lines of desire
July 7, 2016 12:03 PM Subscribe
"Elevated walkways are the darlings of architectural dreamers and science fiction writers alike." - Christo Hall
Can Elevated Pedestrian Walkways Be Sustainable?
The Multilevel Metropolis
Skybridges don't make the connection
The long history of a tall sidewalk: How Elevated Skywalks Failed America's Cities
Three cities’ pedestrian-friendly skyways, in photos
A story of demand and dissent in Mumbai
Skywalks in Hong Kong and their Consequences on Urban Communities
Can Elevated Pedestrian Walkways Be Sustainable?
The Multilevel Metropolis
While architects of such high-profile projects knowingly or unknowingly reference the concepts of an earlier avant-garde — touting “social condensers,” “floating cities,” and “horizontal skyscrapers” — they have mostly ignored the multilevel urbanisms that have developed continuously for half a century in cities like Minneapolis and Calgary. In Parallel Cities, we aim to recover a critical history of those seemingly mundane projects, which actually are radical experiments in urban design and planning. What do urban skyways offer the city as a social and political apparatus? What does the success of their incremental growth suggest about processes of urban transformation? What are the opportunities and risks of deploying these forms on a large scale?The story behind Cincinnati’s slowly disappearing skywalk system
Skybridges don't make the connection
The long history of a tall sidewalk: How Elevated Skywalks Failed America's Cities
Three cities’ pedestrian-friendly skyways, in photos
A story of demand and dissent in Mumbai
Skywalks in Hong Kong and their Consequences on Urban Communities
The Embarcadero towers in San Francisco have a skywalk system. I loved it! It was one of my favorite urban features.
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:20 PM on July 7, 2016
posted by grumpybear69 at 12:20 PM on July 7, 2016
Minneapolis is basically one long habitrail (it's the subject of the Replacement's song "Skyway"). There are five miles of skyways connecting 30 blocks, and it's easy to get obsessed with knowing your way around in them, especially when winters can be so brutal. I know one writer, Lief Petterson, who liked to see how long he could avoid going outside by just sticking to the skyways. My girlfriend did a year-long project where she wrote about all the public art in Minneapolis' skyways (here's some of it on CBSlocal).
There's a whole world in there invisible to the outside world, including buskers, restaurants, tiny museums, and the like. I used to enter the skyway at one part of downtown, stop and eat Indian food at another, buy candy at the wonderful Candyland beneath another, and then go to the badly missed Block E movie theater with my ill-gotten goods and watch Bollywood films, happily crunching on the best candy on earth, including the original Chicago Mix popcorn.
I love Minneapolis' skyways and miss them. Next time I'm home, I think I'll just go for a little ramble in them, to feel home again.
posted by maxsparber at 12:28 PM on July 7, 2016 [11 favorites]
There's a whole world in there invisible to the outside world, including buskers, restaurants, tiny museums, and the like. I used to enter the skyway at one part of downtown, stop and eat Indian food at another, buy candy at the wonderful Candyland beneath another, and then go to the badly missed Block E movie theater with my ill-gotten goods and watch Bollywood films, happily crunching on the best candy on earth, including the original Chicago Mix popcorn.
I love Minneapolis' skyways and miss them. Next time I'm home, I think I'll just go for a little ramble in them, to feel home again.
posted by maxsparber at 12:28 PM on July 7, 2016 [11 favorites]
Seattle recently opened a new light rail station. It's down at the southernmost point of the University of Washington's campus, about a half hour walk from where I live. There's a swooping series of elevated walkways that I can go over instead of waiting at the light, and I take them pretty much every time I go there. It always makes me feel impossibly urbane.
posted by egypturnash at 12:31 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by egypturnash at 12:31 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Nice post. The story behind Cincinnati’s slowly disappearing skywalk system made me glad that the Minneapolis and St. Paul systems work so well. It's funny when out of town guests remark on the weird Human Habitrail running through the city. They've always been there for me, so they just make sense.
