I don't have a lot more to say right now.

So please Play The Endless Loop Parking Lot Movie and consider it carefully.

The movie should open in a browser window. But beware: it is a big file (4 MB) so don't try it if you have a slow connection. And whether you will actually be able to see it in your browser window depends on software configurations way beyond me. Furthermore in Safari and Firefox it loops. In IE/Mac it doesn't repeat. I have no idea what happens in Windows. So please consider this as an experiment.

UPDATE: The choice of a photo of McDonald's is deliberate. It's an attempt to get city-loving liberals to get over the cant of associating awful sub-urban environments with corporatism and chains and all the other convenient, cliche targets. The issue is our failure, so far, to integrate the personal vehicle into cities. LeCorbusier and FL Wright and Robert Moses and Fritz Lang (the film-maker of 'Metropolis') all tried and all failed to show us a world in which the car was successfully intregrated. So the task is still before us and it is one of human adaption of new technology, not scale or form of business ownership. If the sign read Alice Waters' Cute Little Bistro (rather than McDonalds) the food would be better but the point would not be nearly as clear.

But let's not assume that McDonald's did it voluntarily and heap some ill-placed praise on it. I suspect that it was simply following the rules set down down by the City of Vancouver's planners.

Comments

[Nina]

In Windows with IE 6 it plays fine and loops. Nice.

[Chris Daniel]

That played just fine. Nice one.

A simple point, well made. Shocking to see a McDonald's used as an example of good planning, though! If even they can get it right, why can't everyone else!?

[nils]

This animation is outstanding in the very simple way that it makes a profound point. I can now explain in a nutshell why my hometown (Tustin, Orange County, CA) is so relentlessly boring, even though it has great weather and all the resources to create an enjoyable townscape. I've been reading this site for a few months, since I live in a city (Kyoto, Japan) whose treasures are being demolished day by day.

[Jonas Bergenudd]

There is a macdonalds on Getreidegasse in Salzburg in austria. They have made MacDonalds make an wrought iron sign that fits with the rest of the street:
http://www2.salzburg.info/shopping_28.htm

It just has the golden arches without the red background and some leaves. This helps the sign blend in with the other signs while you still recoginze the symbol.

no pictures, sorry

[Reg Cæsar]

Then again, how many suburban McDonald's are "following the rules set down" by their own city councils? I've never seen anyone living above a Mickey D's except in the tightest downtowns.

[DaveH]

Plays and loops just fine

Running Windows 2000, SP4
IE 6.0.2800.1106
QuickTime 6.5.1

[Andrew Spicer]

Since this movie is just some still images, it should be possible to make this as an animated gif that would be a much smaller download and easier for most people to view.

Not that I know how to do that.

[David Sucher]

Andrew.
I entirely agree and I will ask the consultant if/how it can be done.

[nubaed]

Then again, how many suburban McDonald's are "following the rules set down" by their own city councils? I've never seen anyone living above a Mickey D's except in the tightest downtowns.

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