https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/beneath-the-skyway/
For those that don't know, 99% percent invisible is this lib architecture/engineering podcast that has the most smooth brained takes whenever politics is inevitably brought up. I think this episode is the worst in that it's about the Minneapolis Sky Bridges and the systemic race and class issues surrounding what is a good piece of public infrastructure. Essentially Minneapolis has a bunch of indoor pedestrian bridges connecting buildings together because it's cold outside. What went from a mere mall attraction expanded into a network of buildings connected by skyways, it's a legitimate public good however being America it's not surprising there was some racial and class disparities that arose from this project.
First off the pedestrians being elevated above the street made the first stories of buildings less valuable, second cars basically had free range on the street below because pedestrians were using the sky bridges, third access to the sky bridges was being restricted by business owners because blacks, youths, and poor people were using them. Now these problems could be solved in a lot of ways, better access to the bridges from street level, make the bridges public property, actually encourage people to use the bridges instead of drive. What was 99% invisible solution? Tear them all down, turn them into aquariums, make the street pedestrian friendly because the bridges are the result of systemic racism.
I'm not denying there was some kind of racism or classism involved with the construction of these bridges, the problem is the bridges are useful to everyone and the only people enforcing the racism are the security guards and business owners. I was expecting some speech about how the walkways should be available to everyone with how useful they were, but nope, let's just destroy a useful piece of public infrastructure because racism. This is your mind on the California mindset, I bet the host took an uber home after recording that. What a shitty fucking take.
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Imagine if the sky tunnels were open 24/7 and no pigs were guarding the thing. We talk about how trains are the best thing since the wheel but walking is severely underrated as a means of mass transport, it's probably the best.
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The skyway definitely makes being a pedestrian on the street worse, but honestly nobody should be out there in the winter.
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In mass transit planning, you have a thing called "the last mile problem". Mass transit doesn't really work if you have to make tons of tiny stops, so you need people to move from where they are to your transit points. Convincing them to travel that "last mile" on foot is critical to getting sufficient density on your transit system.
Skywalks are an excellent way to solve the last mile problem, as they provide shelter from sever weather, they're friendly to folks with disabilities, they don't intersect pedestrians with motor traffic, they're resilient to flooding, and they provide easy access to the buildings you intended to visit.
So of-fucking-course the 99%Inv crowd thinks they should be demolished. 100% pure weapons grade liberal brain.
I think 99% biggest gripe with the skyway was the discrimination while using it and how it made the street level worse. They wanted to make ground level more pedestrian friendly as a compromise, like why can't we have both?
Right. It forces all the Untouchables below, creating de-facto segregation, forcing the homeless to dodge traffic and deal with sever weather, and generally making the ground level that much more unattractive for everyone. In theory, the city just declares the public walkways an easement that can't be obstructed. Or maybe they even go crazy and spend some money to house their homeless population and skirt the problem of homelessness entirely.
But nah. Just tear down the skywalks because mall cops exist.
The idea of tearing the things down because racists own them is fucking insane.
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It does a good enough job explaining the history of the tunnels but near the end when they start discussing what should be done is when they discuss tearing the whole fucking thing down. It's worth a listen because it's just like a 180, they spend the whole episode explaining why they built them, how useful they are, what problems they face, and they just give the worst possible solution of destroying it and turning them into aquariums.
Like, a network of aquarium tunnels in the sky? And the public funding to provide for adequate upkeep? As simultaneously useless and unrealistic as that is, I would absolutely be in heaven in a city like that.
An aquarium as in they suggesting filling one of the bridges with water so people driving underneath it can see fishes.
unhoused people freezing to death under an aquarium bridge
*the bridge that was turned into an aquarium.
I thought “distracted” driving killed, but if I’m wrong and its “bored” driving that kills, this is gonna save lives (or uh the other one I guess)
Remember we gotta do this to end racism, I don't know how but the man living in California said it would.
I mean, they should absolutely provide food and housing for all and ban cars first, but I would gladly take a government job doing feedings, stocking and water changes for public aquarium attractions incorporated into city spaces. The algae would be a nightmare, but we'd cross that bridge when we come to it. I'm still not saying it's a good idea - just one that would make me, in particular, happy.
there are cities that didnt get nearly as cold that have skywalks and it was definitely lame. minneapolis can get deadly cold though.
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New York and Chicago could use a skyway system, it would make walking much easier.
Houston has a mix of tunnels and skywalks because of the intense summer heat and periodic heavy rain.
We originally were going to have a single connected sky-bridge, but builders started objecting to connecting units because hey why should I have to provide a benefit to someone else's office project? We switched to tunnels because it fell to the city to build and maintain them rather than the building-owners themselves. Only problem is... Houston floods. So now we have this giant liability hanging over the city's head, because individual builders can't play nice and the city admins are too cowardly to inform a uniform building code.
Also, the east side of the city has walkways while the west has tunnels, which forces you to run up two flights of stairs in order to cross the city without getting rained on.
In Socialist Yugoslavia, travel is strictly regulated by armed guards