And, perhaps, old people! :)
I knew that this '99 Neon was on it's last legs… The housing for the thermostat (the regulator for the engine's "circulatory" system - as far as temperature is concerned) had been replaced; so, I thought everything was good!, even considering that it had fallen half-apart — one wonders how that happened? Perhaps the fuel line leak, spraying gasoline everywhere under the hood might have had something to do with it?
I'd even given the engine a quart of oil! What more did it want!
But it seems it was not enough… The car "died" at an intersection. I was able to re-start it; it "peeled out" — which I'd never done before; it burned rubber! Then I approached my usual turn — But my brakes didn't work! Yikes!
So, I down-shifted as I approached the next intersection; I was in 1st gear when I made my final turn — and considering (Yes, I'm an idiot: I never considered using the "emergency" brake…) I steered into a parking place, and shut the engine off.
Or put it in reverse gear or park… I honestly don't remember: I just wanted it to stop!
Of course, I tried it often, turning the key to see if it'd start.. It seemed to be quite dead. Two days trying had convinced me, it was indeed dead.
But on the fourth day my first try almost started it! My next try (yeah: I'm that kind of guy…) fired it up like nothing had happened before… (I even drove it to a "convenience" store to buy — guess?! Yeah: Beer.)
But it worked! (Even the brakes…)
Now, I need to save enough money to have competent people check it out.
(A side-note: I asked my great-nephew, who bought and installed the thermostat and its housing, if he might have put it in backwards… He said No, it was notched so that such couldn't be done! Note: I only asked him after I knew the engine hadn't seized… I'm relieved.
Apparently, I still have a road-worthy vehicle.
Is that a good thing? :)
———————————————————————————————————————
Do any of you have stories to tell about supposedly automobiles?
Went to look for what a Neon is, horrifying.
You're forbidden of being seen in the streets inside such a thing.
As an American of good taste get yourself a convertible Ford Mustang from the sixties.
Well, it's not a Jaguar E-Type but it's the only American car that suits you well.
As an American of good taste get yourself a convertible Ford Mustang from the sixties.
Those cost thirty or more of thousands of dollars nowadays… :)
Well, it's not a Jaguar E-Type but it's the only American car that suits you well.
The XK-E was always my favorite car, for looks and performance together…
But I've always been poor. (I once owned an MG. It was in a garage when I bought it and hadn't left it when I sold it. British engineering being what it was, I wasn't surprised. It was hard to work on… Some airplanes I worked on when I was a kid were like that, too; none of them -the ones I worked on- ever fell out of the sky.) Yeah, I liked the early Mustangs; and the Corvettes, even after they became "muscle" cars… But the original sport models were "way" cool! :)
(Forgive my lapsing into the modern vernacular: I'd like any young'uns who stumble across this post to understand me… I have children, etc. … :) )
Neons are just junk. No two ways about it.
I had the accelerator stick wide open on an old classic once. Was pulling into the parts house when it jammed. Roasted the tires and fishtailed into the lot. I somehow managed to miss a car pulling out while stomping the shit out of the accelerator hoping to unstick it (automatic transmission, btw) and finally did just as the thought to pop it in neutral occurred, coasting nicely into a parking spot - heart pumping. I'd cleaned and tinkered with the stock carburetor several times trying to stop that.
@ensbb3 That vaguely reminds me of my parents' old Volvo back in '92 or so. Its automatic transmission had started doing the equivalent of bringing the clutch up too fast. I vaguely remember crying and saying "mom, stop it!"
For myself, I'm more freaked out by newer cars. Last year I rented two cars. One was a fancy-schmancy Citroën (a C6 maybe?) without a handbrake. I'm glad I didn't have to get going up an incline because I honestly wouldn't have known how the @##$ to operate that thing. :lol: Besides that it was really, really nice though.
The other car I rented was a Nissan. Some kind of fancy-schmancy SUV, but it had this enormously "clever" feature of making first gear practically impossible to get into. Driving in the mountains with accidental third gear is no fun.
I prefer just a simple Opel Corsa, Citroën C4, Peugeot 307… that kind of thing. No nonsense, gets the job done.
PS I didn't rent any fancy-schmancy cars. I rented the cheapest "Opel Corsa or equivalent". That's what they gave me. Incidentally, I once got a Fiat Punto or something instead (in Italy). I thought that definitely wasn't an equivalent.
For myself, I'm more freaked out by newer cars.
Agreed. Electronic traction control pisses me off. My truck has "manual" shift buttons for the auto-trans... Found out, inadvertently, flying down a mountain (vacation) that you have to turn traction control off for it to hold the gear. Maybe not as intuitive as it should be?
Oh, and in 4 wheel high you have to turn TC off so it's all time 4x4. Otherwise it only locks in on slippage. Friend got to pull me out of the mud over that lesson. (Ok, I shouldn't of been in the field with my street tires to begin with, but let's assume I could of made it had 4x4 worked as expected. I shifted to low and made progress. It's a little bit about momentum too, tho.)
There's no way Americans can understand a car as Europeans do.
It goes for cars, it goes for anything else.
There's no way Americans can understand a car
(Where's Jaybro?!)
There's no way Americans can understand a car as Europeans do.
We call those go-carts. :P (or sometimes Neons, hehe)
We call those go-carts.
I like the Smart, why more for city usage?
You just drive in the city, Bel? And Detroit is your city? :)
You can perfectly use a Smart for a 300km trip or even more. The space for the front occupiers is not too much different from any other small/medium car. If you enter inside one you'll be surprised.
The problem is that car's manufacturing uses resources. The less resources we spend, the better.
I don't understand your reference to Detroit.
Well, at least when it breaks down I could throw it in the bed of the truck and haul it home :right:
I've teased the boy about that being his first car... I don't think he's buying into the idea tho.
Poor boy. Even Europeans think those look ludicrous and we don't share that American penchant for boats on wheels. :P
Agreed. Electronic traction control pisses me off. My truck has "manual" shift buttons for the auto-trans... Found out, inadvertently, flying down a mountain (vacation) that you have to turn traction control off for it to hold the gear. Maybe not as intuitive as it should be?
Huh, weird. Now I'm curious what my parents' car would do with the fake manual shift, but I doubt I'll ever be driving that in the mountains. :)
We call those go-carts.
