Train Ride to Williamsburg from Richmond

The Train Ride to Williamsburg

Throughout the day, I took some notes on my experience taking the train from Richmond's Main Street Station to Williamsburg Transit Center. I did for my Uncovering Richmond class to talk about the regional transit. Overall, I was impressed with the speed and reliability of getting to Williamsburg, but what I saw was immense opportunity to bring commuter rail to Richmond, simply by using existing infrastructure. 

Pt. I – Commuting to the Station and In-Station Experience

There's a charm to the station when you first arrive here.

I'm currently sitting in the waiting room of the Richmond Main Street Station (RVM) waiting for the Northeast Regional train to Williamsburg. I'm doing this out of a mix of a class assignment (write about regional transit and share the experience), and sheer curiosity to see how trains outside of the New England/upper Mid-Atlantic run and operate.

byUnknown

in Life, Transportation, Travel, Urbanism

10/04/2014 11:10:00 PM

Train Ride to Williamsburg from Richmond

The Train Ride to Williamsburg Throughout the day, I took some notes on my experience taking the train from Richmond's Main Street St...

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Lloyd's Tower, London

The past few days, I've been engrossed with architecture, and I blame some of my historic and housing classes for that. Specifically, I've been thinking heavily about a bizarre skyscraper that sticks out like a sore thumb in the London Financial District: Lloyd's Tower – easily one of the most idiosyncratic buildings in London. 

I first saw the building during my London Trip this past July and had mixed feelings at first from seeing it. The building had a lot of noise and activity stemming from the external pipework, elevators and spiral staircase that resembled much of a drill bit. The array of items and lack of uniform made it out to eventually be seen in my eyes as one of the most unique buildings I ever saw. The patterns on the building are unusual, and stem not from the framework, but elements like elevators, stairways, corners, and utility lines. Simply put, there's nothing out there quite like that.

Perhaps a final point of noting is the idiosyncrasies in terms of style it seems to exhibit. Looking at the building gives me a sense of playing some dystopian futuristic video game. It has, as a friend from London pointed out (Dannyboy), a "grungy" futuristic look it, rather than a more glossy, glass-centric futuristic look that so many other buildings in London seemed to have. (Cheese Grader, Walkie Talkie and Gherkin, I'm looking at you).  

byUnknown

in Photo of the Day, Travel, Urban Design

9/22/2014 10:55:00 PM

Lloyd's Tower, London

The past few days, I've been engrossed with architecture, and I blame some of my historic and housing classes for that. Specifically, I...

Read More