The city where you live

[janpeter 0]

he hello,

post here some screens and info of the city were you live, so we can discuss them
i start.
------------------------------------

country: The netherlands
state/province:  noord-holland
city: Hilversum
inhabitands: 85.000
agglomeration: -
mayor: Ernst Bakker
density: 1.835 km2
\demonym: Hilversummer/Hilversumse

Pictures:

nature erea: Anna's hoeven in the east of the city

overview of hilversum south (arena park/ and the old olimpic stadium)

hilversum overview, (google earth)
the most famous townhall in the netherlands, architect (w.m. Dudok)(sorry bad shape)

hotel gooiland. the most exiting hotel in the city

the sint vitus church. the biggest church in town (under renovation this moment)

lapers veld the most bautiful park in the city, (i live one block away (200meters))

hoornboegse heide
one of the most bautiful nature in the city (south), (there are big forests and ''heides (picture^^) around hilversum)

there is much more to show of hes little village (it never gained ''stadsrechten''  to be a real city ,)
it is the media city of the netherlands so there are big media centres in the city (check google earth)

(sorry if english is bad)

now, its you turn,


pls. comment

[janpeter 0]

btw.

the cities in the north (up to down)

(thirth picture)

ijsselmeer(lake)

almere (180.000 inhabitands

naarden/bussum ( 50.000 inhabitands (together)

hilversum

sorry for dubbel post (took long time to load)

pls. comment

[Kryptowhite 9]

We used to have a thread like this. I'm not sure if its still around though...

[Duke87 1,070]

Stamford, CT: Wiki article. Google maps.

And here's some of my own pictures.

I-95 (full of traffic, as is pretty typical) from the Maher Road overpass on the east side, with downtown off in the disance in the backround.

Canal Street in the South End. 15-20 years ago, the South end was a fairly rough neighborhood. Nowadays, it's rapidly gentrifying  due to a push by the city to "revitalize" it. A couple new office buildings near the train station started this process. A couple years ago, 12 buildings were knocked down to make way for a new street which just opened... yesterday, actually. And in the past year, half a dozen city blocks have been leveled by a private developer now in the process of putting in mixed development there. By 2020, it'll probably be nothing like it was in 1990.

West Main Street bridge. This century old bridge was closed to vehicular traffic a few years ago after it was discovered in an inspection that the structure was in a highly deteriorated condition. It had had a weight limit on it for at least a decade prior. It's beyond repair at this point, current plans are to tear it down and replace it with a narrower pedestrian (and bike) only bridge of similar architectural appearance, using the existing bridge pier - which is in excellent condition, it''s the deck structure that's rusted full of holes large enough to stick your arm through.

Mill river and some of downtown from the Broad Street bridge. This section of the river is currently undergoing a restoration as a joint project between the city and the Army Corps of Engineers. The old concrete wall seen here is a remnant of the old mill pond. There's one on the other side of the river, both are integrated with a dam a bit downstream from here. While not the first such structure, the current dam (and walls) dates back to the 1920s. The mill is long gone, the river is full of all sorts of litter and contaminated soil that have built up behind the dam over the years... and so the dam and walls are coming down, the river channel is being restored to a more natural state, and the park along the banks is going to get redone and expanded accordingly. So it looks yucky here, but it'll look real nice in a few years. Actually, as I type this, it's already changed somewhat - much of the soil behind th walls has been dug out, and the water level here has been drained out to near nothing.

Downtown in Columbus park during one of the "Alive@Five" concert events that's been held thursday evenings during the summer here for 13 years now. This particular week, Smash Mouth was the, eh hem, "all star" act (the stage is behind me).

[ecoba 28]

I live in: Athens, GA, United States

               Northeast Georgia

               Athens-Clarke County Cosolidated City Unit

               

Population: Of Athens: ~100,266

                      Of Metropolitan Statistical Area: ~189,264

Government: Mayor: Heidi Davison (D)

                          ^ Yes (D) Athens Is One Of The Few Counties In Georgia That Goes Blue, We're Sometimes Known As A Blue Dot In A Red Sea.

Athens has: 8 Commision Districts Within 2 "Super-Districts"

Education: Public: Elementary: 15 Schools

                                  Middle: 4 Schools

                                  High: 2 and a Performing Arts School

                     Private: Athens Academy (K-12)

                                   Athens Christian School (K-12)

                                   Athens Montessori School (Age 3- Grade 9)

                                   Saint Joseph Catholic School (K-

                                   Monsignor Donovan Catholic High School (9-12)

                     University: Athens Technical College Main Campus

                                         Piedmont College Athens Division

                                         University of Georgia : Main Campus :

Culture: The Human Rights Festival is held Annually in Athens.

 

Athens has a huge music scene, with many notable acts.

These include:

R.E.M

the B-52s

Dreams So Real

Matthew Sweet

The Method Actors

Love Tractor

Pylon

Flat Duo Jets

The Primates

Modern Skirts

The Whigs

Widespread Panic

Danger Mouse

Jucifer

Liz Durrett,

Vic Chesnutt

Drive-by-Truckers

Elf Power

The Fountains

Neutral Milk Hotel

The Sunshine Fix

Bubba Sparxxx

The Olivia Tremor Conrtol

Of Montreal

Five Eight

King of Prussia

Pastor Troy

Amanda Kapasouz

and Jet by Day

Notable residents:

Kim Basinger

Brian Bowles

Eve Carson

Jeff Daniels

Colt Ford

Willie Green

Forrest Green

John Kasay

Jeff Mangum

Brian McCann

Madeleine Peyroux

Dunta Robinson

Chuck Smith

Fran Tarkenton

Jake Westbrook

Darius Weems

Telephone Area Codes:

706, 762, 770, 678

I Do Not Have Any Pictures As I Am Having Troubles With Imageshack But There's Some Info.

[Sticksboi05 2]

You wanna taste of our town...check this...