Go-karts* (Why I can only notice this kinda thing the next day is interesting, smh.)
we don't share that American penchant for boats on wheels
"Land-yachts", good sir. Makes it sound classy.
but I doubt I'll ever be driving that in the mountains.
I'd be interested to see if that's a thing across makes too.
Worked really well after I figured 'er out. Barely had to touch the breaks compared to almost setting them ablaze the first trip down the mountain.
…The only speeding ticket I ever got was coming down out of the mountains from Cheyenne headed towards Denver. The officer clocked me doing 72 mph — in neutral! :)
"Land-yachts", good sir. Makes it sound classy.
Plus boat has a shared Germanic ancestry while yacht is a specifically Dutch loanword. All the better. :P
What a bunch of weekend drivers.
Oh? What kind of tractors and other heavy equipment have you driven…? :) (Your mouth doesn't count!) I assume you'd farm with a hoe, an ass and a plow — designed by Th. Jefferson. And if your neighbors are kind, you won't starve.
Oh? What kind of tractors and other heavy equipment have you driven...?
You know there are Lamborghini tractors?
In fact Mr Lamborghini was a tractor manufacturer and bought a Ferrari for himself. He didn't like the car and sent a letter to Mr Ferrari with suggestions for improving Ferraris. Ferrari laugh and refused so Lamborghini started building his own cars.
Good anecdote! :) I don't even mind that you didn't answer my question…
I like the Smart, why more for city usage?
Golf carts that are completely unsuitable for our freeways unless you're trying to get yourself killed.
I like the Smart, why more for city usage?
Golf carts that are completely unsuitable for our freeways unless you're trying to get yourself killed.
What does your freeways have more than ours?
What does your freeways have more than ours?
Freeway cops? :right:
What does your freeways have more than ours?
Distance? :right:
What does your freeways have more than ours?
Holes? :right:
Distance? :right:
I'm sure a Smart runs more distance per liter than your American pick up V8 monstrous uselessness. :)
And it pollutes the world infinitely less.
You never needed to tow anything bigger than your ego, Bel…which would actually requite a V-8 pickup truck with more than 400 horse-power! :) No wonder you stick to your dinky little country. Shoe-leather's cheaper than tires, isn't it? :)
No wonder you stick to your dinky little country
My dinky little country it's one thousand years
bigger than yours. Wait more five hundred years, and, if you still exist - :lol: - maybe the backdoor servant will notice your presence. Until then, don't bother begging for alms.
As for old cars, certainly the miserable Ford T has its place at the automotive world. The car the proletariat could buy with their salary at the factory, while producing it. Brilliant for Marxist inspiration.
Aww, are you still mad my continent separated from yours millions of years ago?
Trouble is it's still not far enough away! :lol:
my continent
You don't have a continent. Just a sort of an incontinent.
Cars, old cars, new cars. You know nothing about cars. That's the topic.
I suppose Oakdale keeps on driving in first shift all around town...
Cars, old cars, new cars. You know nothing about cars. That's the topic.
Go on... ???
Go on? I'm the only one doing it.
Sorry, I was.
Oh, I thought you were going to dazzle us with your superior car knowledge.
Sorry is right then. The topic is "old cars", since you brought it up. You've* only mentioned a new car that no car enthusiast would take seriously and then proclaimed superior understanding despite no evidence. I can't even Google up any evidence the Portuguese would know dick about it. So either your prejudice has you riding on coattails to feel big or you're holding out on us. Guess it's the former.
I suppose Oakdale keeps on driving in first shift all around town...
Nope… Only did that long enough to get back home. A few days later, it started, ran and the brakes appeared to be working normally. Still, until I can afford to have them serviced by a specialist, I won't let children ride with me…
That seems merely prudent, to me.
But I'm reminded of an old story from back when Rolls Royce not only offered but required a life-time warranty. The hood (bonnet; the access to the engine compartment) was locked; only the company had keys.
Well, there was a little old lady who bought one. But she refused to learn how to shift through the gears. So, they put it in 1st gear for her; and periodically replaced the transmission!
Such service is all-but unknown today.
Such service is all-but unknown today.
Speaking of. I miss full service gas stations. I can't remember seeing one since the mid to late 90's and they were rare then. And not these cheap "full" service places that pump your fuel. A real 'old school' one where they checked coolant, oil, tire pressure and washer fluid while pumping your fuel.
The price of fuel and the taxes make such all-but unaffordable… Service is a forgotten concept, except for the very rich: A quite European way of doing things. :)
(Until they start chopping off heads…)
Speaking of. I miss full service gas stations. I can't remember seeing one since the mid to late 90's and they were rare then. And not these cheap "full" service places that pump your fuel. A real 'old school' one where they checked coolant, oil, tire pressure and washer fluid while pumping your fuel.
They aren't rare here. You can expect one such service, if you fill your fuel tank. They may even cleanse your windshield.
They may even cleanse your windshield.
Oh yeah I forgot that part. It's been so long.
The price of fuel and the taxes make such all-but unaffordable… Service is a forgotten concept, except for the very rich: A quite European way of doing things. :)
(Until they start chopping off heads…)
Increasingly in Europe the gas station is disappearing, or alternatively stop selling gas, becoming a convenience store with a gassy past.
The reason is of course the electric car, which you can charge at home, the office, or other outlets. There are still gas stations in Oslo, but they are getting increasingly rare, going the way of the phone booth and the ATM.
Yeah I took a picture with the last payphone I saw, some time ago. Figured it might be my last chance. (In related trivia - my son had no idea what a collect call was, or what a calling card was.)
More on topic: I'll have to keep my big 8cyl that prefers high octane.:rolleyes: Electric motors don't have anywhere near enough power, for the time being.
Municipalities installed charging stations around public parking years ago in anticipation of the electric car boom that never happened. Hybrids and electrics are more common in urban environments now, however the gas station isn't in any danger of disappearing yet.
Electric motors don't have anywhere near enough power, for the time being.
Electric motor's power is infinite. :doh:
Electric motor's power is infinite.
