[HN Gopher] Phoenix's Rapid Growth Magnified Its Vulnerability t...
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Phoenix's Rapid Growth Magnified Its Vulnerability to Heat
Author : rntn
Score : 9 points
Date : 2023-08-06 20:37 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.bloomberg.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.bloomberg.com)
| ultrarunner wrote:
| This reads like a reporter asked the mayor about her PR talking
| points and then listed them. We have maybe one cooling center
| that operates 24 hours. The "cool pavement" project has been a
| bit of a mess [0] and actually reflects more heat into its
| immediate vicinity. Arizona DOT refused to comment on its
| traction attributes, meaning vehicles (and especially
| motorcycles) might be at an increased risk.
|
| Meanwhile the city continues to hobble its trail system by
| shutting down drinking fountains during the summer, erecting
| chain-link fences blocking access crossing highways for anyone
| not in a car, and closing trailheads in all but the hottest hours
| of the day. People dying on trails (mostly visitors from out of
| town) is not uncommon here, but the city does nothing. Bike paths
| kind of exist, but are generally fenced off so as to not go
| anywhere, and are otherwise disconnected from one another. It's
| as if someone is actively trying to prevent people from moving
| around the city unless they're in a car.
|
| The zoning situation is such that developers continue to build
| further and further into the desert, which leads the city to
| continue to pour ever more concrete and asphalt into wider roads
| that exacerbate the heat island effect. Corner stores are not a
| thing here. Everything is based around driving from "where people
| are supposed to live" to "where people are supposed to shop" or
| "where people are supposed to work." The second that rigid
| structure breaks down, you find people in crisis. And even when
| it "works", it creates a patchwork of hellish seas of asphalt
| checked by vacant lots [1].
|
| Unchecked development is not our problem; shortsighted leadership
| and policies encouraging or mandating sprawl are.
|
| [0] https://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-
| phoe...
|
| [1]
| https://www.google.com/maps/@33.6402244,-112.0987611,784m/da...
| ultrarunner wrote:
| The article touts the "Heat Relief Network" with "more than
| 200" Cooling and Hydration centers.
|
| The list is here: https://azmag.gov/Programs/Heat-Relief-
| Network/Heat-Relief-N... in case that's the easiest format for
| you while you're dying of heat exhaustion, but there _is_ an
| apparently incomplete map here: http://hrn.azmag.gov/#/map
|
| The ones that I am familiar with turn out to be places one can
| find a drinking fountain. All of the ones I know about are
| outside (unshaded) and many of them are refrigerated, but in my
| many many miles on foot around the city I have yet to find with
| the chiller actually running in the summer. As such, the water
| coming out can be initially hot enough to burn you, if the
| water comes out at all.
|
| The "cooling centers" appear to be mainly libraries. We
| routinely take our kids to several libraries that are listed,
| but I can't recall ever seeing anything set up for helping
| someone in heat distress. Perhaps they have a hidden area? To
| me, this again seems like they've simply compiled a list
| without actually _doing_ anything and declared the problem
| complete.
|
| Those of us who keep bottled water in the car to give out to
| people seem to be doing more than the city of Phoenix ever has.
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(page generated 2023-08-06 23:02 UTC)