There’s a common misconception in some circles that bicycling is merely for recreation, as opposed to a legitimate transportation mode. Of course that’s wrong, cycling is often the most convenient way to get from point A to point B in a city. But why can’t transportation facilities be fun too?

According to Vancouver, they can.

Vancouver “Whoopdeedoo.” Photo by Paul Krueger on flickr.

 Cross-posted at Greater Greater Washington.
 
 
 

When the sun rose over DC’s east horizon on Sunday morning, it was in the midst of a partial solar eclipse. The moon was passing directly between Earth and the sun, obscuring the sun as seen from Earth.

To see the event, I woke up early and set up my camera at the best easterly-facing view I could think of – the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria. Here’s what I saw:

Eclipse over Alexandria. Full set of 25 pictures is on flickr.

Lots of bridges around the world can be raised to let ships pass under, but not many look like this.

It’s the Slauerhoffbrug, of Leeuwarden, Netherlands, and it’s quite a sight. Here’s a video of it in action.

Slauerhoffbrug, aka the flying bridge of Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
Photo by Bert Kaufmann on flickr.

Arlington produced a half-hour documentary about its bike planning efforts, and how it became one of the east coast’s best cycling towns. Give it a watch.

Left: Watch the movie (you’ll probably want to full-screen it). Right: Nifty movie poster.

Take a look at this street scene from the recent Star Trek movie. It shows San Francisco in the year 2259.

Apparently in the universe of Star Trek, city streets will look pretty much the same 246 years in the future as they do today. Cars, a cable car, and a fancy articulated bus, all on a road with basically 20th Century lane markings. The pedestrian crossing and traffic signals are different, but it’s a wholly recognizable scene.

From Star Trek Into Darkness.

On the other hand, by the year 2372 things change quite a bit. These next 2 images are from the Star Trek: Voyager episode Non Sequitur, and show a street in San Francisco’s Mission District.

It’s a fully pedestrianized space, complete with a subway entrance to the fancy future Trans Francisco subway system. Very progressive overall.

From Star Trek Voyager.

From Star Trek Voyager.

Fun things hide in city planning office storage rooms. I recently stumbled upon this fascinating Washington Post special from the 1982 day I-66 opened.

My favorite part: “I-66 means that the days of the great highway wars are ending.” LOL.

The full story is online.

From December 22, 1982.

I absolutely love exploring the world with Google Street View. Oh sure, real life is infinitely better, but I can’t afford plane tickets to all the places I can get lost in with Street View.

Yesterday I discovered Street View covers Midway Atoll, of Battle of Midway fame. The island was used for decades by the US military but is now depopulated except for a few visits per year by researchers. But all the buildings are still there, not to mention about 440, 000 albatross birds.

It’s fascinating, and a little creepy. Take a look.

Every black smudge you see in this picture is a 3-foot bird. And yes, that’s a bike path.

Downtown Midway, abandoned.

Ruins are everywhere, but the birds don’t mind.

In 2012 news circulated that a Czech company wanted to build a flying bicycle. I said it was a terrible idea. Now, someone has actually done it. Watch:

Google Street View is an amazing tool, made even more amazing with its growing library of photography covering building interiors. Now you can use it to cyber-visit the observation deck at the world’s tallest skyscraper. Actually, you can see several floors in the burj, using the vertical slider on the left side navigation bar.

Still no Washington Monument, unfortch.

Someone should build a room with floor-to-ceiling screens, project Street View images onto each, and call it a holodeck.

Image from Google.

Do you own a car in Maryland? You can advertise your urbanist ways with a special license plate.

The plates are technically to advertise LiveBaltimore.com, which provides services to help potential home buyers in Baltimore.