5 Essential Strong Towns Articles
Strong Towns
January 31, 2017
...If you're just joining Strong Towns (or even if you've been following us for a while), there are some important articles you may have missed that we really think you should read. They include some of the foundational thinking that led to the Strong Towns movement, and they continue to speak to our goals today.
Take 10 minutes (or 30) to dive into some of these important stories. We guarantee you'll come away with new ideas for how to make your town stronger:
"A movable seawall system, capable of generating sufficient electricity to raise gates and protect ports against tsunamis, has been proposed by researchers from Tokyo Tech. The system has been found feasible in areas prone to Nankai Trough earthquake tsunamis. Additionally, it can generate surplus energy to supply emergency power to ports during power outages."
The Tunnel of Eupalinos was built in the 6th century BCE in Greece. It's just over 1km long, goes through a mountain, and was built from both sides.
And! It was built as an aqueduct, so it has two parts; a footpath and a lower water channel. It was in use for a thousand years before the channel silted over.
'Calendars made ...featuring gigantic cats overseeing construction projects are back, and this year they’ve also gone to the dogs. The Portland, Ore., branch of the Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to release the second edition of its pet calendars by midday Monday, in a follow-up to its viral social media campaign last year.'
Why not build the long sought rail connection between Boston’s South and North Stations — finally connecting Amtrak’s east coast passenger rail service between Florida and Maine — not through downtown Boston, but through Logan Airport?
Hear me out:
Building the Ted Williams Tunnel (Mass Pike/I-90 extension) consisted of lowering prefab tunnel sections to the bottom of Boston Harbor. The Central Artery/I-93 depression (Tip O’Neill Tunnel) required constructing a tunnel in-place after massive utility relocation and while supporting existing infrastructure above — far more complex, far more expensive.
A direct South/North Station connection downtown follows the Central Artery method. Connecting the link through Logan Airport would involve harbor tunnels.
It’s a longer connection, sure, but it may prove less expensive. And Logan Airport could use a direct rail connection.
392 years ago, the English mathematician and clergyman William Oughtred introduced the multiplication sign ✕ for the first time. via @fermatslibrary.
Oughtred was the first to use logarithmic scales and sliding by one another to perform direct multiplication and division. He is credited with inventing the slide rule in about 1622. He also introduced the abbreviations "sin" and "cos" for the sine and cosine functions. via @wikipedia
@gutenberg_org@wikipedia
I am glad to know who is responsible for these #math concepts I take for granted. I got my first #calculator in 7th grade. Our math #teacher warned us not to rely on #calculators because "Sometimes they're wrong!" One of my #CivilEngineering#professors used a #SlideRule to show the importance of understanding the quantities we're working with rather than blindly accepting the results from a #computer. One #typo can lead to disaster. I now have my own slide rule.
Do you know librarians who have created Mastodon instances?
A librarian at my institution is interested in advocating for creating one. It might be helpful to read about other librarians' experiences doing this or the existence of some other cases managed by libraries.
Completed in 2019 in Teg, Sweden. Images by Pavel Sliwka, Larsson Fredrik. The footbridge, which is situated in the city’s recreation area, connects the river’s left bank with the island of Bölesholmarna and links up to a...
Yankee | noun | 1a: a native or inhabitant of New England (Merriam-Webster)
Though not native, I grew up and continue to live in New England — “the hard, impenetrable core of the United States” as described by the late British journalist Patrick O’Donovan.
Married with two children, I am an Eagle Scout, a career Civil Engineer, and member of the United Church of Christ. My interests include American history (particularly the colonial and Revolutionary periods), transportation infrastructure, home improvement (electrical and HVAC), model railroading, art, Rock & Roll, moderate politics, and Christian Universalism.
"Ubiquity, like great power, requires of us great responsibility. It changes our duties, and it changes the kind of people we have to be to meet those duties. It is no longer enough for hackers to think like explorers and artists and revolutionaries; now we have to be civil engineers as well, and identify with the people who keep the sewers unclogged and the electrical grid humming and the roads mended."