This article linked from the Skybridges don't make the connection is interesting too. I'm on the streets of Minneapolis everyday, but rarely in the skyway system and I could never quite put my finger on the feeling that street level Minneapolis has that I haven't found in other cities, but that explains some of it, though I don't know if I completely agree with all of it.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 12:37 PM on July 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
This article linked from the Skybridges don't make the connection is interesting too. I'm on the streets of Minneapolis everyday, but rarely in the skyway system and I could never quite put my finger on the feeling that street level Minneapolis has that I haven't found in other cities, but that explains some of it, though I don't know if I completely agree with all of it.
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 12:37 PM on July 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
Skyways are cool, though one thing I miss about Philly is the nice long underground concourse that finally getting some love. No traffic, no rain, no wind, an easy way to get across downtown on a miserable day---and even on a nice one.
posted by SansPoint at 12:43 PM on July 7, 2016
posted by SansPoint at 12:43 PM on July 7, 2016
Atlanta has skybridges, but they are mainly connecting the major convention hotels, the Mart, and one or two office buildings + Peachtree Center. I think mostly at this point business people use the bridges during the day or coming from parking to the office (I carpooled with someone who parked at the Hilton for his job which was in the SunTrust Garden building at Peachtree and Baker, everyone I saw was always a commuter, I think).
The streets in downtown ATL (in that area, anyway) are always covered in people and the skybridges are pretty vacant outside of DragonCon and other major events (or rain, which in the South can be biblical at 230 in the afternoon).
posted by Medieval Maven at 12:45 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
The streets in downtown ATL (in that area, anyway) are always covered in people and the skybridges are pretty vacant outside of DragonCon and other major events (or rain, which in the South can be biblical at 230 in the afternoon).
posted by Medieval Maven at 12:45 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
If you Ask Metafilter about what you should do while staying at a fancy hotel in DTLA I will inevitably show up and tell you to tour the sculpture lobbies of the skyscrapers via the Hamilton Pedways.
posted by carsonb at 12:55 PM on July 7, 2016
posted by carsonb at 12:55 PM on July 7, 2016
Hamilton Pedways
I think I went to high school with him!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:07 PM on July 7, 2016 [7 favorites]
I think I went to high school with him!
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:07 PM on July 7, 2016 [7 favorites]
glad that the Minneapolis and St. Paul systems work so well. It's funny when out of town guests remark on the weird Human Habitrail running through the city. They've always been there for me, so they just make sense.
Especially for regions (like Minnesota and Ohio) that experience significant snowfall at least a quarter of the year. I work in downtown Cincy, in a building blessed with still-existing Skywalk links to the buildings on our north and south. It's great to have the ability to walk to lunch and/or public transit in January without having to trudge along a block or two of semi-frozen muck.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:11 PM on July 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
Especially for regions (like Minnesota and Ohio) that experience significant snowfall at least a quarter of the year. I work in downtown Cincy, in a building blessed with still-existing Skywalk links to the buildings on our north and south. It's great to have the ability to walk to lunch and/or public transit in January without having to trudge along a block or two of semi-frozen muck.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:11 PM on July 7, 2016 [2 favorites]
In the 1960's/70s the town planners responsible for Princes street in Edinburgh started building an elevated scheme like this, several buildings which followed the plan were completed, scattered along the street but they were never joined up and the walkway never opened. THANK GOD
posted by Lanark at 1:12 PM on July 7, 2016
posted by Lanark at 1:12 PM on July 7, 2016
Especially for regions (like Minnesota and Ohio) that experience significant snowfall at least a quarter of the year.
And hideous humidity in the summer. I love Minneapolis, but it's basically a city where the weather has decided it is at war with its population.
posted by maxsparber at 1:16 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
And hideous humidity in the summer. I love Minneapolis, but it's basically a city where the weather has decided it is at war with its population.
posted by maxsparber at 1:16 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Excellent post! Like it says in the first article, Edmonton is one of the cities with a labyrinth system for pedestrians. In fact, there are at least three in different parts of the city, although the biggest and most efficient system is still downtown.
