danalwyn

I've put up some time lapse videos of cities before. It's quite a well developed genre by now. People are used to the brilliant glittering spires of the ultra-new cities, the rising titans of Asia, Seoul and Shanghai, Bangkok and Beijing, the glittering spires that now dominate the world economy. Of course, other cities have reinvented themselves into modern marvels. Abu Dhabi in the Middle East now rises like a glittering star over the Persian Gulf, alongside the new buildings of Lagos, of Rio de Janiero, and of ... Chicago?

In the American imagination (and the world when it gets thought of) Chicago is still the city of Al Capone and Upton Sinclair, of gangsters and communities of poor immigrants clinging to their new life in the browning brickwork of cramped housing. It is narrow lanes and darkened buildings, old factories and warehouses, corrupt politicians and smoke filled backrooms choking with gangsters. It is New York without the redemptive glitz and glitter of America's cultural capital. It is the Gotham of Batman. It is a city of perpetualities, the immigrants will always stay immigrants, dark alleys will always be dark, crumbling buildings stay crumbling, the mob will always be the mob, the wind off the lake is always cold, and the Cubs will always finish the season with disappointment.

But Chicago has been reinventing itself. Slowly, surely, and stumbling for an entire decade at a time, Chicago is doing what the rust belt cities wish they could, slowly changing what it is. It is a city of glass skylines, of open parks and glittering lights, well-lit sidewalks, and cozy cafes. It is cutting itself free of twentieth century roots it will never escape. It is, in the way of cities, becoming something both old and new.

And they sure know how to make a spectacular light show (HD recommended):

( Video )

It occurs to me that there's a much better way to have traffic lights along major arterial streets. Really they need three modes - green, yellow, and blinking red.

If you think about it, either traffic along major roads should be flowing smoothly (when there's not much traffic in the perpendicular directions), or it should be doing its best to ensure everyone goes where they want to go. If there's no cross traffic, the light should just be green. When there is, it should just switch over to stop sign mode and let drivers alternate in the order in which they get to the starting line. It will avoid the problem of having to wait at stoplights while nobody is going in the other direction and the road is clear. Why not just have drivers proceed in a queue through the intersection at that time.

It won't work on big intersections between two large streets, but it seems that when you have one very large street and one much smaller this is probably the best way to handle the mess that our current system leaves.

Or at least not leave me so frustrated while sitting at stoplights with no other traffic.