Arlington, VA.

Home of Shirley McLaine, Warren Beatty and Sandra Bullock

[Odainsaker 2,137]

San Antonio

San Antonio Wikipedia

Texas, U.S.A.

Also called San Antone, SA, SATX, the Alamo City, the Rivercity

City Population estimated 2008:  1,336,040

City Area:  412.1 square miles (1,067.3 square kilometers)

Density:  2,808.5/sq mi (1,084.4/sq km)

Bexar County population estimate 2008:  1,622,899

Metropolitan Population estimated 2008 for eight comprising counties:  2,031,445

It should be noted that those population numbers can be misleading.  The city population would rank San Antonio as 7th most populous in the U.S., but these a determined from political city boundaries, and there is no overall standard governing how each city defined its limits.  San Antonio, a sprawling suburban sunbelt city, annexes neighboring areas aggressively, such that the drop off in urbanization can be dramatic when transitioning from the immediate city boundary into outer Bexar County or the surrounding rural counties making up the metropolitan area and the hinterlands.  San Antonio's metropolitan population has a ranking of 28th most  populous in the U.S., which is probably a more reasonable comparison to other U.S. cities, and which places San Antonio just below Cleveland and Orlando and just above Kansas City and Las Vegas.

Founded 1718 as the first Spanish civilian settlement in Texas and the capital of the Spanish and Mexican province of Tejas.

Current Mayor:  Julian Castro

City Manager:  Sheryl Sculley

Young Julian Castro entered office this past June following the highly successful term of elderly Phil Hardberger, who oversaw a recent boom in growth, new construction, and downtown revitalization.  We are no longer a big city trapped by its impoverishment.  However, the national and global economic downturn has finally cut into expected city sales tax revenue, and Castro's challenge will be to preserve and even expand upon the public momentum of Hardberger's local renaissance achievements in the face of now projected city budget deficits.  Castro has the aid of Hardberger's continuing City Manager Sheryl Sculley, who has done much to rationalize the city's legacy of byzantine finances.  Fortunately, the fiscal and economic challenges remain manageable, as Texas has not been as hurt by the economic slump as the rest of the nation, and huge long-term and ongoing public investments that had been in the pipeline even before the downturn have helped to buoy the city and its local industries.  There is a general growth slowdown here and throughout Texas, to be sure, but no capsizing or statewide meltdown.

We'll start off with a distant skyline view, I think from near the outlying Camp Bullis area, taken by paul is just dandy, who offers a great photostream on Flickr:

And a fuller panorama inlcuding some of the suburban midrises of the South Texas Medical Center:

A great danger for San Antonio is that explosive suburban sprawl, especially on its north fringes, has not only far outpaced the city's catch-up ability to develop services, especially traffic infrastructure, but is now also threatening its environment, and particularly, it's sole aquifer resouce.  The green hills and ridges in a prosperous sector offer choice sites for developers jumping in on the sprawl bonanza, but it is through these rocky hills that precious rainwater is naturally filtered and delicately recharged into the underground aquifer.  Development, impervious cover, and vegetation removal threatens to disrupt and contaminate what is fortunately still pristine drinking water.

I hate to say it, but this is San Antonio most residents will know:

...and those hilltop ridges are doomed to be levelled and developed.

The modern shopping environment:

That could have been Anywhere, USA.

Uh, what was that about suburban sprawl offering greater spaciousness?  In truth, you are often more cramped and have less available options, and the deferred costs and hidden subsidies to maintain this illusory pattern are publicly crippling.

TXDOT could stylize those highway columns with Corinthian capitals, and they would still be ugly.  People deserve better than this.

Here is panorama taken probably from the Marriot Rivercenter hotel looking back towards the old city center, using cut-pasted images by Jonathan D. Blundell on Flickr:

Note how downtown here is heavily low-rise, as much of it is a historic core of preserved late-19th century and early 20th-century buildings.  While young by European and Mexican standards, it is quaintly antique among U.S. cities.  The green space to the bottom left is the grounds of the famous Alamo, flanked by several historic hotels.  On the distant horizon on the right we can hilltop residential development covering the beginning suburban ridges of the Hill Country.

This is a view looking back towards the Marriott Rivercenter (tall building on the left), probably taken from the Hyatt Regency San Antonio hotel.  We can also see the new Grand Hyatt San Antonio as the tall building in the center, which is still under contruction in this image.

This is another cut-paste panorama I crudely made using wonderful images by Taureau on Flickr, looking from the north southwards to the downtown area.  The old historic center is to the upper center and upper left, while the hotel convention center and HemisFair park are to the upper right.  To the far upper left is the Alamodome, while at far right is the older shallow dome of the Municipal Auditorium.  Other noteworthy landmarks are the yellow building in the left middleground, which was the former San Antonio Light newpaper building, and the redbrick First babtist Church in the right foreground.  An area once of light industries, we can see definite difference in urban fill compared to the previous image--there are ground level parking lots everywhere, breaking up the streetscape.  A long-term master planning effort, known as River North, is underway to transform this forgotten back area of downtown with its undeveloped lots and patches of weeds into a denser low-rise urban center.  A major step in that effort has been completed with the opening of the new Riverwalk extension through the area, which has added a walkable spine through the middle of the planning area connecting several important city cultural sites back to downtown.

This is Plaza de las Islas, more often known as Main Plaza, in Christmas lighting after it remodel this past winter, seen in a panorama which I have roughly composed using shots taken by Flagman00 on Flickr.  At center background is the red sandstone Bexar County Courthouse, whose Romanesque revival towers are usually floodlit in rose or peach lighting.  To the right is the San Fernando Cathedral, whose original sanctuary walls from 1738 give rise to its claim as the oldest cathedral in the U.S.  The was great disappointment that the Archbishop of San Antonio, overseeing Texas's oldest Catholic settlement, was not elevated as the first Cardinal from the American South, but that honor was given instead in 2007 to the Archbishop of Galveston-Houston in recognition of that area's much larger population and post-independence importance.

