more awesome. If they have more of them, I highly recommend you attend.

Of course, the wonderful ideas generated in such a brainstorming session are often met with resistance by people who haven't seen the whole creations process and don't understand the reasons behind the ideas. So real change may take a long time and much effort, but some of it does happen eventually.

Re: Here's an art project: redesign Davis Sq.

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

x-posted of course

"It was a good thing that Jaime Lerner had grown up loving the mix of people in Curitiba. Because through a chain of political flukes, Lerner found himself the mayor of Curitiba at the age of 33. All of a sudden, his friends and colleagues were pulling their plans out of the cupboards. All of a sudden, they were going to get their chance to remake Curitiba-not for cars, but for people."


And so the story of Curitiba begins (http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1108-33.htm)