In the downtown system there are the walkways below ground (connected to the subway stations) and the skyways above ground connected by elevated walkways. And in my experience, it's the below ground tunnels that see the most use. Underground you can take the train from one place to another, then go through government built tunnels to your destination building. The above ground connections are mostly a supplement to the underground system - and so far as I can tell, are much emptier. Below ground there's advertisements on the walls, maps, buskers, occasional potted plants, all sorts of public activity, while above ground there's a real sense that the building owners are just letting you pass through their private property and you'd better not stick around unless you've got business there.
posted by Kevin Street at 1:24 PM on July 7, 2016
In the downtown system there are the walkways below ground (connected to the subway stations) and the skyways above ground connected by elevated walkways. And in my experience, it's the below ground tunnels that see the most use. Underground you can take the train from one place to another, then go through government built tunnels to your destination building. The above ground connections are mostly a supplement to the underground system - and so far as I can tell, are much emptier. Below ground there's advertisements on the walls, maps, buskers, occasional potted plants, all sorts of public activity, while above ground there's a real sense that the building owners are just letting you pass through their private property and you'd better not stick around unless you've got business there.
posted by Kevin Street at 1:24 PM on July 7, 2016
Winnipeg has these downtown and they are quite useful in the winter when it is quite cold outside. It means that you don't have to put on a whole bunch of gear to grab a coffee or a bite to eat. In Toronto we went underground with the PATH which I quite like, although its pretty dead on evenings and weekends (but still open). In cities which get cold I think they are a necessity.
They are also quite useful in more temperate places though. In both Kyoto and Osaka the approaches around subway/train stations will usually link up with the surrounding buildings creating mini-networks underground where you can go directly from the station to a building, or from one building to another. Nice to have in poor weather and also generally faster to get around than walking on the sidewalks.
One thing I like about the above-ground walkways is that you get the chance to re-orient yourself by looking outside. When I knew my way around the PATH I knew where I was in respect to where I wanted to go, but not to the outside world. Same with the area around Umeda in Osaka.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:28 PM on July 7, 2016
They are also quite useful in more temperate places though. In both Kyoto and Osaka the approaches around subway/train stations will usually link up with the surrounding buildings creating mini-networks underground where you can go directly from the station to a building, or from one building to another. Nice to have in poor weather and also generally faster to get around than walking on the sidewalks.
One thing I like about the above-ground walkways is that you get the chance to re-orient yourself by looking outside. When I knew my way around the PATH I knew where I was in respect to where I wanted to go, but not to the outside world. Same with the area around Umeda in Osaka.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:28 PM on July 7, 2016
Cities in Canada not on the border have lots of these because going outside in the winter is brutal. Whenever I complain about it being cold when in a foreign country, people invariably tell me that I should be used to it because I'm Canadian. But it's not like we've evolved protective pelts --- we're just very good at not being in the cold. The outdoors is the enemy we keep at bay.
Edmonton calls them Pedways; Calgary calls them Plus 15s. I have always enjoyed the friendly Albertan rivalry over their True Name.
posted by painquale at 2:01 PM on July 7, 2016
Edmonton calls them Pedways; Calgary calls them Plus 15s. I have always enjoyed the friendly Albertan rivalry over their True Name.
posted by painquale at 2:01 PM on July 7, 2016
(Haven't read the articles, but...)
Two of the criticisms that you hear about Skyways in Minneapolis are:
They supposedly steal traffic from street-level. I'm not sure if I agree, but it's a criticism that you hear.
They generate a lot of activity at lunchtime for office workers, less in the morning when people are rushing to get to work (lots of crowds, but not a lot "happening"), and de-emphasize activity in the evenings, when a lot of businesses close down. I think there's some truth to this. On the other hand, with more condos and residential buildings on the system today, I'd wonder if this might change.
posted by gimonca at 2:08 PM on July 7, 2016
Two of the criticisms that you hear about Skyways in Minneapolis are:
They supposedly steal traffic from street-level. I'm not sure if I agree, but it's a criticism that you hear.