One of former Mayor Phil Hardberger's major projects was the reconfiguration of Main Plaza from a traffic island into a real public plaza.  Many of the roads that framed this space have been closed and the site relandscaped and repaved into a pedestrian gathering space and civic center.  From the road closures, the paving design, and the final costs, this project was not without local controversy, and there is still more work to do as the surroundings grow into the newly recaptured setting, but it already is becoming a great asset.

Of course, this isn't called the Alamo City for nothing, so here is Alamo Plaza, with the Shrine to Texas Liberty, loosely composed into a fake panorama using images by jmtimages and THE REPO MAN on Flickr:

While the Alamo is made famous by its famous battle, it was originally just one of a chain of five Spanish colonial missions which dot the San Antonio River, the others of which now make up Missions National Historical Park.  These missions were setup by the Spanish colonial government to establish a chain of settlements to counter growing French colonial encroachment westward into Texas from New Orleans.  Missions beyond San Antonio to the north and east were generally not successful, and so San Antonio essentially became the northeast corner of Spanish and Mexican civilization in the North American southwest, a distinction which can still be seen in Texas demographics even today.

Mission San Jose by mlhradio on Flickr

Mission Concepcion by devil's rancher on Flickr

Mission Espada, the one truly successful mission due to its still-functioning dam and acequia irrigation system, in a beautiful photo by photowino on Flickr:

Mission San Juan Capistrano by Peter Gutierrez on Flickr

The other big attraction is the Riverwalk, arguably Texas second biggest tourist destination after the Alamo.

So peaceful...but, sometimes you have to mind the crowds.  Tourists in their natural habitat:

The slogan "Venice of Texas" seems too pretentious, but still, the boat cruise is required of all tourists.  I just wish the pedalos and canoes were once again alowed.  For those unable to make the pilgrimage visit, you can enjoy your virtual boat cruise on YouTube here:

Believe it or not, you are in the middle of bustling city in this great image by ihana aika on Flickr

Framing my favorite tower:

The summer afternoon temperatures here can hit over 100°F of alternating humid or arid misery, but you are not suffering as much here as you would be on some of those earlier strip malls.  Perhaps one day we will again design our cities and environments for the comfort, safety, and efficiency of living humans rather than their automobiles.

Here is a great image by paul is just dandy on Flickr that gives a sense of how this pedestrian river network offers another layer to the city, one level below streetgrade:

The closing triumph of former Mayor Phil Hardberger's tenure was the opening of the newest Museum Reach stretch of the Riverwalk expansion and the eveng reater San Antonio River Improvement Project, a project which has been years in the making to connect via the river sites on both the north and south sides into a 13-mile linear park.  Here is a great panoramic image of the expansion close to downtown by jfortega on Flickr and showing on the Holiday Inn El Tropicano Hotel on the left and the First Baptist Church on the right:

Part of the expansion has the landscaped river paths meander under highway bridges.  Yikes, check out how it passes under the I-35 bridge with fish sculptures in this surreal image by AndYaDontStop on Flickr:

lannadelarosa on Flickr offers some great insight into downtown urban living with photos from an apartment in the historic Exchange Building:

I want that apartment, or even better yet, this penthouse apartment atop the Majestic Building!

Ah well, can't yet afford that.

For the urbanists out there, I love this cool contrast in this rough composite of images by paul is just dandy on Flickr

You can see the two built San Antonios...the bygone historic city of Spanish-inspired detail, and the runaway highway city of faceless national brands.  Something is wrong when we somehow refuse to sustain or maintain the first while pouring untold and unaffordable subsidies into the latter.

Yes, we have our typical urban problems too.  Art Devels?!?

Okay, I'm tired of babbling, but here are some choice images of San Antonio boosterism:

Of course, it's not all pretty...

How the parking lots can kill it!  Just a few blocks beyond are the tourist crowds in another world.

San Antonio Express-News Building--a handsome Art Deco building whose urban streetscape qualities no longer makes sense given the devasting changes to the lots around it.  Perhaps someday when development patterns eventually change.  You know, I think if I ever got around to making this gem as a BAT, Jasoncw is going to have to do the textures, as it is a perfect match for his Detroit Free Press building and Perry Station.

The Castle...

Preservation in San Antonio has a mixed history.  Much has been preserved not so much out of a desire to protect the city's history, but, rather that backwaters San Antonio missed out on the economic upsurgence of younger sister cities Dallas and Houston.  Much has been saved by default as new downtown construction struggled in the doldrums.  However, there have been some gross misfortunes, as when the 1980s city council, desperate for downtown corporate investment in the midst of national stagflation and urban flight, allowed the demolition of the historic Texas Theater by a Dallas-based bank.  After protesting, the front facade of the exuberant Spanish Rococo Revival theater was saved, attached non-functionally to RepublicBank's astoundingly bland and banal office complex.  RepublicBank shortly afterwards folded in a national banking scandal, and while now capitalizing on its historic downtown, San Antonio finds that it had sacrificed what today would be the crowning gem of its theater district for nothing.

Okay, that was a tad of self-promotion, but they are both beautiful buildings, and I like seeing them together.  Mayan Art Deco is among my favorite varieties.

While I love the builidng, I wish the owners of the Tower Life would consider reworking their ground floor to remove the groundlevel offices, reopen the street frontage, and open itself to its riverwalk terrace and landing.  The most attractive building on the skyline already naturally draws people, so lets give them a worthwhile destination.  You know, like, somewhere to hang around and spend their money...

A last shot taken by Erik Pronske on Flickr:

Ah, so pretty!

I hope this interesting.  Ya'll come down 'n visit now, ya hear!

Errr, but do it in Fall or Spring...it has been an over 100°F heatwave oven in the afternoons for several days.

