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rust belt city enjoyer Profile picture
rust belt city enjoyer
@rustbeltenjoyer
luv cities, hate cars. simple as. | @basmati_rice_ for mutuals, same @ on 🟦☁️ | 🇵🇸🇺🇦
Julian Rapoport Profile picture 1 subscribed
Sep 19 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
You can go to Toronto and see what American cities would look like today if they had kept their streetcars and weren't gutted with freeways
A photo of Dundas Street in Toronto, it's pretty dense and there are lots of shops and homes
A photo of Michigan avenue which is a very similar looking road in Detroit, but there's a freeway that runs right by it and it's The land is almost completely deserted, very few shops Toronto really feels like the natural evolution of the traditional American city, it's unique because of what didn't get destroyed.
A photo of some people walking down a pretty dense street in Toronto, with streetcars running down the middle
An old photo of Toledo Ohio with lots of dense shops and people walking, and street cars running in the middle
Feb 20 • 42 tweets • 11 min read
Today I find myself at East Riverfront Metrolink Station!

I am going to walk clear across St Louis, "tHe mOsT daAnGeRouS CiTy in North America" to prove a point, and get some awesome sandwiches.

I will be posting anything interesting I see along the way down below😎 👇 A selfie of me on the stairs up to East Riverfront, you can see the arch in the background as well as the Eads bridge. First, obligatory Metrolink train. My beloved Siemens SD400s which are original to the system. These guys are OLD and will probably be among the first to be retired when we get our new trains in a few years!
Feb 12 • 19 tweets • 5 min read
Did you know St Louis has an ABANDONED BUSWAY?

Operating from 1966 to 2009, the #15 Hodiamont bus served north St Louis and was ahead of it’s time in many ways and could be though of as an early BRT, similar to the services operated on Pittsburgh’s famed busways.

Short 🧵
Photo of a bus on a busway with the headboard set to number 15 hodiamont, and people are waiting to get on
A more modern photo of what looks to be an abandoned alleyway, but there are no driveways or anything else in it. It is a photo of the abandon bus way As with many US cities, St Louis was never really the same after the great recession of 2008. The #15 Hodiamont bus’s closure in 2009 was just one of the many victims of corporate America’s greed. But even though it’s gone, it’s legacy lives on through it’s unique infrastructure.
Jan 30 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
This is a photo of the Sioux City Elevated Railway, the first electric elevated railroad in the world.

New York and Chicago's elevated trains are special because they survived, it's worth remembering there used to be similar systems in countless other cities.

A photo of the Sioux City elevated, there is an elevated track structure that looks very similar to Chicago's, a station structure, and an electric drive van pulling two coaches
A photo of the elevated traction ground level, it looks remarkably similar to what you can find in Chicago today
A photo of one of the terminus stations, it looks very nice, a beautiful ornamented elevated station building with a train waiting at the platform The Cincinnati Subway is infamous for being rapid transit that was never finished, but I think perhaps the Sioux City elevated should be even more infamous for being rapid transit that was demolished.
Jan 1 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
I visited Culdesac, which claime to be a template for more sustainable housing in the Phoenix AZ metro area.

It's not perfect, but it is good! It's incredibly easy to live car free or car lite here. There's a small grocery store, a light rail station, and ample bike parking! 🧵


A large pedestrian plaza with trees and shops, and shaded tables
A narrow pedestrian street with tall homes on either side, and a bike parked in the foreground.
Another path with access to homes, all tall and mostly white, one wall is painted blue
A painting of a large bug on a wall with a parking lot on the foreground, some trees, and several tall buildings around. The homes themselves are pretty standard wooden apartment construction covered in stucco, which isn't the best for "sustainability" and energy consumption in the summer, but they at least appear to be well insulated. Masonry would be preferable here. A photo of a new building being constructed here Right next to an existing one. The new one is very obviously wood, it hasn't had it stucco or windows put in yet.
Jul 27, 2023 • 19 tweets • 5 min read
This Friday, July 31st marks Metrolink's 30th anniversary, I want to discuss the system a bit over the next few days.

Today, tunnels!

Many don't know this, but Metrolink's downtown tunnels are 148yrs old (1875), making them the OLDEST SUBWAY TUNNELS IN THE WORLD! 🧵 Inside 8th/pine station, looking into the tunnels. They have sandstone supports and a brick arch on the ceiling. There are overhead wires on the ceiling to power trains. The tunnels are called the St Louis freight tunnels, construction started in 1866 and they opened with the Eads Bridge in 1875 to carry rail traffic from the lower deck of the bridge through downtown and to Union Station. another view of 8th and Pine, same as the last image but looking the other direction, down the length of the platforms and into the tunnels.
Jul 17, 2023 • 18 tweets • 5 min read
Sustainable cities, in the desert? More likely than you think. 🧵

Sanaa Yemen, dating to the 7th century, is probably the best existing example of a sustainable desert city.

Buildings here are tall and close together, ensuring the street and entryways are almost always shaded.
a photo of a street in Sanaa's old town, showing a narrow canon of tall buildings surrounding a narrow street, there are rugs and clothes hung to dry, it is bright and sunny above but shaded at street level.
An areal view of Sanaa, it is very dry and arid, but there are lots of tall buildings, very dense, you can't see down to street level because of the density of the buildings. There is a large brown mountain in the background. Most also have small, high vents, called shaqous, above the normal windows, and above doors and through walls, which provide cross-ventilation throughout the house without compromising the privacy of those inside. Buildings are also lightly colored so they reflect sunlight. A photo of Sanna at sunset, showing the crescent-shaped breezeway above windows.
Oct 15, 2022 • 14 tweets • 4 min read
Did you know Cincinnati has an abandoned subway? 🧵

Beginning construction in 1920 and halting construction in 1927, the Cincinnati Subway was the victim of political infighting, gross mismanagement, and the Great depression.

Image
Image
Image The initial vision was for a circular route, similar Glasgow Subway, and would have consistent of two main parts.

New cut and cover tunnels through downtown and trenched/ elevated portions built in derelict canal beds circling the city. Image