They generate a lot of activity at lunchtime for office workers, less in the morning when people are rushing to get to work (lots of crowds, but not a lot "happening"), and de-emphasize activity in the evenings, when a lot of businesses close down. I think there's some truth to this. On the other hand, with more condos and residential buildings on the system today, I'd wonder if this might change.
posted by gimonca at 2:08 PM on July 7, 2016
Okay, the 'Multilevel Metropolis' article in placesjournal.org linked in the post is superb. Definitely read that one.
posted by gimonca at 2:19 PM on July 7, 2016
posted by gimonca at 2:19 PM on July 7, 2016
I moved from Montreal, home of the Underground City, to Calgary with it's +15's. It was a weird transition, but one of the things they both did well was let you get from point a to point b with minimum time outside. Also there are a lot of shitty, overpriced cornerstores in them.
posted by sauril at 2:35 PM on July 7, 2016
posted by sauril at 2:35 PM on July 7, 2016
They are talking about getting rid of the skywalks in Des Moines. They want to make the Downtown area more "walkable", and I guess street-level shop owners think (perhaps rightly) that if you are forced to walk out in the elements when it is either 100 degrees plus 90% humidity or -20 degrees plus 30 mph winds, that people will be more likely to stop in and buy stuff. This completely ignores the fact that in either of those conditions, nobody is going to want to be out on the sidewalk in the first place.
also, you never have to wait for a traffic signal to cross a street!
posted by ArgentCorvid at 2:36 PM on July 7, 2016
also, you never have to wait for a traffic signal to cross a street!
posted by ArgentCorvid at 2:36 PM on July 7, 2016
In the future, when there are lots of elevated walkways at various levels, you just know some dork is gonna crash his flying car into them.
posted by easily confused at 2:42 PM on July 7, 2016
posted by easily confused at 2:42 PM on July 7, 2016
The Minneapolis skyways (and to an extent, my own city's skywalk system) suffer from the fact they're built to connect large businesses, stores, and small shops along the routes primarily during business hours. Or more succinctly, the "can't get there from here" problem.
My coworker took his girlfriend and her daughter to an event in Minneapolis and stayed downtown, and was happy during the freezing cold to be able to wind through a series of buildings to get to their destination. On the way back, after business hours, it was... less useful. They ended up shivering through a couple blocks of quick walking outdoors in sub-zero wind chill to get back in.
Before the current trend of downtown living coming back in vogue, the skywalk system in Des Moines was close to a death knell for ground-level businesses. No one walked along the street at night, and workers during the day would shuttle between the food courts in a couple buildings, their place of work, and the parking garage, all without descending to street level. The conversion of one street to a "transit mall" (probably inspired by Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis) was a total bust after a couple decades. No one catching the bus frequented ground level stores, the street was closed to non-bus traffic leading to a lack of visibility, and business evaporated.
On the other hand, the couple summers I worked downtown, I appreciated the fact that I was able to stay out of the sweltering heat during the day.
posted by mikeh at 2:43 PM on July 7, 2016
My coworker took his girlfriend and her daughter to an event in Minneapolis and stayed downtown, and was happy during the freezing cold to be able to wind through a series of buildings to get to their destination. On the way back, after business hours, it was... less useful. They ended up shivering through a couple blocks of quick walking outdoors in sub-zero wind chill to get back in.
Before the current trend of downtown living coming back in vogue, the skywalk system in Des Moines was close to a death knell for ground-level businesses. No one walked along the street at night, and workers during the day would shuttle between the food courts in a couple buildings, their place of work, and the parking garage, all without descending to street level. The conversion of one street to a "transit mall" (probably inspired by Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis) was a total bust after a couple decades. No one catching the bus frequented ground level stores, the street was closed to non-bus traffic leading to a lack of visibility, and business evaporated.
