Northeast Non-Development Discussion

[xzmattzx]

Here's something I've never seen before. On MA 3, between the Boston area and somewhere north of Plymouth, the shoulder is used as a regular driving lane during rush hour.

[massp88]

On 128 (95) between rte 24 and rte 9 you can also use the break down lane.

However, that stretch of the highway is being widened to 4 full travel lanes and a breakdown lane.

[desertpunk]

Guess whoooo?

[xzmattzx]

People that print the f-word and hold the flag upside-down discredit any message that they are trying to get across. A couple of the other signs are pretty good.

[xzmattzx]

Anyone want to offer advice on underwater digital cameras? I'll be snorkelling in Florida in a few weeks and want to take pictures. I'm looking at two cameras. Both take AA batteries, which my current camera does, and both take SD memory cards. Any suggestions on which one would be better?

Vivtar ViviCam 8400
http://www.amazon.com/Vivitar-ViviCa...2071757&sr=8-1

Kodak EasyShare Sport C123
http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-EasyShar...2071241&sr=8-2

[xzmattzx]

What do you guys think of this winter? I started seeing a few trees bud earlier this week, and yesterday I saw my parents' hyacinths starting to come out of the ground.

[AndrewJM3D]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

What do you guys think of this winter? I started seeing a few trees bud earlier this week, and yesterday I saw my parents' hyacinths starting to come out of the ground.

The ones outside my front door have started to grow as well. Warm winter for the east.

[AmboySaVA]

Why isn't VA listed as one of the states in the Northeast/MidAtlantic forum? Although historically a "southern state", this is no longer the case anymore, given a large portion of the Virginia population belongs to the DC metropolitan area... Places further south like Richmond even have influence from the DC area. It would seem natural to include VA in this forum.

Also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_states

[xzmattzx]

Here's a LivingSocial deal for 50% off of a Philadelphia City Hall tour:

http://www.livingsocial.com/cities/1...hall-and-tower

[xzmattzx]

There was an article about Yuengling that ran earlier in the week in Bloomberg, and appeared today (at least here, and apparently elsewhere) in our local paper.

Yuengling Beer Billionaire Beats Sam Adams in Craft Craze


As a teenager stacking barrels after school at his family’s brewery in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Richard L. “Dick” Yuengling, Jr. was encouraged by plant workers to avoid a career in the family business. America’s taste for national brands such as Budweiser, Coors and Miller, they said, was going to put them all out of a job.

Undeterred, Yuengling bought D.G Yuengling & Son Inc. from his father in 1985, and built it into the maker of the country’s best-selling craft beer brand. As the company’s value soared in the past decade amid a surge in demand for craft brews, Yuengling became a billionaire.

“We stay nuts and bolts -- we make beer,” Yuengling, 69, said in an interview last month on the floor of his brewery in Pottsville, an old coal town 75 miles northwest of Philadelphia. “People pick up our products today because they are tasteful and they have character.”

...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-1...aft-craze.html

[pitbull z]

Love this

[Middle-Island]

Originally Posted by AmboySaVA

Why isn't VA listed as one of the states in the Northeast/MidAtlantic forum? Although historically a "southern state", this is no longer the case anymore, given a large portion of the Virginia population belongs to the DC metropolitan area... Places further south like Richmond even have influence from the DC area. It would seem natural to include VA in this forum.

Also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_states

Just to revisit this...

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

The Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South Atlantic States. Its exact definition differs upon source...

Virginia has been referred to as a "Mid-Atlantic" state many times, true. Though it would be a bit of a stretch to associate the New England states, or even NYC and Philly with a Virginia that still more than anything identifies itself as being part of "Dixie".

[UrbanMyth]

Originally Posted by AmboySaVA

Why isn't VA listed as one of the states in the Northeast/MidAtlantic forum? Although historically a "southern state", this is no longer the case anymore, given a large portion of the Virginia population belongs to the DC metropolitan area... Places further south like Richmond even have influence from the DC area. It would seem natural to include VA in this forum.

Also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_states

I was just thinking the same thing.

[UrbanMyth]

Originally Posted by Middle-Island

with a Virginia that still more than anything identifies itself as being part of "Dixie".

