Port Townsend this eveningSubmitted by BKlounge93 t3_y2nzj0 in Washington
Extractedpen15bone t1_is48pjg wrote
I guess I imagined better city street planning, for some reason ha ha
pala4833 t1_is5ursc wrote
It’s not the street planning that’s shit in PT. The entire town was platted out over a century ago, which is quite unique. It’s the street maintenance that they need start taking seriously.
Perenially_behind t1_is7kx9h wrote
The platting is one of many similarities between Port Townsend and Seattle. There are sections platted at different orientations and where they meet, roads change directions and confusion ensues.
PT also has its own Pike/Pine: Taylor and Tyler are right next to each other.
I didn't realize how completely the town had been platted out until I went to the JeffCo History Museum research center and looked at old road atlases that were based on plats rather than reality. Huge numbers of roads that don't exist. City of Dreams is right.
Agree about the road maintenance. I've bicycled on all the decent roads here, most of the indecent roads, and a number of the downright obscene roads.
BarnabyWoods t1_is83oqr wrote
>Huge numbers of roads that don't exist.
But many of those are now public trails, so all those 19th Century dreams left a nice legacy.
Perenially_behind t1_is9512n wrote
Yeah, that was a pretty slick move to keep the Rights-of-Way active so that developers can't get them vacated.
pala4833 t1_isb15cg wrote
Unfortunately the city has a nasty habit of vacating ROW in conjunction with simple SFR building permits. The Non-Motorized Committee has done a good job with the public trails program, but it's a shame the city throws away such a blessing that a lot of other jurisdictions struggle to plan around.
BKlounge93 OP t1_is8nroh wrote
Oh yeah there was a stretch for a while where they thought PT was gonna be the big city in the area, around when both PT and seattle were about the same size. Could have been totally different.
Perenially_behind t1_is94po0 wrote
Yeah, Port Townsend and Port Angeles were duking it out to be the major city. Then Teddy Roosevelt created Olympic National Park and Port Townsend entered a state of arrested decay for decades.
We're sure not in that state now though.
pala4833 t1_isb1h9r wrote
The arrested decay really resulted from the Alaska Gold Rush. Seattle became the outfitting center and the railroads gave up on reaching the peninsula.
Extractedpen15bone t1_is606u1 wrote
the housing is quite the juxtaposition to the nature of the coast. no me gusta
pala4833 t1_is8fudb wrote
All housing everywhere is quite the juxtaposition to the nature that was there before it. Grids are superior street planning compared to circuitous, “naturally” shaped streets. Because they look cool from the are does nothing to gain better street planning. It, in fact makes it worse.
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