Not quite infinite, and the extension cord does tend to limit its range… :)
I did misspeak. I meant Electric cars in general. The entire system falls short of my needs. Better lighter weight batteries are on the horizon and the cost of ever more efficient motors are declining it's sure one day, soon, they may compete. But even if they could produce an electric truck that hauls as much as mine and matches it in every way across the spec sheet (and they can't) I couldn't afford it.
Absolutely. Electric engines are clearly superior to combustion engines by any measure, but are let down by that the energy store of today's batteries are less effective than burning gasoline. That should lead to hybrids as a pragmatic compromise (use the electrical motor when you can and the combustion engine when you can't), though the trend is is quite firmly towards all-electric. The prime advantage is that it is simpler, but requires better batteries and/or charge more often and/or charge faster.
"Drive by wire", that is charge by overhead lines (like an updated trolley bus) or third rail (with wheels instead of the first two) is not something that sounds likely for non-professional transport. Induction charging may be coming, a bus stop right outside here is supposed to get an experimental one by June 2016 (http://miljofordonsyd.se/2014/12/scania-forst-ut-med-induktiv-laddning-av-hybridbuss/) (what can I say, this bus is clearly late, maybe gone), connecting a branch of the technical university, city hall, and Scania (truck/bus) HQ.
I am not too keen on vehicle induction charging, it's lossy and expensive, if convenient. I'd rather go for clever contact charging.
I couldn't afford it.
That's your only real objection, and a what a funny thing, you can't afford it because you do nothing but feeding the oil corporations.
You'll never can afford it while you keep destroying it.
Actually I had two. Range and cost.
http://www.teslarati.com/real-challenge-tesla-pickup-truck/ (http://www.teslarati.com/real-challenge-tesla-pickup-truck/)
Remember also that every pound of batteries added has a net-reduced benefit to the overall range of the vehicle as it also adds weight. Since Tesla isn’t currently using and hasn’t made a lot of noise about eventually using high-tech, high-density, bleeding-edge lithium batteries to lighten the battery’s weight, we can assume that the current Panasonic cells are what would power a Tesla Truck if it were made in the near future.
To tow a trailer at 7,000+ pounds would require an enormous amount of energy and to do so for a long range like truck owners would expect (e.g. to the lake and back) would be a feat. It’s not insurmountable, of course. There’s little doubt that Tesla’s engineers couldn’t overcome this obstacle, but it will be a huge one.
Now keep in mind this article covers a full size "Light Duty" truck (150/1500 size.)
:sst: 7k lbs is light compared to the things I haul. ;)
Trucks are not cars, trucks are to be engined by hydrogen cells. Perfectly doable and non pollutant.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Femojipedia-us.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fcache%2Fa3%2F03%2Fa303dc8a3512f9e75541b439dcdde02b.png&hash=ad7a0251b5cfcaa9c41bbc0896cd2c48" rel="cached" data-hash="ad7a0251b5cfcaa9c41bbc0896cd2c48" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://emojipedia-us.s3.amazonaws.com/cache/a3/03/a303dc8a3512f9e75541b439dcdde02b.png)
Moving on...
Growing up it was a bit of a right of passage into adulthood (16+) to tinker with your vehicle. I always spent the most on the intake and exhaust system. It's the best performance boost for your buck without getting into high-end block and fuel injection modding.
Took me a couple tries to get the sound just the way I wanted it. I love the sound of old muscle cars with properly tuned duel exhaust systems. Nice mean sound has an aesthetic quality too.
Under the rubric of "unnoticed oppression" (published on National Review's Corner):
This is preferential parking spaces for cis-engined electric vehicles. As it happens, my Ford F-450 XL Extended Cab Diesel Super Duty self-identifies as an electric/bioethanol hybrid. This makes parking in university parking lots a very traumatic and hurtful experience for my pickup truck. Every time I’m on campus, circling past the most-conveniently-placed, perpetually empty parking spots, exclusively and ostentatiously reserved for cis-engined electric vehicles, my pickup is implicitly attacked and judged. These preferential parking spaces denigrate my pickup truck’s painful process of self-discovery, through which it came to see that its mechanically-given, assigned engine did not correspond to its authentic, inner engine. Until recently, this realization had been suppressed by our mechaniconormative, cisenginist culture that habitually and unselfconsciously imposes false, binary, and deterministic narratives upon vehicle propulsion. My pickup’s important witness problematizes the assumption that just because it was assigned the throaty growl of a 6.7L Power Stroke® V8 Turbo Diesel at manufacture, it can’t self-identify as a zero-emission battery pack. It deserves to be affirmed and celebrated, and protected from retrograde vehicular policies, so that it too can have a convenient and safe (parking) space. Tesla, check your privilege.
Heh, cute parody, though strictly speaking the combustion engine is the cis engine, so the vocabulary should really be that of Combustion Right Activists, or some such.
Even in Norway, which so far has come furthest in engine equality (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicles_in_Norway), only 1 in 3 newly purchased cars (by latest number), and only 3% of the fleet, are electric. Elsewhere the share is much lower:
The stock of plug-in electric cars represented 0.1% of the one billion cars on the world's roads by the end of 2015. When sales are broken down by type of powertrain, all-electric cars have oversold plug-in hybrids, with pure electrics capturing 58.9% of the global stock of 1.257 million plug-ins on the world's roads by the end of 2015.
As of August 2016, the United States is the largest country market with a stock of over 500,000 highway legal light-duty plug-in electric vehicles..., up from a stock of over 295,000 units in 2014, ... almost 30% of the global stock of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles. As of July 2016, China ranked second with over 462,000 units sold, up from more than 83,000 plug-in passenger cars sold through 2014, ... about 28% of the global stock of plug-ins.
As of July 2016, over 535,000 plug-in electric passenger cars and vans have been registered in Europe, making the continent the world's largest plug-in regional market. By the end of 2015, almost 25% of the European stock was on the roads in the Nordic countries... As of July 2016, sales in the European light-duty plug-in electric segment ... were led by Norway with over 112,700 units, Netherlands with over 95,500 units, and France with over 94,500 units.
Electric cars in Norway are heavily incentivised, technological/economic advances will make up for those in other markets.
That the US+Chinese+European stock now in 2016 is higher than the world stock in 2015 is indicative of the rapid growth.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Global_plug-in_car_sales_since_2011.png/800px-Global_plug-in_car_sales_since_2011.png)
Actually I had two. Range and cost.
