Saturday 30 January 2010

Where have all the drivers gone?




















All the cars have mysteriously vanished!

Suddenly there are people walking everywhere!

But it's alright, it's only a property developer's fantasy.

I haven’t blogged about the proposed Walthamstow stadium development, as it’s not a transport issue, and you can find plenty of astute local commentary here. A dissenting view is voiced by the local Green Party, which is pleased to see the end of greyhound racing.

What intrigues me about the proposed development is that when property developers want to get their hands on yet more local land they conjure up an idyllic scene without cars and traffic-choked streets. It's almost as if they knew that, deep down, people don't really like living in an ocean of metal crap.

You’d never know from the picture that this was the vehicle-choked A112. And I’ve never seen so many pedestrians enjoying the exotic sun-soaked landscape here before. Next time I pedal past I’ll take a comparison shot of the reality, as I know readers of this blog like a larf.

Someone has already noticed a change to the fabric of the building.

In the meantime here’s a snap I took before Christmas. That cycle lane in the foreground of the pretty picture fizzles out just to the left of the developer’s picture, and starts the other side of the junction like this. Top quality! Especially on a day like today, with temperatures below freezing and even a light dusting of snow.