Comments on: Which Street is More Beautiful?

By: Mr. Bad Example

Mr. Bad Example — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:27:26 +0000

JonC, it is available electronically through the UGA library. The title is “An inquiry into the preference for local vernacular design in Virginia Highland.” I guess that will blow my anonymous cover here, but I trust your discretion…

By: JonC

JonC — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:58:41 +0000

I want to read your thesis, Mr. Bad!

By: Decatur Metro

Decatur Metro — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:14:36 +0000

Picture quality is also a major issue with this project.

By: Parker Cross

Parker Cross — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:42:29 +0000

What fun, and how interesting. It made me think about a lot of things and got my creaky old imagination whirring. And are we picking between streets, or images of streets? That line of shacks, maybe that’s the Caribbean just beyond the picture, out of sight. What about the one with the dark clouds overhead and the twin, ominous “No Outlet” signs? What’s the difference between a street and a road?
As I said, that was fun; thanks.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:06:02 +0000

First off, this is cool.

One potential critique, though, is that many of the pairings pit solid and well designed urban streets in states of extreme disrepair against grass/tree alternatives. The data might suggest that people prefer grass and trees over a traditional urban neighborhood but, in reality, it’s just showing that people prefer nature over blight, which is hardly a deep insight.

I’m curious, once they have the data, if they’ll go back and look at the photos in terms of form, architecture, upkeep, presence of people, green-factor, etc., to try to find patterns of influence.