Now keep in mind this article covers a full size "Light Duty" truck (150/1500 size.)
:sst: 7k lbs is light compared to the things I haul. ;)
Actually heavy trucks are better suited for long range transport than lighter. The bigger the truck, the bigger the battery, much like mobile phones. The issue is cost, and electric isn't yet above break-even point (they are in Norway, but again the Norwegian drivers are incentivised). Then there are other options...
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.via-mobilis.com%2Fnews%2Fnew_actu%2F44668_1_610.jpg&hash=58b3a248532f11d4eb3a05f173f4638d" rel="cached" data-hash="58b3a248532f11d4eb3a05f173f4638d" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://news.via-mobilis.com/news/new_actu/44668_1_610.jpg)
I revert to my extension cord comment… :) Until batteries become really efficient… Oops! Where does the electricity come from? :) Batteries aren't "born" charged…
In China, mostly coal. In the States, natural gas; hopefully -in the future- nuclear power. You'd know more about Russia and Europe… So, jax, what would be best?
How else would you justify the "parking prejudice" that's so evident here? :)
what would be best?
Decreasing the amount of cars used by increasing the utility value of individual cars, regardless what their means of propulsion may be, and by promoting different modes of transportation. I'd like to see more electric vehicles on top of that to decrease noise pollution in particular as well as to reduce the inner-city output of some fine particles (like from Volkswagen Diesels :P), but it wouldn't affect things like fine (rubber) particles from tire wear and the like. And as far as the planet is concerned, cars are peanuts. This all comes down to environment in the most audible and visible quality of life sense.
Took me a couple tries to get the sound just the way I wanted it. I love the sound of old muscle cars with properly tuned duel exhaust systems.
Nothing to be compared to a four-to-one exhaust Yoshimura I fitted in my Suzuki 600 Katana. Impressive but after a 400km highway trip at 200-230 km/h screaming as hell it gets really annoying.
That truck had a low rumble that was the same way. Tended to give me a headache on longer trips.
Personally never been a motorcycle man. I do Like the sound of some crotch-rockets with the right exhaust pack. And I can appreciate the American Harley's with their deeper sound too.
This is only tangentially related, but I just came across this nice table of the slight differences between most European traffic signs on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_signs#Table_of_traffic_signs_comparison
Or the old favourite: In which countries are the motorway signs blue and in which are they green? (This map has max speed added, where applicable)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Highway_speed_limits_europe_with_indicator_colors.png)
112?? what an irritating speed. It had to be the English.
Or the old favourite: In which countries are the motorway signs blue and in which are they green? (This map has max speed added, where applicable)
Old indeed. The Netherlands has been 130 for a while now. :P Although on the rare occasion that I'm driving in the Netherlands I seldom come across any appreciable stretch of expressway that isn't 100 or 120, but by the same measure Germany certainly shouldn't be listed as limitless.
by the same measure Germany certainly shouldn't be listed as limitless.
To be more accurate, 65% out of 25.650 km freeway are without any speed limit (Richtgeschwindigkeit = recommended speed).
Speaking of traffic signs :)
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wv-travel-directory.com%2Fblog%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F04%2FCapture.jpg&hash=1f6dadc243a90c6db0f53f39d4f525f5" rel="cached" data-hash="1f6dadc243a90c6db0f53f39d4f525f5" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://www.wv-travel-directory.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Capture.jpg) (https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tensionnot.com%2Fpictures%2Fimages%2FSign%2FTraffic-Signs.jpg&hash=f8bbc02b5b4bed3fe9626b25ba8b4503" rel="cached" data-hash="f8bbc02b5b4bed3fe9626b25ba8b4503" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://www.tensionnot.com/pictures/images/Sign/Traffic-Signs.jpg)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Belgian_road_sign_B21.svg/60px-Belgian_road_sign_B21.svg.png) I can't think of a counterpart we have for this. My best guess is that it's for single lane roads with opposing traffic?
Naturally I'd familiarize myself with signage, but if you just dropped me in the middle of some of those countries I'd misread several for sure...
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/B06cr.jpg/60px-B06cr.jpg)(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Denmark_road_sign_C24.1.svg/60px-Denmark_road_sign_C24.1.svg.png)
... [For example:] These apparently mean the same thing, depending on where you are it's one or the other anyway. But I'd read one as "lookout for tractors" and the other as "no tractors". (respectively) Anything surrounded in red I'd take as "Caution", "Yield" or maybe a little closer "Limited". Like a loading zone or parking zone and those usually come with an explanation. Crossed out is "none of these".
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/MUTCD_W11-5.svg/80px-MUTCD_W11-5.svg.png) But I'm used to this. Yellow means advisory, and the sign reads "Tractor Crossing" - You're supposed to yield to them.
Interesting to say the least. Not saying anything is wrong, just different. Colors are a meh thing. They can vary State to State as far as what's blue, brown or green. Yellow is always advisory and orange is always construction as far as I know.
(neon green is starting to be used in school zones, here anyway)(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/MUTCD_S3-1_%28new%29.svg/80px-MUTCD_S3-1_%28new%29.svg.png)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Belgian_road_sign_C3.svg/60px-Belgian_road_sign_C3.svg.png)This is the one that would get me in trouble. Our's just say "Road Closed". I'd of took it as a foreign caution/warning sign. :worried: (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Triangle_warning_sign_%28red_and_white%29.svg/80px-Triangle_warning_sign_%28red_and_white%29.svg.png) Partly because shapes of other signs are different too.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tensionnot.com%2Fpictures%2Fimages%2FSign%2FTraffic-Signs.jpg&hash=f8bbc02b5b4bed3fe9626b25ba8b4503" rel="cached" data-hash="f8bbc02b5b4bed3fe9626b25ba8b4503" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://www.tensionnot.com/pictures/images/Sign/Traffic-Signs.jpg)
Holy crap.
No parking sign there in the back, got that one.
Road is closed between 15-01 hours?
Road is closed to anything more than 3.5t?
But also no motor vehicles or motorbikes? (redundantly)
I'm not sure those guys are clear on the meaning by their look... But they'd quickly stop me for doing it wrong.
