| |
| |
|
Forum Information |
|
|
|
Milton Keynes - A City For The Future?
The two main features of Milton Keynes which distinguish it from older towns are: 1)The town was built with motor vehicles in mind and so has a structured road network. 2)A significant amount of land was set aside for green space, from the extensive network of park land to the sizeable margins planted with trees and shrubs by the side of the road system. So why this article? Milton Keynes is my home, not a place I am forced to live, but where I live from choice. It is not a vast metropolis like London with all the things that such a city has to offer, or a quaint old English town. It is simply a provincial town of 200,000 people in the corner of Buckinghamshire with the most astonishing expanse of parks, lakes, and modern facilities. This article is born from the frustration of the town being the butt end of every joke that is supposed to symbolise a place not to live. This is a self sustaining myth that is passed around between people that haven't even been here. The public opinion of this town is developed from ignorance and an onslaught of misinformation. This is an attempt to educate.The names of the regions of Milton Keynes come from three main sources: 1)Original village.The name of the village incorporated into the area. The principle road network in Milton Keynes is simply that...a net like grid. The reason is to distribute traffic so that no one route is necessarily more preferable than the other (to get from one corner of the city to the other there are many permutations on the number of possible routes). This is a common enough concept in cities in the US, but in Britain most of the road layouts within towns were established before cars were invented. The roads divide the city up into approximately 1 kilometre squares, most of the names of which are taken from an historical element from within the square. These roads are only for moving around the city,and have no frontage development. Instead they are heavily landscaped. To gain access to anything in Milton Keynes the grid roads have turnings onto "Local" roads. The roads of the grid are named and numbered so that the "vertical" (roughly north - south) roads are named as "Streets", the Roman road of Watling Street is one of these, and have numbers beginning with V.Watling street is V4. The "Horizontal", roughly west - east, are numbered H and are named "Ways". Ridgeway [H1] and Portway [H5] roughly follow the routes of ancient tracks of the same names. Landscaping All the Grid Roads are lined with large grass verges, hedgerows, shrubs, and trees. Where the roads are only single carriageway,space is allowed to upgrade to dual should it ever be necessary and in the meantime planted with yet more shrubs. The heavy landscaping,while providing a "woodland" feel to the whole town also has a more practical purpose in helping to screen out the noise and sight of the roads from the quieter areas behind. Roundabouts The intersection of major routes is always a problem and traffic lights are usually the result. Because of the fairly even flow of traffic along the grid roads of the city,one route is not very much more dominant than another, roundabouts [traffic circles] were the ideal solution. Traffic flows in a even manner, meshing together at the junctions by means of the roundabouts without the inevitable "bunching" caused by traffic lights. In fact the only main occurrence of traffic lights in the city are those next to the main shopping center itself. This of course means that there are a LOT of roundabouts. Since, however, these roundabouts are LARGE (not little painted white dots that are put in towns as an afterthought) the movements of other road users are easy to anticipate, making the negotiation of each junction a smooth, relatively unhindered operation. Speed These main thoroughfares allow for the easy movement of cars around the city (speed limits are the national limit of 60 mile per hour on the single carriageway and 70 on the dual). As soon as a driver turns off the "grid" the local areas have a speed limit of 30 miles per hour as is usual for areas of housing and pedestrians. Traffic "calming" devices such as ramps are also used, especially where a path or redway crosses such a local road. Local Roads Away from the grid roads,each area of Milton Keynes has a local road system which is often more "meandering". Pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, and local traffic are protected when crossing the grid roads by underpasses or bridges. Each length of grid road (between roundabouts) usually has two or more such crossings. Redways A pedestrian and cycle way network crossing the city for 250 kilometres. They are called "Redways" because of their red asphalt surface,however where they travel though the parks they have a more rural brown gravel surface. Bridle ways There are a large number of bridle paths running through the city,mostly following the linear parks,which also connect to rural bridle ways outside of the city. These are either sand or wood chipping surfaces. In places where there is a livestock boundary within the parks, and so a gate is necessary (the cyclists have a small cattle grid), mounting/dismounting steps are often nearby. Canal The Grand Union Canal a 12 mile section of the canal runs though the middle of the city from the Iron Trunk Aqueduct in the north (before bridge number 68) to bridge number 99 in the south. Now used by pleasure boats.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