On the other hand, the couple summers I worked downtown, I appreciated the fact that I was able to stay out of the sweltering heat during the day.
posted by mikeh at 2:43 PM on July 7, 2016
I see ArgentCorvid's beat me to the punch on Des Moines. I don't think the system will completely disappear, but as-is, it's a solution that causes more problems than it solves, especially when you figure in the maintenance costs. I look forward to the future, and anticipate many more interesting problems.
posted by mikeh at 2:46 PM on July 7, 2016
posted by mikeh at 2:46 PM on July 7, 2016
I love me some elevated walkways, pedestrian malls, concourses, boardwalks, and just about anything that keeps motor vehicles completely segregated from everything else. I'm not the only city dweller who looks forward to blizzards that shut down street traffic and let everyone go out and enjoy the car free neighborhood.
posted by cmfletcher at 2:47 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by cmfletcher at 2:47 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Skywalks? Meh. Skyslides? Oh, yeah! It's just too bad L.A.'s skyslide isn't between two buildings (there aren't two buildings in downtown L.A. you could do anything between)
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:47 PM on July 7, 2016
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:47 PM on July 7, 2016
The Pedway: Elevating London (SLVimeo) - a 2013 documentary about the City of London Pedway scheme.
Walking through the Barbican walkways on a deserted Sunday morning is a very good way to feel as if you're in a 1960s avant garde science fiction film.
posted by Major Clanger at 3:00 PM on July 7, 2016
Walking through the Barbican walkways on a deserted Sunday morning is a very good way to feel as if you're in a 1960s avant garde science fiction film.
posted by Major Clanger at 3:00 PM on July 7, 2016
Stockholm has some interesting skyways. There's one which starts on the street on the top of a cliff, connects to the top of a building where you find a restaurant, and then to an elevator which takes you down to the waterfront. I liked that one, and it works well for pedestrian commutes, since it cuts out a big chunk of climbing a hill. There is the network of escalators in Hong Kong which serves a similar function. Many cities have subway stations-malls-underground passages which are a sort of underground pedestrian network.
In general, I think these can work well in places where there is sufficient density of people to support activity both on the skyway level and on the street level. When they failed in American cities, it was because they were grafted on to car-centric cities which never would support such densities.
Here is a dream-plan for Stockholm which made a bit of a splash recently, though it seems doubtful it'll get traction.
I look forward to reading these articles!
posted by alexei at 3:16 PM on July 7, 2016
In general, I think these can work well in places where there is sufficient density of people to support activity both on the skyway level and on the street level. When they failed in American cities, it was because they were grafted on to car-centric cities which never would support such densities.
Here is a dream-plan for Stockholm which made a bit of a splash recently, though it seems doubtful it'll get traction.
I look forward to reading these articles!
posted by alexei at 3:16 PM on July 7, 2016
One more city comes to mind: Chicago, which arguably has the most advanced skyway network, to the point that you barely notice the lower level, which is used for services and traffic. I think it can be considered a success, although the difference there is that they put cars on top as well as people, making it seem like any other big city.
posted by alexei at 3:19 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by alexei at 3:19 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
I loved Hong Kong's walkways, and they've made me wish ever since that we could have something similar here in London, half just because of how elegant the dream is. The articles and the paper talk about the friction between new walkways and existing ground level life, and the need for a certain minimum level of density and connectedness, but I feel like there was something different about Hong Kong that made them work that you couldn't just add to a city incrementally.
I only visited as a kid, so I suspect it's mostly poorly remembered impressions (and I was pretty much just going up and down the giant escalator thoroughfare and faffing around the business district), but I remember a sense of it being an actual layer for pedestrians, and not just traffic relief added on top of the "real" one. Whatever it was, I can't imagine Pedway's raised corridors ever feeling like somewhere you were welcome.
posted by lucidium at 3:23 PM on July 7, 2016
I only visited as a kid, so I suspect it's mostly poorly remembered impressions (and I was pretty much just going up and down the giant escalator thoroughfare and faffing around the business district), but I remember a sense of it being an actual layer for pedestrians, and not just traffic relief added on top of the "real" one. Whatever it was, I can't imagine Pedway's raised corridors ever feeling like somewhere you were welcome.
posted by lucidium at 3:23 PM on July 7, 2016
I love Minneapolis, but it's basically a city where the weather has decided it is at war with its population.
Minneapolis saves its love for those who can bear the city's embrace.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:58 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
Minneapolis saves its love for those who can bear the city's embrace.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:58 PM on July 7, 2016 [1 favorite]
When I went to Toronto for the first time, I somehow decided the PATH was the train (blame New Jersey) and I kept following PATH signs and never getting to a station. By the time I realized, I had no idea where I was and had to come up. When I did, it was in the midst of a movie shoot where they had spread garbage all over for Toronto apocalypse. That was fun.
