Are triangles that uncommon? They were a good adaptation to what would otherwise be a T-intersection of two major roads.
The New England-ish town I grew up in had such a triangle, until the state traffic czars decided it would be more efficient to have a T. They were right, if you only considered efficiency as it’s experienced by drivers, but it made it really difficult for pedestrians as there were no longer any safe direct routes from one side of the town centre to another.
It also made for a visual and perhaps psychological disconnect between the various functions: church, town hall, commercial, a bit of residential, all arranged around the triangle of green space with its monument. It had been a place you went to, it became something you drive through.
I had no idea! I grew up not far from here and went to Chagrin Falls often- cool little town!
The "Western Reserve" moniker is all over Northeast Ohio, but few realize that it's because our area was once part of Connecticut! I touched on the abolitionist history of the area in a piece a while back and how that morphed into Southern sympathy as Cleveland industrialized and became more segregated: https://heathracela.substack.com/p/suburban-confederates
Are triangles that uncommon? They were a good adaptation to what would otherwise be a T-intersection of two major roads.
The New England-ish town I grew up in had such a triangle, until the state traffic czars decided it would be more efficient to have a T. They were right, if you only considered efficiency as it’s experienced by drivers, but it made it really difficult for pedestrians as there were no longer any safe direct routes from one side of the town centre to another.
It also made for a visual and perhaps psychological disconnect between the various functions: church, town hall, commercial, a bit of residential, all arranged around the triangle of green space with its monument. It had been a place you went to, it became something you drive through.
I had no idea! I grew up not far from here and went to Chagrin Falls often- cool little town!
The "Western Reserve" moniker is all over Northeast Ohio, but few realize that it's because our area was once part of Connecticut! I touched on the abolitionist history of the area in a piece a while back and how that morphed into Southern sympathy as Cleveland industrialized and became more segregated: https://heathracela.substack.com/p/suburban-confederates
Interesting. Previously I only knew the name of this town from the Tragically Hip song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7duVoZCwwc0