I was thinking maybe an old Spanish Land Grant or something maybe. But, that doesn’t seem to be the case. That block is orientated north, while the surrounding blocks are oriented parallel with the coast, just east (right) of the crop. So then, I thought that maybe it was one weird plat of lot and the city grew around it. Nope. The thing is, you can look up all the plats (thanks to Florida’s sunshine laws) back to the original bureau of land management surveys (thanks to the BLM & cabins.org).There aren’t even that many. This neighborhood has been like this from it’s beginning as far as I can tell. Around 1911 the whole town, then called Pablo Beach, was platted. And right there in the middle is this weird block, seemingly be design and without explanation. It was replatted in 1922, keeping the twisted block intact. It’s been residential neighborhood and largely unchanged since then (at least as far as the parcels and streets are concerned).
In my experience, many cities old enough in the US. Almost every biggish city where I live has the center of town laying differently than the newer, surrounding areas. There was a time when they oriented things different than how they plan it out now so now the older downtown areas look cock-eyed on a map/satellite image.
Grids were more efficient for pedestrians and unmotorized transport, but the caveat is that motorized transport, especially on large grids, will often be driving faster than is desired among the pedestrian traffic.
Which is why the ethos has changed off of grids to the windy, curvy roads that naturally encourage slower speeds…no straightaways to really build up speeds like you can with a grid.
Most town centers, which have likely existed before the car did in large numbers, are still laid out in a grid…but youll notice as you get farther out, when the neighborhoods started getting built in the post wwii era and the rise of the burbs, are not generally grids.
This is an easier way to eyeball how old a particular neighborhood is…with some caveats and exceptions of course.
A grid is still most efficient, but were trading efficiency for safety which is reasonable…weren’t too many idiots doing 60mph on 35mph city streets like we have today.
May I introduce you to Magnasanti: No road grid. A map of mostly skyscrapers, libraries, and subway stations. https://youtu.be/NTJQTc-TqpU
“Sims don’t need to travel long distances, because their workplace is just within walking distance. In fact they do not even need to leave their own block. Wherever they go it’s like going to the same place.”
Reverse image search has mixed results… A few say Florida, but the top one says Wyoming. I’d guess the one that says Jacksonville, Florida is most likely.
Where is this?
Edit: Found it! Jacksonville Beach, FL
30.280765 N 81.393002 W
I was thinking maybe an old Spanish Land Grant or something maybe. But, that doesn’t seem to be the case. That block is orientated north, while the surrounding blocks are oriented parallel with the coast, just east (right) of the crop. So then, I thought that maybe it was one weird plat of lot and the city grew around it. Nope. The thing is, you can look up all the plats (thanks to Florida’s sunshine laws) back to the original bureau of land management surveys (thanks to the BLM & cabins.org).There aren’t even that many. This neighborhood has been like this from it’s beginning as far as I can tell. Around 1911 the whole town, then called Pablo Beach, was platted. And right there in the middle is this weird block, seemingly be design and without explanation. It was replatted in 1922, keeping the twisted block intact. It’s been residential neighborhood and largely unchanged since then (at least as far as the parcels and streets are concerned).
Jacksonville Beach, FL
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16%2F30.27980%2F-81.39504
In my experience, many cities old enough in the US. Almost every biggish city where I live has the center of town laying differently than the newer, surrounding areas. There was a time when they oriented things different than how they plan it out now so now the older downtown areas look cock-eyed on a map/satellite image.
Grids were more efficient for pedestrians and unmotorized transport, but the caveat is that motorized transport, especially on large grids, will often be driving faster than is desired among the pedestrian traffic.
Which is why the ethos has changed off of grids to the windy, curvy roads that naturally encourage slower speeds…no straightaways to really build up speeds like you can with a grid.
Most town centers, which have likely existed before the car did in large numbers, are still laid out in a grid…but youll notice as you get farther out, when the neighborhoods started getting built in the post wwii era and the rise of the burbs, are not generally grids.
This is an easier way to eyeball how old a particular neighborhood is…with some caveats and exceptions of course.
A grid is still most efficient, but were trading efficiency for safety which is reasonable…weren’t too many idiots doing 60mph on 35mph city streets like we have today.
May I introduce you to Magnasanti: No road grid. A map of mostly skyscrapers, libraries, and subway stations. https://youtu.be/NTJQTc-TqpU
“Sims don’t need to travel long distances, because their workplace is just within walking distance. In fact they do not even need to leave their own block. Wherever they go it’s like going to the same place.”
Reverse image search has mixed results… A few say Florida, but the top one says Wyoming. I’d guess the one that says Jacksonville, Florida is most likely.
See my edit, it’s Jacksonville Beach FL