To be more accurate, 65% out of 25.650 km freeway are without any speed limit (Richtgeschwindigkeit = recommended speed).
Ah, I thought it was closer to the 45% (at 130) of the Netherlands. My bad.
I can't think of a counterpart we have for this. My best guess is that it's for single lane roads with opposing traffic?
Yes, it's about who gets to go first.
But I'd read one as "lookout for tractors" and the other as "no tractors". (respectively)
A red circle always means something is forbidden. Triangles are for caution.
No parking sign there in the back, got that one.
Road is closed between 15-01 hours?
Road is closed to anything more than 3.5t?
But also no motor vehicles or motorbikes? (redundantly)
Sounds about right. I wonder if we even have special trident sign holders around here… :P
I don't waste my time looking for traffic signals and I consider semaphores to be just mere indications.
Me and all other southern Europeans. Course that you need to play the cat and the rat with the police but that's what for the police exists.
Yes, it's about who gets to go first.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Belgian_road_sign_B1.svg/60px-Belgian_road_sign_B1.svg.png)Bloop.
I'm sure it'd make more sense to see it. Wouldn't hurt to have it on a few country backroads, actually. Country Rulez still apply well enough. Someone yields - we wave, and go on.
Sounds about right. I wonder if we even have special trident sign holders around here... :P
Yeah, the one thing you don't do is drive down that road.
But the joke in the "dropped in" scenario is I'd of assumed those signs made sense and that a road was for driving on and proceeded.
Reads like; 3.5t weight limit, Watch out for motorcycles, Bikes can split lanes around cars (I've heard that's a thing). Caution between 15-01h (slow down and be alert, lax intersections.)
Bloop.
I'm sure it'd make more sense to see it. Wouldn't hurt to have it on a few country backroads, actually. Country Rulez still apply well enough. Someone yields - we wave, and go on.
That one's more for what I think you'd call highways. On a highway you have priority, indicated by this sign:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Belgian_road_sign_B9.svg/120px-Belgian_road_sign_B9.svg.png)
Then on side roads you'll have the upside-down triangle, typically also painted on the street itself for clarity, where they're called shark teeth in popular speech (at least in Dutch).
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Haaietanden.jpg/500px-Haaietanden.jpg)
The normal rule without signs is that right goes first. Unlike in America where every street corner seems to have all these stop signs. :P
A red circle always means something is forbidden.
Here, it means something is regulated. Forbidden if crossed out. (Yeah... "regulated" means something else is forbidden anyway...)
Do you have an example? :)
In which countries are the motorway signs blue and in which are they green?
Annoyingly I have found no world map, as this green vs blue is global (maybe the inspiration for Ingress (https://www.ingress.com/), or vice versa). Supposedly motorway signs are blue in Brazil and green in the USA and China (but blue in Hong Kong), and so on. There's a long thread on SkyscraperCity, the best, and truly global, proposal may be this (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=122121671#post122121671):
Or you could solve this problem by averaging all colors:
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FrZZuYmFm.jpg&hash=c9ae7b1ca4e7d1d0d5e88aef2ea01886" rel="cached" data-hash="c9ae7b1ca4e7d1d0d5e88aef2ea01886" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://i.imgur.com/rZZuYmFm.jpg)
(average of eight most used green and blue sign colors)
One world, one dream, one motorway sign.
The USA doesn't participate in standard signs though; I don't recall if they even have that sign? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Signs_and_Signals
The signs pointing out the direction to Madison, Chicago, Detroit, etc. are green, of course.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Signs_and_Signals.svg/600px-Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Signs_and_Signals.svg.png)
Do you have an example? :)
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fclubedetran.com.br%2Fimagens%2Fplacas%2FR-4A.png&hash=44e7a95607d302aedb15779403b4cce0" rel="cached" data-hash="44e7a95607d302aedb15779403b4cce0" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://clubedetran.com.br/imagens/placas/R-4A.png) (https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fclubedetran.com.br%2Fimagens%2Fplacas%2FR-25D.png&hash=27e136b1006da17ec83a7c0d0d2529fe" rel="cached" data-hash="27e136b1006da17ec83a7c0d0d2529fe" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://clubedetran.com.br/imagens/placas/R-25D.png)
Both are regulating, but only the first one is forbidding.
Although almost always both are forbidding the same thing. :)
I don't recall if they even have that sign?
Nope. Interstate or hwy signs always just say which number is coming up. The shield means interstate (freeway).
(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTUz7o7SZtMGlsFFvZwDiuYF0UGmfv4nqaO1Eg0qJYOlerCmAZubg)
That one's more for what I think you'd call highways. On a highway you have priority, indicated by this sign:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Belgian_road_sign_B9.svg/120px-Belgian_road_sign_B9.svg.png)
Just a blank advisory sign. Rarer but usually used to draw attention to something another sign warned you about.
The normal rule without signs is that right goes first. Unlike in America where every street corner seems to have all these stop signs.
I'm not sure standard road rules don't cover that... But it's painful how many people don't know them.
For example at a 2 way stop (crossing street) left turn yields to straight across traffic. With some consideration to who got there first on turns.
Both are regulating, but only the first one is forbidding.
Although almost always both are forbidding the same thing. :)
Sure, we have that sign over here, although when you think about it it's kind of an outlier. I suppose it's a matter of how you look at it. A number in a red circle means you're forbidden from going faster than that, but you could also say it's regulated. In any case, your second sign looks like this over here:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Denmark_road_sign_D11.7.svg/120px-Denmark_road_sign_D11.7.svg.png)
Then there's also this:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Belgian_road_sign_C47_%28douane%29.svg/120px-Belgian_road_sign_C47_%28douane%29.svg.png)
It's not forbidden for customs, but rather forbidden to pass by without going through customs.
According to Wikipedia, in the Netherlands we only do the blue signs and the no u-turn sign is actually logical (i.e., no weird red line that doesn't occur on any other forbidden signs other than turns and no parking):
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Nederlands_verkeersbord_F7.svg/120px-Nederlands_verkeersbord_F7.svg.png)
The signs pointing out the direction to Madison, Chicago, Detroit, etc. are green, of course.
Are they? In my experience, there simply are no signs to Madison, Chicago, Detroit, etc. There are only signs pointing at other highway numbers. You have to figure out the cities by buying a map. This is so even very close to cities, such as in St Augustine, FL, where I walked from the Greyhound bus stop to the city. Long walk from formally outside the city limits, no signs on the way, just a sign on the city limits.
Whereas in Europe, if you are not a truck driver, you can ignore the highway numbers and follow the signs that point directions to cities by their names - because we actually have such signs all over the country. The country border everywhere has signs directing certainly to the capital, but usually to every other major city too.
Even numbers are east - west. Odd are north - south. 65 is over from the coast [I think it's 91 on the east coast n- s] But 65 will take you straight to Chicago.
You can do better than you might think without a map, if you've ever studied one of the US before anyway. They go thru major cities.
Greyhound bus stop
I'm sorry. lol
You can do better than you might think without a map, if you've ever studied one of the US before anyway. They go thru major cities.
Sure, except that I go by foot/rail/bus, not by car. U.S. urban areas are easy to memorise, but I like maps, so I look at them anyway.
Greyhound bus stop
I'm sorry. lol
The scorn that Americans have for public transportation is part of the reason I strictly use public transportation in United States. I have found public transportation perfectly functional in NYC and Miami conurbation. It's worse elsewhere in Florida. Haven't been to other states. I just returned from a trip to Costa Rica via Florida.
Even numbers are east - west. Odd are north - south. 65 is over from the coast [I think it's 91 on the east coast n- s] But 65 will take you straight to Chicago.
Same as the European routes, probably stole that idea from the US. An exception is the E6 North/South route (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_route_E6). It is quite literally the backbone of Norway, broken once by fjord/ferry south of Narvik. It marks the transition to road-based transport, and changing to scheme-abiding E47 was not popular.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Blank_map_of_Europe_cropped_-_E6.svg)
Roughly speaking they go North/South and West/East. E98 ends in Syria and E127 ends in China.
Even numbers are east - west. Odd are north - south. 65 is over from the coast [I think it's 91 on the east coast n- s] But 65 will take you straight to Chicago.
Same as the European routes, probably stole that idea from the US. An exception is the E6 North/South route (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_route_E6).
Another exception would be E4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_route_E4
I don't think they are exceptions though. European road network never was square, so there simply cannot be a square rule.
That's another exception, and for the European system a more important one, as E4 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_route_E4) is virtually E55 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_route_E55), a grid road (while the parts of E47 that's not E6 is a Danish/German stub).
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/E4_route.jpg/435px-E4_route.jpg)(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/E55_route.svg/435px-E55_route.svg.png)
The E10, E20, …, E90 roads split Europe North/South, while E5, E15, …, E55, …, E125 split Europe West/East.
Are they? In my experience, there simply are no signs to Madison, Chicago, Detroit, etc. There are only signs pointing at other highway numbers. You have to figure out the cities by buying a map. This is so even very close to cities, such as in St Augustine, FL, where I walked from the Greyhound bus stop to the city. Long walk from formally outside the city limits, no signs on the way, just a sign on the city limits.
My experience driving is rather limited (compared to being driven), but around Madison there are signs pointing to Chicago, the Wisconsin Dells, and Milwaukee for sure, possibly also Minneapolis although I can't recall, and I certainly recall Grand Rapids showing up on the signs at some point although I'm not sure how far in advance. I would imagine Interstate signs are a federal thing, so it shouldn't be any different in Florida?
The scorn that Americans have for public transportation is part of the reason I strictly use public transportation in United States. I have found public transportation perfectly functional in NYC and Miami conurbation. It's worse elsewhere in Florida. Haven't been to other states. I just returned from a trip to Costa Rica via Florida.
It is an odd thing, but then I noticed that at least in the Chicago suburbs the public transit system isn't exactly functional. Buses only go at what one hopes are the right times to get to and from work, and no other time. What is functional is driving to the train station to get downtown (a bit like your typical P+R around these parts), but people seem to prefer to stand in hour-long traffic jams instead. :P Me, if at all possible I'd
always take the train to Brussels rather than a car.
I don't think they are exceptions though. European road network never was square, so there simply cannot be a square rule.
I'm sure the American road network has plenty of exceptions, even if they're localized. Just consider how the A7 is primarily north-south in my experience, but overall it's more east-west.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Rijksweg7.svg/524px-Rijksweg7.svg.png)
It's part of the E22, which also goes east-west except for local exceptions like in the aforementioned Netherlands and Sweden.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/E22_route.png/524px-E22_route.png)
The scorn that Americans have for public transportation is part of the reason
Odd reasoning. But I was going for light hearted joke. I've known many to use Greyhound buses. Some routes are apparently notoriously bad.
I strictly use public transportation in United States.
[Fighting the urge to apologize again. :)]
It's worse elsewhere in Florida. Haven't been to other states.
The big cities are well enough. Tho, if you find yourself around Nashville I won't hear of you taking the metro buses, sir. I've been told they are adequate but in my experience also a bit disgusting. And besides, I know a couple of good places to grab a bite and a beer (or coffee).
...
The US highways are a little less intuitive. US Hwy 31 would be I-65's counterpart. Around Nashville it splits in two (31W - 31E). A more easterly route and more westerly one. They can merge with other highways and get tangled up a bit. It would be much harder to just set out and intuit the most efficient route. Interstate signage will change giving you a general idea of what follows (blue info signs first then the green signs will change as you achieve a waypoint.) As long as you have the simplest idea of the progression of major cities on route you'll do fine. Knowing how mile markers progress across the state you're passing thru can be helpful too. (An example keeping with I-65 is you'll encounter Exit 1 (a mile marker with an off ramp) in Alabama followed by Exit 1 in Tennessee if going north. Last exit headed north in TN is 117, I believe, then there's Exit 2 in Kentucky. There will be many rest stops along the way with travel info and each State has a respective Welcome Center at the border.)
I'm sure the American road network has plenty of exceptions, even if they're localized.
State and local routes are very loose with it. And the missus argued briefly that I-94 went n/s (and it does from Chicago to Milwaukee) but a look at the greater picture ended that debate.