[Martin892 4]

wow, San Antonio looks great.

nice thread btw!

[hamsterTK 93]

Hah, the place I'm posting is only about 40 miles from San Antonio...

I got accepted to Texas State University as a transfer student from a community college.

San Marcos, Texas is a town halfway between Austin and San Antonio. There are about 50k residents of which 20k are students. There are two faces to San Marcos. One is the traditional college town surrounding the university in the foothills of the Texas hill country. The other is the suburban sprawl and outlet malls on the flat land near the interstate.

The university, located at a prominent hilltop overlooking the town. There are about 20k students.

Immediately adjacent to the university is the downtown the start of the San Marcos river, probably the best feature of the area.

First the downtown and square area. Its a walkable little neighborhood with all the basics such as an HEB supermarket and banks, as well as student bars and restaraunts. There are many houses and apartments nearby as well as a few planned buildings, giving the area vitality.

This is a poor photo but shows the built form of the neighborhood fairly well

The river is clear and spring fed, and is used for swimming, tubing, and paddling. Alongside recreational users, thrive endangered or unusual aquatic creatures. It varies in depth and is lined by public parks all through town.

...

On the other side, is the typically suburban communities on the other side of the freeway. Like the pictures posted by Odainsaker, it's got that feel and I share his sentiment about it.

In the center, is what is likely the world's largest outlet mall. Actually two malls connected together(Prime and Tanger Centers), it has what's got to be the only Neiman Marcus "discount" store. Down the highway in another town is a Cabela's Outdoor World extreme big box store.

I don't know if this something you'd be proud of or about the height of redneck cheese, you be the judge. But regardless, it brings in a massive amount of sales tax revenue for the city.

To be honest I don't know how much this area has in common with the original town but rather is a extension of the Austin-San Antonio metroplex. I sometimes feel like as time goes on the two larger cities will merge, leaving the original communities with character as attached neighborhoods.

Whatever happens though, something needs to be done about the growth facing I-35's feeder roads. Extreme congestion all the way from DT Austin to SA is going to be a reality as local traffic mixes with long-distance trucking due to badly planned development. There are now student-oriented apartment complexes which are miles from the university(which has parking issues, naturally) which can only be accessed along one-way ramp connectors.

[Odainsaker 2,137]

I always loved San Marcos! Indeed, just about every Texas Hill Country town is charming. It's also kinda sad that places like Georgetown and Round Rock have indeed started to, if not already are, attachments of Austin. Castroville and New Braunfels are already in the gobbling sights of San Antonio, and Boerne and Seguin may someday be next.

(WARNING: Odainsaker is about to rant and pontificate. HamsterTK I am sure knows all about the following already, but others might find it interesting, and it gives me a chance to put some rambling thoughts down)

I could always tell on the Austin-San Antonio trip when I was passing either New Braunfels or San Marcos as the overcongested I-35 "NAFTA Superhighway" would hit a snails pace, with us wedged between semi-tractor trailers. Fortunately, I always thought the hilltops of central San Marcos we attractive looking, even from the perch of I-35. In Austin, housing prices for a time got so outlandish there that I knew many students who instead commuted there daily from San Marcos, which to me was just an incomprehensible amount of non-quality time spent in a car each day. Unfortunately, any kind of regular commuter rail service within the Austin-San Marcos-New Braunfels-San Antonio corridor is years away. Not that planning and workable financing shemes haven't been devised, but everyone involved, from State and municipal governments down to right-of-way holder Union Pacific, is waiting for one of the other parties to make the first real commitment. All the while, Texas Department of Transportation is hardly a bastion of leadership, as it is too busily looking for new revenue-capturing tollroads.

TXDOT's vision was a vast rural bypass formerly known as the Trans-Texas Corridor, which would be setup as a utility right-of-way and truck toll-capturing system using a singular scope of eminent domain powers not seen since Gen. Santa Ana marched in. I think Gov. Rick Perry's my-way-or-the-highway pet project of bypassing and then mirroring it as a supercorridor is a regional mistake that creates more problems while ultimately solving none. Ironically, Perry in turnabout not too long ago made an elaborately staged showing before the Alamo in San Antonio, the Shrine of Texas Liberty, of "signing" legislation restricting the use of eminent domain in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court's broadening of eminent domain powers in its Kelo v. City of New London decision. The amusement is that the legislation was for amending the Texas constitution, and such legislation cannot be not "signed into law" by the governor, but instead is submitted to the voters for approval. He put ink to some paper, but he didn't really sign anything! The whole exercise was merely showmanship in preparation for gubernatorial election primary season. Gov. Schwarzenegger, if California's intractable mess proves too much, the Terminator is welcome to come to Austin to replace a certain you-know-who. Palin-Perry in 2012?!?! Egads!

Actually, I must admit, during this past legislative special session, I was quietly hoping the legislators in the bickering would let TXDOT expire. For those unaware of Texas politics, the Texas Legislature only meets every two years, and this past regular session became a legislative massacre as the Republican leadership's mishandling of a contentious voter ID bill left other major issues sidelined. Among the dropped issues during brinkmanship politics was not only legislation enabling TXDOT to enter certain types of public-private partnerships for its toll road schemes, but even legislation to preserve the Texas Department of Transportation as a operating state agency protected from sunset closure at the end of the year. Too much money was at stake there, and so Gov. Perry brought the Legislature back into special session in order to deal with the TXDOT continuance issue.

