In the Race
Now, here, you see, it takes all the blogging I can do to keep in the same place.
If I want to get somewhere else, I must blog twice as fast as that!
You see, I'm in
the Red Queen's Race...
About This "Roundabout" Situation
By Janet Evans
Tuesday, Jul 15 2008, 06:45 AM
I lived in Hollywood, Florida back in the early 70s. Nice city back then and right on the Gold Coast.
Hollywood had three roundabouts, but they were called “Circles.” The thing is, they were created correctly. They were huge...large enough to house a park, or an entire building and grounds.
They had several lanes of traffic in either direction...they were a system. The Circles were not an ill placed intrusion …or an afterthought. They were part of a grand vision and we were actually proud of these areas in our city.
Here is an ariel view of one of the Circles so you can see just how large they were:
"Joseph Young first arrived in South Florida in January 1920 to survey several parcels of land that would be suitable for the site of his "Dream City in Florida." His initial vision included a wide boulevard extending from the ocean westward to the edge of the Everglades with man-made lakes paralleling each side of the roadway. One end of each lake would empty into the Intracoastal Waterway and the other would serve as a twin turning basin for private yachts. Also included in Young's vision was the sectioning of Hollywood into districts, a precursor of present day zoning regulations, with a centrally located business district, large park spaces, a golf course, schools, and churches. Hollywood, in Joseph Young's vision, "will be a city for everyone - from the opulent at the top of the industrial and social ladder to the most humble of working people." Unique in Young's city plan was the incorporation of three large circles of land located along his planned principal boulevard. These circles became the sites of a ten-acre park (originally named Harding Circle and later renamed Young Circle), the City Hall complex (originally named City Hall Circle and later renamed Watson Circle), and a military academy (Academy Circle.) Academy Circle, now Presidential Circle, is the current site of a focal commercial structure. Having formerly lived in California, Young chose as the name of his "Dream City" the name of the Southern California town that had once been so attractive to him."
The entire article can be found at the website of the City of Hollywood, Florida
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The roundabouts that are popping up are an embarrassment and a waste of taxpayer dollars. They are confusing, an accident waiting to happen. I have overheard some residents of Franklin say they will avoid streets with these roundabouts.
Maybe that's the intention....Is the city trying to cut down on traffic on certain city streets?
The city has taken Drexel Avenue, which I thought was a public street, as in, "belongs to all of us," and turned it into something that belongs in a gated community. Unless we are all driving Mini Coopers....those mini-roundabouts are a BIG MISTAKE.
Whoever the monkeys are who came up with this concept? Take a lesson from Joseph Young from the 1920s. At least he had vision.