Anyways, in general, having spent time in towns with skyways, undergrounds and none, I think I prefer none (New York, which gets cold but less cold than Canada & Minnesota) and then underground (Toronto, Montreal). Minneapolis felt really dead and I do believe they steal traffic. In New York, because it is so walking scale, you never really have far to go and the places you are likely to be waiting (eg, trains) are either underground or have heated waiting rooms. And I love a nice cold night in the city, with people all wrapped up and twinkling lights and steamy plate glass windows. Ah, can't wait for December.
posted by dame at 4:13 PM on July 7, 2016
Anyways, in general, having spent time in towns with skyways, undergrounds and none, I think I prefer none (New York, which gets cold but less cold than Canada & Minnesota) and then underground (Toronto, Montreal). Minneapolis felt really dead and I do believe they steal traffic. In New York, because it is so walking scale, you never really have far to go and the places you are likely to be waiting (eg, trains) are either underground or have heated waiting rooms. And I love a nice cold night in the city, with people all wrapped up and twinkling lights and steamy plate glass windows. Ah, can't wait for December.
posted by dame at 4:13 PM on July 7, 2016
Seattle recently opened a new light rail station ... a swooping series of elevated walkways ... makes me feel impossibly urbane.
Makes me feel the desolation of a thousand square yards of concrete wrapping steel and glass without a tree or blade of grass. Feels like, if you looked up you'd see a huge architect face staring down looking all too serious. Turns just crossing the street into an epic journey into WasteBux.
It's a quick ride, but veers too close to Brutalist for my tastes.
posted by Twang at 5:04 PM on July 7, 2016
Makes me feel the desolation of a thousand square yards of concrete wrapping steel and glass without a tree or blade of grass. Feels like, if you looked up you'd see a huge architect face staring down looking all too serious. Turns just crossing the street into an epic journey into WasteBux.
It's a quick ride, but veers too close to Brutalist for my tastes.
posted by Twang at 5:04 PM on July 7, 2016
My kid had a gymnastics meet in Indianapolis this spring. I hadn't realized until we went that they have a skywalk system that connects a number of downtown hotels to the convention center and to the stadium (I think the stadium one might be under construction?). As a disabled tourist, I liked it because it made for an easy wheelchair roll from our hotel to the meet.
In Lansing, Michigan, we have a single skywalk that connects our one fancy downtown hotel to the Lansing Center, a convention and event space, and one other that connects the big hospital to the big medical building across the street, and which was controversial when built for its potential to impact our single bit of scenery, which is the Michigan Avenue approach to the state capital. I think it worked out OK—it's pretty far from the capital and only blocks the view very briefly.
I struggle to like skywalks because they are so featureless. Long walks in glass tubes, in my experience. From the articles, it sounds like this is a pretty common problem. In addition, if you have a mobility limitation they almost never have seating inside them. I think I understand why—they're narrow spaces, and I suppose cities don't want to encourage homeless people to sleep in there. But down at street level, although there are more obstructions, there are also benches at bus stops and elsewhere along the way. My personal experience: street level is better if you can walk but need to take breaks. Skywalks are better if you need to be out of the weather, or are rolling.
The General Motors Institute, an engineering college in Flint—now known as Kettering University—is relatively small and not especially exclusive. It has an acceptance rate over 60%, and it's in Flint. I think it was more highly-regarded back in the days when the auto industry was still strong here. One of my high school friends went there, and the big selling points were:
1. It's a co-op school, where students spend some of their time on campus and some of it in real-world placements.
2. It has a system of tunnels that connects most of the buildings on campus. My friend claimed it was possible to get through most of a miserable Michigan winter in shirtsleeves and without ever going outside.
posted by not that girl at 7:07 PM on July 7, 2016
In Lansing, Michigan, we have a single skywalk that connects our one fancy downtown hotel to the Lansing Center, a convention and event space, and one other that connects the big hospital to the big medical building across the street, and which was controversial when built for its potential to impact our single bit of scenery, which is the Michigan Avenue approach to the state capital. I think it worked out OK—it's pretty far from the capital and only blocks the view very briefly.