Too bad the voter ID issue didn't also break the special session like it did the regular session, as I am thinking TXDOT itself is a broken agency in need of a radical overhaul. While the department is already regularly criticised as a rogue agency run amok for efforts it has done in direct defiance of the Legislature while pursing toll-capturing plans and Perry's behemoth Trans-Texas Corridor, its greater failing is in pursuing an almost one-sided policy of highway growth and new highway construction that has subsidized suburban sprawl to the neglect of all other options. No doubt politics plays its role, as suburban growth is fast growth with seemingly faster returns through tax assessments, and Texas is definitely a developer-friendly state when it comes to outward growth opportunities. Unfortunately, this has created an environment where the sprawl has not only outpaced our ability to extend and upgrade our infrastructure, but is growing at such costly scales and into such critical environmental zones that it threatens to actually choke away our viability. TXDOT is continually having to react and play catchup, pouring in ever more billions of dollars in new construction to accomodate new growth, only to see that effort wasted as growth just spreads further out and then demands ever more distant accomdation. There is no planning commission anywhere that will limit new outward growth based on the current infrastructure capacity. Instead, the new outward growth is allowed, or even encouraged, followed by the predictable congestion of current capacity, which then demands new or upgraded infrastructure giving us a new capacity level to again overshoot in a vicious cycle. It's a money hole...it's not that we don't move around and turnover enough for transit solutions, it's just that we dump it all into the one sinkhole. Actually, feeding trough is perhaps more accurate, as there are too many dependant on this system.

I would rather transportation be thought of more proactively. Imagine if the same amount of money tied up in the current new highway system really was poured into maintenance and inner city road improvements. Better yet, imagine if we used the untold millions of dollars spent reaching the latest outlying pod to instead invest in that inner city transit corridor, say, connecting our university district to our medical center, with denser apartments lining the way. I have no problem with development subsidies, but why do we consistently subsidize one form of development over the other, and even oversubsidize one at the blighting sacrifice of the other? TXDOT's tollroad plan was by its own admission meant to be a revenue generator to maintain its own method of operations and cover projected financing shortfalls created in no small part by the Legislature's skimming of bountiful highway and gas-tax funds to cover other State expenses not-related to transportation. But even if TXDOT did not have its funding drained, it would not matter because the money would be wasted anyway by being spread thin in the sinkhole of sprawl. Might was well just shutter the department, redirect the money for internal city investment, and make it clear that if residents don't want to live in distant outer congestion, there are plenty undeveloped and affordable sites closer in town, and that we are truly investing to make those locations vital quality-of-life settings with the same degree of subsidization that we once splurged on the suburbs.

San Marcos, like San Antonio, Austin, New Braunfels, and indeed much of the Texas Hill Country, is famed for wonderful water springs fed by the artesian Edwards Aquifer, and all those cities boast fantastic natural water features and parks. How did San Marcos ever agree to permit the campy horror movie "Piranha" to plant the suggestion that there were ravenous man-eating fish in those rivers by allowing filming there? At any rate, those communities exist because the fresh aquifer springs provide all their drinking water and feed their rivers. It is a great pristine resource, and is self-renewing. Within the rocky karst landscape of the Hill Country, caves, pourous rock, and sandy layers store water like a giant underground spounge contained in a rock and limestone lining to form a natural cistern. The water percolates out as natural springs, and is replenished by rainfall and creeks passing over the aquifer recharge zone, where water is absorbed into the ground, filtered through rock and sand, and collects into the aquifer. There are no major above-ground potable water reservoirs that can be used as an alternative to the aquifer, though there have been failed attempts to dam and create artificial reservoirs. The Edwards Aquifer remains south and central Texas's sole source of drinking water, which we happily see filled in the rainy season so that it may last us through drought and dry seasons.

While no one is certain how much water can potentially be drawn from the aquifer, pumping demands by both urban and agricultural communities are only increasing and water rights are becoming more contentious. What is known is that at certain low water levels and pressures due to overdrawing by users or underrecharging of the aquifer, the natural springs throughout the region cease flowing. Indeed, the San Pedro Springs in San Antonio, which feed the San Antonio River, often do not properly flow, creating the absurdity of sometimes having to pump or cycle back water into the river from downstream just to maintain the economically vital Riverwalk. Thankfully, after much battling, many of the unique species that inhabit the spings and caves of the aquifer region, including the infamous Blind Salamander, were given endangered species protection, placing certain limits on how much water can be withdrawn from the aquifer such that the animals' dark, spring-fed habitats do not go completely dry.

We have a limit on withdrawl from what is a finite but replenishable resource. However, the nature that comes of that resource--green hills, spring-fed creeks, convenient well water, upriver sectors, also make the aquifer recharge zone the most targetted area for new suburban development and residential sprawl. Developers are tripping over themselves in the race the develop the next Hill Country community, capitalizing on the allure of the quiet country town while slowly engulfing the real towns in a suburban tide of homogenous pods segregated-by-income. Forget the image of white picket-fenced homesteads...these are sardine-packed McMansions, not unlike the development I showed near the top of my previous post. Look at the amount of impervious road cover, impervious driveway cover, and even the impervious footprints of the homes themselves...the amount of open permeable ground, be it green grass or dirt, has almost been halved. Our aquifer functions by water from rainfall and creeks absorbing into the permeable ground and moving into the rocky/sandy cistern. By covering the ground with such impervious cover, we prevent water from being absorbed, and instead channel it away into swift storm drainage, cutting down on our water replenishment while turning low and downstream areas into flashfloods. Meanwhile, the water that has been replenished into the aquifer is carrying the chemical contaminants of development, from all the synthetic oils dripped on the driveways, to the toxic fertilizers poured on the lawns. That those grassy lawns always ravenously thirst for water of their own to stay green just adds insult to injury. This is environmentally unsustainable, and with rampant growth continuing, water levels falling, and years of drought unabated, were are already seeing desperation in our agricultural and livestock areas as their allotment of water becomes more insufficient. Bony dairy cows shivelled from lack of water and green grazing land that must be sold to the slaughterers as their owners salvage what little they can is an ugly and disturbing thing. Crabgrass lawns are not worth it. Some would solve the mounting problem by dam construction and developing lake reservoirs, which would also double as new resort and suburban amenities, but that just deferring environmental disaster with a fiscal disaster.