11 Ways To Increase Forums Activities Getting people to post in your forum is probably the hardest thing to do. First, not all of your readers will post messages. Using Message Boards Properly We all have our own reasons for joining message boards. Maybe its to meet some friends, or find some ideas for your business. Should You Add A Forum To Your Site? I was recently reading a message board thread on a popular SEO site and the question came up whether this particular person should add a forum to his site. I appreciated the honest answers from those who replied and I mulled over several points myself that I thought would be beneficial. Forum - A Free Way to Get Traffic Forum is a gathering of people normally have a common interest on certain topic like investing, health etc.People in forum can share ideas, ask questions, socializeget help and give advice. How to Build a Forum That Doesnt Fall Apart Two Months Later, Part 1 If you can get a big enough following from customer lists and newsletters you might want to start your own forum. But I always see people trying to start a forum and it falls flat on their face, mainly because they make it too big and they never promote it. 5 Reasons Why Participating in Forums can Benefit Your Business Did you know that by simply participating in various forums and posting your various views and ideas, can potentially bring new growth and life to your online business?Let's look at some of the positive aspects that forum participation can bring to your business.1. 10 Commandments To Maximizing Your Time In Forum Participation 1) Gain an idea/keep in touch of what is happening in the Internet Marketing scene (strategies, product, news).2) Help others as well as yourself to solve a 'how to' problem whenever it crops up. Whats The Deal With Discussion Lists for Writers? (Part Two) What Are the Advantages and/or Drawbacks of Subscribing to Discussion Lists? "I learn a lot about publishing houses, editors, etc., and we're like one big happy family," says Dotti Enderle, who belongs to several lists - the biggest being the Children's Writers List. 3 Reasons Why PHP Message Boards Rock If you are web designer, chances are you include forums on at least some of the sites you manage. If you haven't explored PHPBB2 you are missing out as this type of message board offers to designers a forum that is well supported, easy to manage, and above all else: free! Let's see why PHPBB2 is a hit with so many web designers. The Demise of EZBoard For years, EZBoard was a community that offered relatively cheap and easy to maintain forums for managers. Virtually anyone could register, design, and layout a site and invite their friends to participate. Marketing Via Messageboards & E-mail Discussion Lists - An Alternative View One of the most suggested means of getting traffic to a site in the early stages is to get involved in messageboard and e-mail discussions on your topic of choice. The idea is that you can show your expertise and therefore get traffic to your site via your signature file (most discussion lists allow you to include your signature file with your post - a few lines with your name, site address and maybe a very brief description). Reward Your Forum Moderators If you are a forum administrator and you have moderators on your site who are doing a stellar job, consider rewarding them for their assistance. No, I am not necessarily talking about financial compensation, but other recognizable forms of showing your gratefulness. Forums: How DO You Get People to Post!? Running a web forum is no easy task. If you own one, you know how labor-intensive it is. Why You Should Use (Not Abuse) Forums to Increase Your Traffic There are dozens of reasons why you should look up the forums that are related to your market and post to them often. Here are 3 to get you started. Intro to Health Forums Health forums are great for gathering information, resources, advice, tips and tricks, business names/information, product reviews, expert advice and much more. Many forums have experts on health subjects that are monitoring the forums 24/7 and are very quick to reply to your post(question). Forums - Why You Might Want One And How To Get One... Several people have asked me about setting up a forum on their website recently, so I thought it might be helpful to cover this topic for the benefit of all my readers.But before I explain how to set up a forum, let me cover some of the reasons as to why you might want a forum in the first place. Forum Traffic - How to Get More Members on Your Forum Getting more traffic on your forum can be hard. But don't get discouraged yet! Here are some ways that you can increase traffic, or better yet, keep the people who are already going through your forum from closing out their window. Forum Signatures to Build Back Links - Helping Your Search Rankings Building Backlinks! There are several ways to build backlinks. We have discussed Directory Submissions, Article Submission, & Press Releases. 5 Reasons You Should Market Online If you've got a website you'll need to let the world know about it. This is called internet marketing. How to Sell Your Product on the Forums? 1. Your signature file:Most of the forums allow you to carry a 4 - 6 lines of signature files with your name.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |