Departure Point One: My Building
As far as buildings go, I think mine is pretty nice. However, there are some things that I would change about it. For a college dorm, the inner walls are surprisingly poorly insulated, which means that no one has any private space anywhere. It can be an annoyance, but it's not the most inconvenient thing. My building also does not offer close student parking. This is more of a problem than the walls, however it doesn't personally effect me, because I don't have a car. The most frustrating part of this problem is that there is a perfectly good parking lot right outside our building, however it is reserved for faculty. If this parking lot were converted back to U permit parking, this section of campus would be safer for resident students at night.
Departure Point Two: My Neighborhood
My neighborhood is the University of Utah campus. I think I heard somewhere that when campus was originally built, it was built without sidewalks. The idea was to observe where the students walked and create sidewalks out of those natural paths that formed. This may or may not be true, but the idea is certainly a good one. However, as more and more buildings went up on campus, these natural paths were disrupted, and new, more convenient routes started to emerge. The old sidewalks are still there, although they have been made ineffectual by the new buildings and student routes. Every year people continue to walk across the grass and over hills to get to class quickly, and yet the old paths stay there and new ones are rarely put up. I think it's time for a re-evaluation of student walking patterns.
Departure Point Three: Campus
It has recently begun to bother me that I am constantly surrounded by dead and dying people. What I mean by this is that I spend 95% of my time on campus. The campus sits between the rest of the valley and the University of Utah hospital, which is huge. This means that ambulances are constantly routed around campus to get to the hospital, because campus has no roads running though it. Helicopters often also fly over campus to the hospital. So there are dying people above me, and dying people encircling me. The only direction that doesn't hold dead people is down into the ground... Which is where dead people are supposed to be. Great. I used to think that the five lane roads surrounding the campus were for University of Utah commuters, but this year I also realized that a large part of the traffic up here is from the hospital. I am particularly struck at how unfeelingly Mario Cappecchi Drive cuts upper campus away from lower campus. Almost no one who uses the road ever has to bridge between upper and lower campus. Firstly, I think Mario Cappecchi should have a sidewalk, even if it's a small one. I also think that there should be more cross points for pedestrians. In particular, I think there should be a bridge-like structure attached to my building that runs across to the grassy area on the other side of the road. Anyone should be able to access it with a minimal climbing of stairs, and the majority of the structure should be open to the air. To actually get into the upper floors of my building would require u card access, however to descend the stairs and get to the main floor should be an option for everyone.
Departure Point 4: Delight in the City
I noticed that when I drew my personal map of the city, two things appeared consistently. The first was that I tended to show places that had good views of the city, like the U on the hill. The second and most prominent thing was that I showed my friends' houses. So I concluded that the presence of my friends and the ability to view the city are two things that influence my delight. Most of the time in central Salt Lake, my delight is limited because I can't see very far around me at all, and if I am with my friends I have to stay close to them to hear them because it is a relatively noisy part of the city. I would love to experience a public place where I could still see the mountains around me and experience the natural beauty of Salt Lake while also experiencing the constructed beauty of the buildings downtown. If one of these buildings was to be a public building that the public could go to the top of, I wouldn't feel confined to the sidewalk when I am downtown, and it might be nice to separate myself from the traffic noise a little. As it is, I don't feel that I have a right to go into the buildings that line Main Street. If I could make such a large modification, I would make a public park/garden on top of one of the tall buildings downtown.
As far as buildings go, I think mine is pretty nice. However, there are some things that I would change about it. For a college dorm, the inner walls are surprisingly poorly insulated, which means that no one has any private space anywhere. It can be an annoyance, but it's not the most inconvenient thing. My building also does not offer close student parking. This is more of a problem than the walls, however it doesn't personally effect me, because I don't have a car. The most frustrating part of this problem is that there is a perfectly good parking lot right outside our building, however it is reserved for faculty. If this parking lot were converted back to U permit parking, this section of campus would be safer for resident students at night.
Departure Point Two: My Neighborhood
My neighborhood is the University of Utah campus. I think I heard somewhere that when campus was originally built, it was built without sidewalks. The idea was to observe where the students walked and create sidewalks out of those natural paths that formed. This may or may not be true, but the idea is certainly a good one. However, as more and more buildings went up on campus, these natural paths were disrupted, and new, more convenient routes started to emerge. The old sidewalks are still there, although they have been made ineffectual by the new buildings and student routes. Every year people continue to walk across the grass and over hills to get to class quickly, and yet the old paths stay there and new ones are rarely put up. I think it's time for a re-evaluation of student walking patterns.
Departure Point Three: Campus
It has recently begun to bother me that I am constantly surrounded by dead and dying people. What I mean by this is that I spend 95% of my time on campus. The campus sits between the rest of the valley and the University of Utah hospital, which is huge. This means that ambulances are constantly routed around campus to get to the hospital, because campus has no roads running though it. Helicopters often also fly over campus to the hospital. So there are dying people above me, and dying people encircling me. The only direction that doesn't hold dead people is down into the ground... Which is where dead people are supposed to be. Great. I used to think that the five lane roads surrounding the campus were for University of Utah commuters, but this year I also realized that a large part of the traffic up here is from the hospital. I am particularly struck at how unfeelingly Mario Cappecchi Drive cuts upper campus away from lower campus. Almost no one who uses the road ever has to bridge between upper and lower campus. Firstly, I think Mario Cappecchi should have a sidewalk, even if it's a small one. I also think that there should be more cross points for pedestrians. In particular, I think there should be a bridge-like structure attached to my building that runs across to the grassy area on the other side of the road. Anyone should be able to access it with a minimal climbing of stairs, and the majority of the structure should be open to the air. To actually get into the upper floors of my building would require u card access, however to descend the stairs and get to the main floor should be an option for everyone.
Departure Point 4: Delight in the City
I noticed that when I drew my personal map of the city, two things appeared consistently. The first was that I tended to show places that had good views of the city, like the U on the hill. The second and most prominent thing was that I showed my friends' houses. So I concluded that the presence of my friends and the ability to view the city are two things that influence my delight. Most of the time in central Salt Lake, my delight is limited because I can't see very far around me at all, and if I am with my friends I have to stay close to them to hear them because it is a relatively noisy part of the city. I would love to experience a public place where I could still see the mountains around me and experience the natural beauty of Salt Lake while also experiencing the constructed beauty of the buildings downtown. If one of these buildings was to be a public building that the public could go to the top of, I wouldn't feel confined to the sidewalk when I am downtown, and it might be nice to separate myself from the traffic noise a little. As it is, I don't feel that I have a right to go into the buildings that line Main Street. If I could make such a large modification, I would make a public park/garden on top of one of the tall buildings downtown.