Hwy 79 is a curiosity in that it leaves Memphis at a 45 degree angle headed northeast to Clarksville. I'd argue it travels more east/west than north/south, even heading due east on the last leg.
each State has a respective Welcome Center at the border.)
Huh, I forgot all about that. Having driven from Illinois to Wisconsin, for instance, I must've passed this sign (https://www.google.be/maps/@42.4987516,-88.9918095,3a,75y,39.63h,76.82t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPktilexBU2hkmZJeRZigAA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en). I also forgot about it for Indiana and Michigan.
State and local routes are very loose with it. And the missus argued briefly that I-94 went n/s (and it does from Chicago to Milwaukee) but a look at the greater picture ended that debate.
The I-90 also has a big stretch of north/south around where I drove it. Like I said, a bit like the E22. :)
Anyhow, I was only talking about the Interstate system, although at least in Illinois the state roads observe the general directional trend better than the Interstates in my experience.
Bypasses can completely throw you for a loop. Quite literally. They have three numbers tho (I-240, I-440, I-840) and usually arc around major cities connecting perpendicular Interstates or travel off to another sizable city not on route. I've never noticed the first number being even or odd mattering and some of those can end rather abruptly.
But yeah you're right. Within hundreds of miles even you may get the impression the even or odd thing is off. The lakes seem to really mess with it. Illinois is quite flat comparatively. I-24, I-40 and I-65 meet in Nashville. In order to do that I-24 has to do some rule breaking. But the mountains cause a bit of a disruption anyway.
In regular (non-jargon) Dutch we tend to call those bypasses rings pretty much regardless of how complete they are. You could have a quarter ring. Besides ringway they can also be called roundway. A bypass would basically be only if it's straight.
Mmmeh, I'll agree I'd look at you a bit funny over rings. Loop works... But that's an on-ramp/connecting lane that loops around so you end up going in the opposite or at least significantly different direction.
If I said take the loop to someone they'd be looking for a big circle that takes them to another road. Just not around a city.
In Belgium you might think they are stricter since ring road is an official expressway designation. In practice, perhaps not so much. The three-quarters, soon-ish to be completed by a northern tunnel, petit ring of Antwerp (R1) is surrounded by the somewhat incomplete great ring of Antwerp (R2).
Little ring:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R1_ring_road_%28Belgium%29
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Ringweg_R1_Belgie.png/524px-Ringweg_R1_Belgie.png)
Big ring:
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/R2_%28Belgi%C3%AB%29
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Ringweg_R2_Belgie.png/524px-Ringweg_R2_Belgie.png)
Of course it's easy to see what the great ring of Antwerp would look like if it were actually realized, but yeah… it wasn't and won't be. This isn't the '70s. Anyway, the reason for the great ring being that back in the 1960s they were actually planning to construct a great ring.
Edit: btw, the ring of Rotterdam is called the diamond of Rotterdam and Breda has a horseshoe. So perhaps Dutch people are slightly less weird than you might think and it's more the Belgians. :P
The most instructive example is the seven rings around Beijing. Below rings 2-6 are shown.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-yzwYuqQnIY0%2FVY3qBGn3QtI%2FAAAAAAAA_iA%2FzjlF1eLX0gk%2Fs1600%2Fbeijingringroads.png&hash=9256d63d18f69eecba5fbdf6f6838892" rel="cached" data-hash="9256d63d18f69eecba5fbdf6f6838892" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yzwYuqQnIY0/VY3qBGn3QtI/AAAAAAAA_iA/zjlF1eLX0gk/s1600/beijingringroads.png)
Ring 1 is pretty much virtual these days. Rings 2-4 are ring roads, radial arteries. Rings 5 and 6 are bypasses, beltways. Ring 7 (under construction) is partially a bypass, but for the most part motorways not coming near Beijing. They all have, at the time of construction, indicated the extent of Beijing.
Ring 2 runs for the most part along the location of the old city walls. In old days historical Beijing was huge, these days not so much. It's definitely possible to cross the ring on foot, not even difficult.
Ring 3, the outer extent of Beijing until about 1980, is now Beijing at its densest.
Ring 4 was when I arrived kind of the city limit, where people who couldn't afford a more central location lived as well as new housing complexes. To date it is primarily residential, with some offices and box stores/malls.
These three rings are more square than circular, they follow the city grid, and relatively closely spaced. The area enclosed by each successive ring increases significantly though.
Ring 5 is the first real bypass, and the most perfectly circular. It and Ring 6 are similar in nature to the A10 ring around Berlin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesautobahn_10), though the A10 is almost as long as Ring 6 (100 km, 200 km and 220 km in diameter).
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Lage_Berliner_Ring_Metropolregion_Berlin.png)
Beijing could expand uninterrupted for a long time, Ring 6 is the first where terrain and settlements shaped the ring, especially the mountain range in the west and north that separates Beijing from the Gobi desert and Inner Mongolia.
This will more so apply to Ring 7. It will be a bypass in the east and south, and more regular motorway for the rest.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BvGat-AIYAEVZ20.jpg)
Speaking of Berlin, the inner ring is only a half ring.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesautobahn_100
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Berlin_BAB_100.svg/580px-Berlin_BAB_100.svg.png)
According to Wikipedia, it's the same as around Antwerp. A concept from the '50s/'60s, although it's unclear to me how the unique BDR/DDR situation would've affected all this.
Sie war ursprünglich als Ringautobahn konzipiert, inzwischen ist eine Schließung als Autobahnring jedoch unwahrscheinlich,[1] vermutlich wird nordöstlich der Innenstadt der Ring durch normale innerstädtische Straßen ergänzt bleiben. Dennoch trägt sie neben Stadtautobahn auch den Beinamen Berliner Stadtring.
"Originally conceptualized as a ring expressway, nowadays completion is unlikely. […] Nevertheless, besides city expressway it also has the nickname Berlin city ring."
Nashville is fairly easy to get around because of its loops. They took advantage of the three Interstates meeting to create an inner loop. The I-440 bypass was added to finish enclosing the denser part of the city. And then there's outer rings under development.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FgxREH0b.png&hash=8823dae3b7647ca7becfdb05e2ac8db2" rel="cached" data-hash="8823dae3b7647ca7becfdb05e2ac8db2" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://i.imgur.com/gxREH0b.png)
The purple line I added is State Route 155 which is the outer most loop of metropolitan Nashville and despite not having the same I-### format it's essentially the same... other than who paid for it. (Legend help: White shields are US hwys, blue shields are interstates and white circles are State routes.)
The first green line represents a proposed connection for 155 (Briley Parkway) but is unlikely because they are now considering extending it on out towards Brentwood if the budget ever allows.
The outer most 'ring' (I-840) covers a lot of God's Country. But they are planing to extend it up to Gallatin (2nd green line) in the next 5 or 6 years. They are currently involved in highway expansion in the area in preparation for it. There's several big bridges that will be needed and the project has been pushed back before, but they still say it's gonna be a thing. However it's not likely it will ever be a proper ring because there's just nothing out to the west between I40 and I24.
I spent a lot of time in Texas traveling. The Fort Worth (Arlington) Dallas Metroplex (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas%E2%80%93Fort_Worth_metroplex) is a mess unto itself. It's not terribly hard to wrap your mind around on a map, but the intersections and exchanges can be a bit overwhelming at times.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FVR4uU89.png&hash=357b08039f390aecd565a104040cd61e" rel="cached" data-hash="357b08039f390aecd565a104040cd61e" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://i.imgur.com/VR4uU89.png)
This has the same structure as many other cities, building an subterranean "inner ring" as well as the outer bypass, which may be engulfed by expanding cities.
Prague is one such case, the outer bypass is partially complete, as is the inner circle.
(https://dndsanctuary.eu/imagecache.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sudopak.com.tr%2Fuploadimg%2Fby-pass01alt.gif&hash=8c232fe6e8d54f50c20ffb9fb83ddf37" rel="cached" data-hash="8c232fe6e8d54f50c20ffb9fb83ddf37" data-warn="External image, click here to view original" data-url="http://www.sudopak.com.tr/uploadimg/by-pass01alt.gif)
The primary issue is of course the cost of digging tunnels under a living city, with complex geography and often geology and history (that particularly goes for cities like Rome where you can't dig for any length without unearthing some archaeological find). It is slow and expensive, and Big Dig-like overruns are not unheard of.
Prague, like many other cities, have been affected by an 1960's idea: Running a motorway straight through the historical centre of the city. Except that in the case of Prague it happened in the 1970's and 1980's, long after other cities had discovered the errors of their ways. This is a motorway they hope to undo with the inner city ring.
Many other cities are in different stages/plans of undoing urban motorways. Again, the problem is that this can be much more expensive than it was to build them in the first place.
Prague, like many other cities, have been affected by an 1960's idea: Running a motorway straight through the historical centre of the city. Except that in the case of Prague it happened in the 1970's and 1980's, long after other cities had discovered the errors of their ways. This is a motorway they hope to undo with the inner city ring.
Huh, you'd think everybody learned that after Mussolini messed up Rome…
Huh, you'd think everybody learned that after Mussolini messed up Rome…
Instead of messed up, they probably saw it as awesome. Particularly so in the totalitarian Soviet Union and Warsaw bloc countries, even though similar mindset manifests occasionally everywhere. Consider Stalinist Classicism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalinist_architecture) with its magnificent facades and ensemble planning, oversized avenues that they call "prospects". The main features of such architecture are astonishingly similar to Washington, DC, except more ambitious and with an annoying medieval old town in the way that enforces a radiating grid instead of permitting perfect squares.
City planning mostly sucks. I recognise the value of genplan (masterplan), so that random projects could not ruin future development (or if they do, it can be immediately and indisputably determined that they ruined it), but God forbid if the making of the genplan happens to be entrusted to some soulless technocrat or to some enthusiast with overall destructive potential or to some corrupt sleezebag who only does things insofar as and as long as personally profitable.
Particularly so in the totalitarian Soviet Union and Warsaw bloc countries
Sure, but jax' "1970s and 1980s" applies in that case as well. As an aside, when I was in Prague back in '04 a native told me the TV tower was popularly known as communism's last erection (or something to that effect — might've been cruder along the lines of "stiff dick"), but I can't seem to find any support for that notion online. Was he taking me for a ride?
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/2011-06-11-praha-by-RalfR-071.jpg/340px-2011-06-11-praha-by-RalfR-071.jpg) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDi%C5%BEkov_Television_Tower)
Or maybe pulling your leg.
Assuming that you were speaking English, he may have played on the English double meaning, which likely does not exist in Czech. Still, there could be a remotely similar joke about it in Czech. I have not spoken to the locals in Prague.
he may have played on the English double meaning
There's no may there in my mind. :)
I have not spoken to the locals in Prague.
Oh, but locals are the best. They gave us directions to some back alley with an unassuming door (I know, I know, this sounds bad) behind which was some kind of almost palatial bowling/pool kind of place where no one spoke anything but Czech. Ok, they may have spoken Russian, but no German or English. With gestures we started a tab with the devil-may-care what's-the-worst-that-could-happen attitude of youth, but actually at the end of the night despite sampling all of the different forms of entertainment and plenty of beer I think it totaled at a measly total of about €30-40. And they probably stiffed us in spite of that, but heck, I figure they deserved it. It was one of the early highlights of '04. :P
That January of '04 was at the tail end of still being able to feel how things used to be, through the eyes of almost vulturous Westerners I suppose, and of course even then there were major differences between the city and the countryside. That's where you could still sense the effects of communism most strongly. Even just driving around all of the 1960s style pollution was a major shock. I returned to Prague in the summer of 2011 (?), a mere half a decade later, and it was almost unrecognizably normalized (i.e., westernized). Not that I would dissuade anyone from visiting Czechia, far from it, but it's the last time I got that Iron Curtain feeling which I probably first got in former east Germany in '94. The remnants in e.g. Budapest in 2010 were firmly stashed away in museums. (Sure, some of that horrific architecture remains, but let's be honest, it's not like our '50s/'60s post-war we-need-to-rebuild stuff is that great either.)
When my father visited Prague in the late 1950s it was a very different affair. Apparently he ended up giving his box of cigars to some old guy there who came rushing in to suck up the last bit of his stump when he was about to leave. Then it was more like the last remnants of what I consider relative normalcy still being stomped out.
I like Maseratis.