I struggle to like skywalks because they are so featureless. Long walks in glass tubes, in my experience. From the articles, it sounds like this is a pretty common problem. In addition, if you have a mobility limitation they almost never have seating inside them. I think I understand why—they're narrow spaces, and I suppose cities don't want to encourage homeless people to sleep in there. But down at street level, although there are more obstructions, there are also benches at bus stops and elsewhere along the way. My personal experience: street level is better if you can walk but need to take breaks. Skywalks are better if you need to be out of the weather, or are rolling.
The General Motors Institute, an engineering college in Flint—now known as Kettering University—is relatively small and not especially exclusive. It has an acceptance rate over 60%, and it's in Flint. I think it was more highly-regarded back in the days when the auto industry was still strong here. One of my high school friends went there, and the big selling points were:
1. It's a co-op school, where students spend some of their time on campus and some of it in real-world placements.
2. It has a system of tunnels that connects most of the buildings on campus. My friend claimed it was possible to get through most of a miserable Michigan winter in shirtsleeves and without ever going outside.
posted by not that girl at 7:07 PM on July 7, 2016
Boston's Back Bay has a series of hamster tubes connecting one mall and a couple of hotels with another mall (and from there, a convention center). They're horrible things in an allegedly walkable city, made almost tolerable only by the fact that they cross roads that were designed, almost as if on purpose, to be as horrible as possible themselves. Then again, the Copley Place mall, for which the Habitrails were built, was designed specifically to attract suburbanites coming off the Mass. Turnpike, the sort of people who want the thrill of coming into The City without actually having to interact with it (the mall and the neighboring Westin were built in the middle of a large, circular turnpike offramp).
posted by adamg at 7:13 PM on July 7, 2016
posted by adamg at 7:13 PM on July 7, 2016
Theres a whole movie set in Calgary's Plus 15s, about a group of friends who make a pact never to go outside, Waydowntown. I thought it was pretty good back in the year two thousand. Can't promise I'd feel the same now, but it does have Don McKellar in it.
posted by rodlymight at 7:26 PM on July 7, 2016
posted by rodlymight at 7:26 PM on July 7, 2016
As someone who grew up in Minnesota, it was kind of weird when I moved out to California and found out that skyways aren't a thing that all big cities have.
posted by ckape at 12:08 AM on July 8, 2016
posted by ckape at 12:08 AM on July 8, 2016
> I struggle to like skywalks because they are so featureless. Long walks in glass tubes, in my experience.
I think fixing this is a huge part of making them work — the only thing people feel allowed to do in a corridor is go as fast as you can, but a true street replacement needs to allow space for strolling, browsing and resting.
posted by lucidium at 5:02 AM on July 8, 2016
I think fixing this is a huge part of making them work — the only thing people feel allowed to do in a corridor is go as fast as you can, but a true street replacement needs to allow space for strolling, browsing and resting.
posted by lucidium at 5:02 AM on July 8, 2016
My Cincinnati skywalk photos were used in the book so I'm not totally unbiased. I got to this city in 1998 which seems to be near peak skywalk in Cincinnati. The skywalk was fantastic in the sense that I could walk under cover from the river where I parked all the way to my office about 6 blocks away without getting wet. The skywalk was like having a super power to get around to beat the heat or rain or the cold. It however wasn't perfect. It often felt dead or desolate. Since the system was carved up, most of the retail in the eastern portion of the skywalk has shuttered.
posted by mmascolino at 5:42 AM on July 8, 2016
posted by mmascolino at 5:42 AM on July 8, 2016
I remember enjoying the elevated walkways in Hong Kong. Reminded me of Mega City One.
posted by 1head2arms2legs at 11:37 PM on July 8, 2016
posted by 1head2arms2legs at 11:37 PM on July 8, 2016
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Powered by the sun
Perfect weather for a streamlined world
There'll be spandex jackets one for everyone.
(from I.G.Y. by Donald Fagen)
posted by Naberius at 12:14 PM on July 7, 2016 [6 favorites]