Am I still ranting???

My solution...enforceable urban growth boundaries over the Edward Aquifer recharge zone. Yikes, a growth killer! How can we annex a new taxbase later on if we do that? Do you know how much State money can be directed to our community through dependant local construction jobs by building highways and other infrastructure to new suburbs? Cheap growth is still growth, and this is economic competition among communities amidst a national economic crisis! We can't afford cheap growth, as it is why we have a crisis in the first place. But we can afford smart growth by investing not in getting fatter, but in becoming more muscular.

[lilshortjordan 0]

Wichita, Kansas USA

Population: 375,000

Metro Population: 550,000

EDUCATION:

Wichita Public Schools

     Elementary Schools: 57

     Middle Schools: 17

     High Schools: 11

Maize Public Schools

     Elementary Schools: 4

     Middle Schools: 2

     High Schools: 2

Goddard Public Schools

     Elementary Schools: 6

     Middle Schools: 4

     High Schools: 2

Wichita State University

     Full Time Students: 10,400

Friends University

     Full Time Students: 3,000

Wichita Tech

     Full Time Students: 1,800

Newman University

     Full Time Students: 1,379

AIRPORTS

Wichita Mid-Continent

Colonal James-Jabara

Riverside

Maize

MAJOR SHOPPING & ATTRACTIONS

Towne East Mall

Towne West Mall

Water Walk

New Market Square

Bradley Fair

Waterfront

Sedgewick Country Zoo

All Star Adventures

Cowtown

Exploration Place

MAJOR CORPERATIONS

Spirit Aero systems

Koch Industries

Bombardier Aerospace

Cessna Aircraft

Coleman Company

Sedgewick County Zoo (America's 6th largest)

Old Cowtown Museum (A full size recreation of an old western town)

Exploration Place Museum

The first Pizza Hut

And of course, the skyline.

[NYCboy1212 0]

Pictures of my neighborhood that I have taken

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=937462

[SrBiJ@ 0]

I live in the city of Subotica.Its on the north of the Serbia,next to the hungary border.The city has ben established back in 12 ct .Then,it was under the Hungarian rule.In 1526,it was conqured by the turks,which was there over a sentury.After they retreat,the austia clamed this city.In 1747,it was among 10 bigest city in austrian empire,so so queen Maria Theresa gived a royal sity statut,which alowed more fredom,and its ovn countyside.Back then,the mayoriti were hungarians,serbs and bunjevci,the mix of croatian and serbian setlers.All until the end of WW1,it was under Austro Hungary rule.After they defeat,it belonged to the newly formed kindom of Serbs,Croats and Slovenians.In WW2,Hungarian have anexsed the therytory of the city,and under they rule,10000 jews,15000 serbs and others were deported in the concentration camps.In 1944,it was freed with the help of the red army,and it was under rule of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.After the decre of SFRY in 1991,it was bombarded under the NATO action ,,Mircible Angel,, in 1999 and it belonged to the serbia in the 2003.

                                                  

There is today around 148.000 residents in t the sity(98.000 in the center)

        

                                                 Nations              %                        Religion  %

Informationopulation        Hungarians      43                    Catholic   57

                                                 Serbs                  38                    Orthodox 32

                                                 Croats                 11                    Muslims  3

                                                 Others                                          Others      8

    (Bunjevci,Slovacs,Chehs,Romanian,Muslims)

                                                                               8

Arhitecture:

Becouse of the rule of many countries,Subotica has a mix of different tipe of arhitecture.

The most often styles are Viena sesecion,Baroque and Socialist.

There is also a lot Art Nouve style bildigs.Since the fall of Yugoslavia, capitalist style bilding are also often buided,but they ruin the image of the town

[SrBiJ@ 0]

Hey,where are the images?I uploaded them.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: Odainsaker

TXDOT could stylize those highway columns with Corinthian capitals, and they would still be ugly.  People deserve better than this.

quote>

Speak for yourself. I love the look of highway viaducts.

And what do you propose to make it look nicer if Cornithian capitals wouldn't do it?

[hologram 0]

Helsinki, the mighty capital of far north.

Some basic info, there's 579 016 people living in the Helsinki area, the greater Helsinki metropolitan area consist of around 1 million people which makes up 1/5th of the total population of Finland . Helsinki has around 373 000 jobs, of which most are commercial due to being capital of the country. There's very little industry and the industrial areas are located mainly near harbors, which we have plenty. At the moment one old harbor in the centrum area is being torn down to be converted into high density housing and a new modern harbor was opened in Vuosaari area last year. There's 2 airports, the Malmi strip and Helsinki-Vantaa, located on border of cities Helsinki and Vantaa. Helsinki public transportation system is pretty effective due to the presence of main railroad hub. There's also tram system running through the densely populated areas and Helsinki Metro line is the northernmost metro line in the world. 

Plans for new  hospital area, the Meilahti which provides jobs for over 2000 people and hosts 150000 patients yearly.

Aerial view of the centrum area, looking from SE direction.

 

Large part of the waterfronts are reserved for recreational use, the Helsinki coast is spattered with little islands.

Kallio area, large residential district located northeast from the centrum area.

Aerial view of the centrum. Buildings are mainly neo-classical style and Helsinki is often seen as a miniature version of the mighty 5 million people metropolis St. Petersburg only some 500 km away.

Another aerial of the centrum area.

Picture from the bridge connecting the district of Kallio to the centrum area.

Suburbs

Pasila Commercial district

Typical green tram

Helsinki-Vantaa international airport

http://www.vastavalo.fi/albums/userpics/12854/P7051201_filtered_net_.jpg

EDIT:  Removed oversized pictures and replaced with link, please keep all pictures within the forum rules, thank you.

-SC4Meister ST Site Mod

[atilla5 6]

Country: United States

-State: South Dakota

-County: Minnehaha

-Township: Red Rock

City: Booge (unincorporated)

Founded: 1891 (was platted in Janurary of 1891, but post office was established in March of 1891)

Population: 6 (had a peak population of 11 in the 30s/40s)

Located in the Sioux Falls Metropolitian Area

-Metro population: 227,171

Well there's some general information about my home town of Booge located here in the US state of South Dakota. Like nearly every town in the Midwest/Plains, Booge is a railroad town. The Sioux City & Great Northern Railroad was the main driver for the community's exsistence, without it Booge would not be here. Booge was named after C. A. Booge, an official for the Sioux City & Great Northern; he was responsible for pushing the railroad into South Dakota from Sioux City. Booge was never more than a mini-town even in its heyday during World War II, and had a peak population of 11. At its peak, a store, a train depot, two grain elevators, a garage and an ice house made up the town.

Here's Booge

Booge's Plat map

[NYCboy1212 0]

Here are pictures of my neighborhood that ive taken.

[iowndiscti 141]

City: detroit Michigan

Population (city wise): estimated 916,423

Population (metro wise) : estim 4,000,000

Major city county: Wayne

Most notable suburb: West bloomfield/ Bloomfield hills

city alias: Motown, Auto - motown, Murder capital ( discontinued 1995- 2004)

downtown- detroit river

taken from canada's view ( downtown detroit)

bridge to canada

welcome to michigan! ( i had to throw this one in here, lmao!)

one of our clean burning energy power plants, across the river from canada

fun facts:

detroit has 3 of america's top 100 Wealthiest suburbs

detroit Has 3 of america's top 10 colleges for medicine

Detroit has the largest suburb dedicated to arabic americans

Detroit has the 4th largest subrub dedicated Latin/spainish americans

Detroit's GM/ ren cen builiding is the second largest hotel on the western side of the earth ( standing at 727 feet)

Detroit is the only city in the continental United states, where you have to travel SOUTH to go to canada

Detroit was founded in 1701, making it the 4th oldest metro city in america

The ambassador bridge in detroit, is the Second Most populated international border crossing in the world.

Jimmy Haffa was last seen at a resturant in metro detroit before he dissapeared

Detroit is Home to america 3rd and 4th Longest freeway ( i-75 & i 94)

Starting from i-75 going south through detroit, you can travel to the tip of florida

Starting from i-94 going west through detroit, you can travel through chicago and onto seattle

Detroit Michigan was the first place to have a car and a freeway!

[MariusBleek 5]

Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America. Toronto is at the heart of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and is part of a densely populated region in Southern Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe, which is home to 8.1 million residents and has approximately 25% of Canada's population.

As Canada's economic capital, Toronto is considered a global city and is one of the top financial centres in the world. Toronto's leading economic sectors include finance, business services, telecommunications, aerospace, transportation, media, arts, film, television production, publishing, software production, medical research, education, tourism and sports industries. The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), the world's seventh largest, is headquartered in the city, along with a majority of Canada's corporations.

Toronto's population is cosmopolitan and international, reflecting its role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada. Toronto is one of the world's most diverse cities by percentage of non-native-born residents, as about 49% of the population were born outside of Canada. Because of the city's low crime rates, clean environment, high standard of living, and friendlier attitudes to diversity, Toronto is consistently rated as one of the world's most livable cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Mercer Quality of Living Survey. In addition, Toronto was ranked as the most expensive Canadian city in which to live in 2006 and 2007.

Flatiron building built in 1887

View from North Toronto along Yonge Street

TTC Streetcar

University Avenue

Old city hall

Rowhouses in Old toronto

View of highway 401 from Yonge Street

[Myachiweb 0]

 I live in NYC. You've probably seen it before

[OoaHelaNatten 0]

Fremont, California. It's not as boring as Modesto, but there's nothing really there. If you need some perspective, it's a big amoeba-ish blob that's larger than San Francisco. There are some lakes in it and it's bordered by mountains and a bay, along with Newark/Milpitas and Union City. Other than that, there's not much to be said.

[clhigh7 583]

Houston Texas

population: 2,242,193 (4th largest city in the country)

metro: 5,728,143                             

density: 3,828sq.mi./1,471km

elevation: 50ft

city size: 601.7 sq.mi./ 1,558 km

counties: Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery

i could go on much more with lots of pics but im tired

[ChaosInAMinor 0]

I live in San Francisco (and I can agree with you, OoHelaNatten, Fremont is pretty boring- my ex boyfriend grew up there).

I'm sure you've all seen pictures of SF, but I've got some stats for you.

County population in July 2007: 764,976 (all urban)

County owner-occupied houses and condos: 115,315

Renter-occupied apartments: 214,385

% of renters here: 65%

State: 43%

Land area: 47 sq. mi.

Water area: 185.2 sq. mi.

Population density: 16383 people per square mile

2008 cost of living index in San Francisco County: 180.2 (very high, U.S. average is 100)

[andres052490 11]

MEDELLÍN - COLOMBIA

3 millions inhabitants

The second city of Colombia

Weather: 20 ºC

The city has importat factories, banks and companies

A city into the mountains

more buildings:

Bancolombia Building

Coltejer Building (this building has form of needle:

Edificio Inteligente of EPM:

Libraries:

Old Train Station:

España Library

EXITO (are a greats supermarkets in Colombia)

Important Malls:

Tesoro Tower

Falabella:

THE BEST PICTURE!!... THE METRO AND METROCABLE OF MEDELLIN

I HOPE YOU LIKE IT MY CITY... hopefully someone wants to cretae these buildings... thank you very much

[witru 0]

Vilnius - Lithuania

City was created in 1009 by Gediminas Gediminaitis.

About 550k people in city.

Its the biggest city in baltic states. Kinda peaceful too.

