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One Sign Does Not a Detour Make
June 22, 2007
Geography is an interesting subject.
One might think geography is mainly the study of other places - world, regional, even localized geography. But geography is much more than that - it’s the study of place and society’s interaction with that place, even its influence on that place.
Geography can also be much more intricate and detailed. What is your local geography? What does the street system entail? If you came upon a closed road, would you know your general direction should you need to improvise a new route?
Oklahoma City is a large city - it encompasses roughly 621 square miles. Los Angeles is only 491 square miles, and New York City is 322 square miles, for comparison. The City’s size then could make it tough on the traveling public in case of closures… But, in some rare form of infinite wisdom, OKC has managed to maintain is rough grid street system. Every one mile, north to south and east to west, is a section line road (give or take…). Thus, unless some large obstruction has been placed in the way, or was too difficult to cross, the City has an easy form of vehicular mobility.
At least one would think so. It’s amazing listening to life-long residents complain about a detour or state how horribly difficult it is to find an alternate route to where they are headed. It’s so difficult, in fact, that the City has a policy to never close a section line road for a construction project, unless it is entirely impossible to build a shoofly or build the widened street or bridge one half at a time. This policy thereby costs extra time (three to six months) and extra money (up to $1 million on some projects). Is it worth it? Rarely - only on streets with a large amount of residential and/or commercial access.
But, back to local geography. Recently, I’ve read articles in Arc User and other publications lamenting the lack of geographic knowledge by most Americans. Most of the complaints lie in the lack of global or regional knowledge (i.e., not knowing that to drive from Michigan to Wisconsin one must go around Lake Michigan, or not knowing the general location of Iraq). However, I believe this lack of geographic knowledge is much deeper than global or regional, it is at a local, even at a neighborhood level.
A person should know their community and local geography. How hard is it to experience one’s metropolitan area? Couldn’t a local geography class be taught in school? Where is the common sense knowledge of a local street system?
In my line of work, I often deal with the traveling public. I try to be kind and offer the best information available, especially to people from out-of-town. But it’s harder when I know I’m talking with someone who has lived here all his or her life. It’s also odd knowing that I know more about the City and the region’s geography than other people who have spent 40 or more years here. That shouldn’t be the case.
Posted by paul at June 22, 2007 06:20 PM
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