Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

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al_yrpal
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by al_yrpal »

We moved here 20 months ago from a small cottage with low ceilings which was situated in a village with no pub shop or bus stop.

Because we are verging on ancient we decided to look for an old house full of character where you didnt have to get into a car to get milk or bread and accessible to a bus stop. We also wanted any stairs to be suitable for a stair lift.

We ended up in a 1799 house with a post office stores/family butcher within 50 yards and a bus stop club and pub opposite. A very nice park, village hall around the corner and a nature reserve and river about 500 yards away. Down a steep hill and you are out in the hinterland, pretty flat for cycling but the Quantocks and Blackdown Hills not far away. An added bonus was an absolutely huge easily maintained garden with a pond and at this time of year, ducks!

We are only 1.7 miles from the centre of Taunton and because my Mrs cant cycle we often walk either into or out of the town centre going the other way on our hourly free bus. Foot and cycle paths in Taunton are outstanding and are currently being built into new estates on the periphery. There are Park and Rides too and all bus fares within the town are £1. I have to give Taunton full marks for the way it has developed. As a 15 minute town Taunton ticks all the boxes.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
thirdcrank
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by thirdcrank »

Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
As I reflect on all my yesterdays and forecast snow is bringing things to a standstill, this image from the early 1950s suggests to me that it's been the growth of the private motor car which has caused the greatest change. Although the notes on the Leodis archive are vague about the date of the image, Branch Road was converted to one-way - as a result of increasing traffic - around 1950, and the backs of the NO ENTRY signs are visible if the image is enlarged.

My point is that one of the shops in the parade on the left was Day's jewellers, and my first primary school teacher - Miss Day - was the jeweller's daughter. The grey shape on the skyline directly above the parked van was Armley County Primary School, always known as the Clock School because of the prominent clock tower. Miss Day and her colleagues lived only a few minutes walk or a tram/bus ride from work.

The only times I remember school being closed in those days was when it was used as a polling station.
Bmblbzzz
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by Bmblbzzz »

mattheus wrote: 9 Mar 2023, 9:15am
Bmblbzzz wrote: 8 Mar 2023, 8:16pm I expect Freiston's right about the "stuck in the here and now" mentality. However – having your day-to-day needs within walking distance doesn't mean you never need or want to travel further. For instance, to visit friends and relatives. Or simply to go to work (notably lacking from the list).
Of course it doesn't! What's your point?
That we still need access to bus stops.
thirdcrank
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by thirdcrank »

I'd say that bus services are much more important than bus stops.

When we moved here in 1975 there were reliable services in all directions, mostly from the end of our street, with loads more if you felt the urge to walk for fifteen minutes.

Since then, the number of routes and buses on them has diminished and reliability is poor. There has been zero reduction in bus stops. More people travelling by car has reduced the demand for buses and slowed their progress in traffic.
mattheus
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by mattheus »

Bmblbzzz wrote: 9 Mar 2023, 11:19am
mattheus wrote: 9 Mar 2023, 9:15am
Bmblbzzz wrote: 8 Mar 2023, 8:16pm I expect Freiston's right about the "stuck in the here and now" mentality. However – having your day-to-day needs within walking distance doesn't mean you never need or want to travel further. For instance, to visit friends and relatives. Or simply to go to work (notably lacking from the list).
Of course it doesn't! What's your point?
That we still need access to bus stops.
Aha! Gotcha :) :idea:
ChrisButch
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by ChrisButch »

thirdcrank wrote: 9 Mar 2023, 11:01am Miss Day and her colleagues lived only a few minutes walk or a tram/bus ride from work.

The only times I remember school being closed in those days was when it was used as a polling station.
Even when my grammar school in Portsmouth moved to a new site further from the centre of town, the old building having been badly damaged in the Blitz, teachers as well as pupils were expected to arrive on foot, by bike or on the bus. There was no provision for staff car parking. Even the headmaster (a fierce and formidable autocrat) arrived by bus, and there was a minor school subculture of subterfuges for avoiding having to share a bus with him. Because of the greater distance to the new site, you were only allowed to cycle to school and use the very large bike shed if you lived more than a mile away. Less than that and you had to walk.
I remember the general shock and awe when, some time in the late 1950s, the first teacher dared to arrive by car - actually a Messerschmitt bubble car. There were rumours of dark consequences in the staff room.
mattheus
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by mattheus »

ChrisButch wrote: 9 Mar 2023, 12:38pm of dark consequences in the staff room.
... which later inspired the succesful UK "rock group" Pink Floyd's only No1 hit.
thirdcrank
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by thirdcrank »

ChrisButch's post has reminded me of another example of this.

In the early 1950s, I "moved up" to my next primary school, a little further down Armley Road in Gloucester Terrace, just next to the gaol. Girls and infants were upstairs with their own rooftop playground while us boys were at street level. We had what seems in retrospect to have been a large, concrete playground on a slope: ideal for racing Dinky cars, making slides etc. There was a small shelter on one side of the school building and that's all we had in the harshest weather.

Then, the headmaster got a car. The playground shelter was immediately out-of-bounds, although as Armley lads we wouldn't have understood that posh expression.
Jdsk
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15 minute cities

Post by Jdsk »

Green spaces in Barcelona:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... tudy-finds

Jonathan
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mjr
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by mjr »

The conspiracy behind "15 minute city" conspiracy theories: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the- ... -167735926
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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rareposter
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by rareposter »

Slightly surprisingly, even The Spectator published a very positive article the other day:
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/in- ... nute-city/

They even did one in favour of cycling!
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/sto ... -cyclists/

I know they do actually have quite a broad range of writers, it's marginally surprising to find such positive articles from that sort of area - although not half as surprising as it would be to see something positive written in the Daily Mail!
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mjr
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by mjr »

rareposter wrote: 30 Mar 2023, 1:22pm although not half as surprising as it would be to see something positive written in the Daily Mail!
Doesn't whether the Daily Mail is in favour or against most things simply alternate on odd and even dates?
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
rareposter
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by rareposter »

mjr wrote: 30 Mar 2023, 1:26pm Doesn't whether the Daily Mail is in favour or against most things simply alternate on odd and even dates?
I definitely remember coffee, bacon and wine being both good and bad for me.

As far as I can tell though (according to the Daily Mail), my use of a bicycle puts me firmly in the category of a tofu-bothering leftie hippy eco warrior, too poor to own a car while also impossibly affluent, smug and middle class with my expensive e-bike.
Jdsk
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Re: Debate on 15 minute cities on Radio 4 now.

Post by Jdsk »

rareposter wrote: 30 Mar 2023, 1:39pm
mjr wrote: 30 Mar 2023, 1:26pm Doesn't whether the Daily Mail is in favour or against most things simply alternate on odd and even dates?
I definitely remember coffee, bacon and wine being both good and bad for me.
...
There's a Daily Mail version of the periodic table...

Jonathan
Jdsk
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15 minute cities

Post by Jdsk »

"UK families tell of threats and police warnings over children playing in street":
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -in-street

Jonathan
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