Teh Cathedraland upper castle:

Europe building (tallest building in Baltic region of Europe (TV towers dont count tho) 

Municipal building:

Hanner building:

And a very weird building :

Center of the Europe (real one):

Ok, im bored.... bye!

[quizlers1 2]

Country: United States

State: Texas

County: Tom Green

City: San Angelo

Hello Everyone,

My name is David and my hometown is San Angelo, Texas.

San Angelo is situated 40 minutes south of I-20 and 45 minutes north of I-10. It is the only city in the state over 100,000 people that doesn't have an interstate running through it. Located in West Central Texas it is the county seat of Tom Green County. As of 2009 according to an estimate published by the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total population of 91,880. The San Angelo metropolitan area consists of Tom Green and Irion counties and had a population of 108,085 according to 2007 Census estimates

Some common aliases or nicknames of San Angelo include The River City, The Concho City, The Pearl of the Conchos, and The Oasis of West Texas; many residents refer to it as simply "Angelo"

Peektures of the cities prestine skyline (hight limitations have really, well, limited the height of buildings in this area in order to preserve the "small town" feel)

San Angelo actually started by the first established across the river from a Naval fort that was established some 5 years before so that people working at the fort could get goods and live in the area. This fort was named Fort Concho after the Concho River area that it was nestled in. Fort Concho today is one of the very few number of forts in the United States that is in use still, only this time the city council pays for the year-round events that happen on the grounds.

Villagers and settlers in the 1880s

Fontiers still at work at Ol' Fort Concho!

San Angelo boasts one of the states prestigious educations systems including a state and national recognized/awarded university: Angelo State University (along with two other community colleges: American Commercial and Howard College).

The logo takes you to the schools website

Photos of Angelo State

The San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts is especally a jewel of the area. Structured to look like a wagon carrage, this building is a work of art itself, along with many different exhibits that is open yearly and annually. The San Angelo Arts Dept. also hosts the San Angelo Symphony, Angelo Civic Theatre, the Chicken Art Center (independantly owned) and so much more!

The city is young at its transportation systems. San Angelo's just completed Loop 306 has opened the city to new economic oppouronities including new hotels, shops and centres that make even the most savvy shopper blush.

The Sunset Mall and Shopping Center with the newly completed loop in the background.

There are plenty of landmarks (other than Fort Concho) that litter the city with history. Everything from Shoppes to Market Halls to City Gov. Buildings have a story to share.

When Santa Angelena (orginally named) was established, Concho St. was the first street. The saloons and cantinas of its time are now mom and pop shoppes with big, global egos. Sassy Fox, Eggemiers and even J.Wildes have customers from around the globe visit and even place orders via phone and internet

The Tom Green County Courthouse was rebuilt after the 1920s flood destroyed the original.

The Original

City Hall also has its benefits. Back in the roaring 20s, you can still feel that sense of swing and swag that happened way back in the day just by looking at this building.

The Texas Theater used to be the hottest spot in town, until the great depression stalled business in the area and once the people stopped going downtown for thier necessities, so did business owners. But today, restoration is happening and the old theater is schedualed to beocme a cinema.

The Texas Theater as it stands today.

The newest landmark in the city is the Visitor's Center. Made from limestone found in the area and some red rock, the new visitor's center welcomes all those to and fro and helps others find their way to thier destinations either here or across the land. Here, the visitors experience the best that San Angelo has to offer. It truely puts the icing on the cake that is the beauty of San Angelo, Texas

An overview of Downtown

To learn more about san angelo and its beauty, oppourtunities and misc, log on to these fine websites

www.conchovalleyhomepage.com

(The council of Governments webpage and business page)

www.sanangelotexas.org

(The actual visitors webpage)

This is David C. sigining off, hope to see you here sometime.

San Angelo: Downhome, Uptown, Good Times!

[Leugim1994 0]

Hi all!

This is my first post here

So the city where I live is Oporto, Portugal.

It´s a beautiful city.

Here's some information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oporto

It has about 1.5M in the whole metropolitan area and it was founded in the 4th century.

This is a picture from the river. The city has about 1.5 Million people and it's the second largest and most important in Portugal.

It has some remarkable landmarks such as the "casa da musica" (House of Music) designed by Rem Koolhaas:

There are other landmarks in the city like one of the 6 bridges designed by a Gustave Eiffel's disciple:

The city has a new complex of office buildings like the Arrábida Lake Towers:

And a sports landmark: The soccer stadium of FC Porto (Estádio do Dragão - Stadium of the Dragon):

Some more photos:http://images.google.pt/images?hl=pt-PT&gbv=2&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=OPorto&btnG=Pesquisar&aq=0&aqi=g3&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

[Leugim1994 0]

Hi all!

This is my first post here

So the city where I live is Oporto, Portugal.

It´s a beautiful city.

Here's some information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oporto

It has about 1.5M in the whole metropolitan area and it was founded in the 4th century.

This is a picture from the river. The city has about 1.5 Million people and it's the second largest and most important in Portugal.

It has some remarkable landmarks such as the "casa da musica" (House of Music) designed by Rem Koolhaas:

There are other landmarks in the city like one of the 6 bridges designed by a Gustave Eiffel's disciple:

The city has a new complex of office buildings like the Arrábida Lake Towers:

And a sports landmark: The soccer stadium of FC Porto (Estádio do Dragão - Stadium of the Dragon):

Some more photos:http://images.google.pt/images?hl=pt-PT&gbv=2&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=OPorto&btnG=Pesquisar&aq=0&aqi=g3&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

[Wiecher 192]

Meppel

Drenthe

The Netherlands

The Church, built in the 15th - 16th century

Our modern city hall.

One of the canals.

An old painting of a canal and the church.

A windmill

An alley in the winter.

A bridge (yes, really)

Some old houses in the centre.

A photo taken from the church tower.

The ''toll house" in the park.

We also have some large factories.

A winter wonderland.

Old and new industry.

Even older industry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meppel

And it's on google street view