What does this even mean in the 21st century? Are you a Virginian? Is your generalization based on voting patterns? Focus groups? Personal opinion? Most of New England considers Pennsylvania "the South". Doesn't mean it is, in spite of the fact many counties in PA vote more like "Dixie".

[xzmattzx]

[xzmattzx]

For those of you who want to see what some of the Virginia portion of the Delmarva Peninsula looks like, I have a thread on Accomac HERE

[xzmattzx]

We're supposed to get the northern lights tonight. I've never seen them before. Does anyone know how they go? Is it spotty and random, or are they around for hours?

Viewing conditions will be best in the mid-Atlantic, specifically for parts of Pennsylvania and the Delmarva. Most of the country will have poor to fair views as a result of cloud cover, with areas further south not experiencing the aurora at all.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/featur...tic_1/10107004

[xzmattzx]

I was in Massachusetts for Memorial Day weekend, and here are some questions, comments, and observations:

~ Traffic in Connecticut is awful! It took me 4 hours to get from Brooklyn to New Haven (about 85 miles). Yes, I was driving on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. But almost the entire state was stop-and-go driving!
~ A cool thing about Rhode Island, from a geographer's or urbanist's perspective, is that you can see the Providence skyline from a lot more places in the state than you would think. You can see the skyline from the Newport Pell Bridge as you head towards/from Newport. I think it was visible from the Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge as well. You can also make out the skyline from the Mount Hope Bridge. The Mount Hope Bridge offers great views of Fall River and other places in Massachusetts.
~ What's with so many Interstates in the Northeast being 2 lanes each way? I've railed before on making the New York State Thruway 3 lanes each way, and the Pennsylvania Turnpike three lanes each way. These are some of the country's most important cross-country highways, and traffic indicates that. Why is the New Jersey Turnpike only 2 lanes each way in southern New Jersey? Why is I-295 in Delaware (which carries traffic into New Jersey and onto the Turnpike) only 2 lanes each way when it separates from I-95? There is almost always a back-up there, even on/especially on Saturdays and Sundays. It should've been three lanes heading towards New Jersey when they updated it a few years ago to accommodate he heavy interstate traffic. I-95 should likewise be three lanes through much of Connecticut.
~ Beach culture in New England is so much different than in the Mid-Atlantic. In many places here, most notably New Jersey but also in Delaware, Maryland, and New York, as well as places like Virginia and North Carolina, people want to be right on the beach, or within walking distance of the beach. Living inland is kind of worthless. But being on Cape Cod and having a place inland doesn't have a "stigma", really. People seem to enjoy being in the woods and considering that being at the beach. It kind of reminds me of the summer culture in Ontario, where cottages on small lakes are normal north of Toronto, and being in the woods or in nature seems almost as important as being near water.
~ There is some cool geology in the United States and Canada. Cape Cod is only 12,- to 20,000 years old, formed as sand deposits from the retreat of glaciers after the ice age. Similarly, the Great Lakes are just as recent, formed from those same glaciers melting. It's hard to think that there were humans or pre-humans (is that correct) living in a world without the Great Lakes.
~ I have not had the pleasure of going to Wrigley Field, but I have been to many MLB ballparks. There is nothing that compares to Fenway Park. I love Citizens Bank Park, and I'm biased towards it. I also like PNC Park and Petco Park. But these new ballparks will never have the true history of Fenway Park. From wooden seats to beams blocking views, to modernizing old things instead of having new things, everything gives off the feel of those ballparks in black-and-white pictures.
~ Does Boston have a true edge city, with highrises and whatnot? If not, Quincy seems to be evolving towards that role. They have some aggressive plans to develop the central core, and many buildings have gone up in the past 10 years, it seems.

[xzmattzx]

A couple other things that I left out in my comments and questions:

~ Has anyone ever read about the land swapping that went on between Rhode Island and Massachusetts? From 1747 to 1862, East Providence and Bristol were part of Massachusetts, and Fall River was part of Rhode Island. King George II decreed this in 1747, but the states traded the land to each other since these places historically related to the states that they are currently in. At least, this is what I read in this book. But then maybe it was the other way around, with it going to Rhode Island in 1747, because Bristol was a capital of Rhode Island until 1854.
~ I was really impressed by the amount of mills/factories in Fall River. there must be 30 gray, late 19th century, factory buildings in Fall River, at least that are visible from I-195.