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The oldest hackies tell it like it was (1966)

thestacksreader.com

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Re: The oldest hackies tell it like it was (1966)

#11

Post by twic »

> Traffic, according to Salit, is better today than it was 30 years ago, except that he has a plan which would make city driving a “thriving pleasure.”

> “The trouble is the law. They’ve got no teeth in them. What they should do is make every fourth street an express street cross town and localize it in the afternoon for deliveries. That way you wouldn’t get bottle necks.” Before he could explain “localize” Salit saw a woman walking toward his parked cab.

I imagine that "local" is the negation of "express", as with Subway services. So to localize an express street is to make it not an express street. Perhaps a sensible thing to do in the afternoon, when there is not so much traffic, but a lot of deliveries.

I don't know what he meant by an express street, though!

Re: The oldest hackies tell it like it was (1966)

#12

Post by twic »

seabass-labrax wrote: post #3

> They remember waiting behind pushcarts, horse-drawn wagons, stalled trucks and old electrics in need of a charge. This is a fascinating insight into the diversity of road vehicles at the beginning of the 20th century. Internal combustion engines and electric motors of comparable prevalence on the roads is a situation that we are only now beginning to witness again - after a period of a hundred years. It seems as if…

The underlying quote from a driver is even better:

> And you’ve got to remember there were elevated lines on Sixth Avenue as well as Third Avenue and Second Avenue and Ninth Avenue and all those el pillars and all the trolley cars underneath and the chain-drive trucks breaking their linkage and horse-drawn wagons and electrics that needed a charge

Re: The oldest hackies tell it like it was (1966)

#13

Post by ioblomov »

twic wrote: post #11

> Traffic, according to Salit, is better today than it was 30 years ago, except that he has a plan which would make city driving a “thriving pleasure.” > “The trouble is the law. They’ve got no teeth in them. What they should do is make every fourth street an express street cross town and localize it in the afternoon for deliveries. That way you wouldn’t get bottle necks.” Before he could explain “localize” Salit saw…

Guessing longer green lights or maybe limited legal turns? Latter wouldn’t make as much sense though since the north-south avenues are already far fewer in number already.

Re: The oldest hackies tell it like it was (1966)

#15

Post by martiancookbook »

twic wrote: post #11

> Traffic, according to Salit, is better today than it was 30 years ago, except that he has a plan which would make city driving a “thriving pleasure.” > “The trouble is the law. They’ve got no teeth in them. What they should do is make every fourth street an express street cross town and localize it in the afternoon for deliveries. That way you wouldn’t get bottle necks.” Before he could explain “localize” Salit saw…

My guess is that to “localize” a street is to use it as a street - primarily for interacting with the storefronts, offices or residences along it. To make it “express” is to use it as a road - primarily for transit.

Check out the Strongtowns definitions of street, roads, and stroads: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/2/15/how-to-turn-a-...

Re: The oldest hackies tell it like it was (1966)

#17

Post by yencabulator »

seabass-labrax wrote: post #3

> They remember waiting behind pushcarts, horse-drawn wagons, stalled trucks and old electrics in need of a charge. This is a fascinating insight into the diversity of road vehicles at the beginning of the 20th century. Internal combustion engines and electric motors of comparable prevalence on the roads is a situation that we are only now beginning to witness again - after a period of a hundred years. It seems as if…

The four wheels on the ground, low fixed platform, arches for handles and support at both ends, is often the form preferred by delivery companies bringing stuff into buildings with big enough elevators. I think what you call sacktrolley is typically known in the US as a hand truck? That form limits the number of packages that fit too much for larger office buildings, and is mostly used for residential delivery, needing to cross less even driveways, curbs, etc.
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