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Our own vintage town

Helysoune

One of the Regulars
Messages
223
Location
Charlotte, NC
I just finished reading this thread, and I have to say it's a lovely idea! So that's why I'm reviving this. Hopefully, I won't need to break out the defibrillator.

Anywho, I've got a few ideas of my own I thought to share...I hope I don't get too long-winded.

First, dress code. We all have different eras we like to wear, so it's not fair to say, "We must dress to 1938!" Rather, a sort of general wording in the town charter seems more appropriate. For instance, "We must be appropriately dressed in attire pre-dating 1959 in style. All adult males must wear a hat in public." etc. That gives a lot of leeway for personal style, while still giving the feel that's desired.

Second, tourism. It's inevitable. But, if it's done properly, it won't be garish and horrid. There could be a "staging area" of sorts outside of town where the tourists would park their modern vehicles and either rent vintage ones or take the public transportation (I'm thinking of the woody station wagon like they had in 'White Christmas') into town. That way, we keep the modern cars from jamming the streets and the loud bass and speakers blaring rap modern music out of town and it won't detract from the ambiance. Perhaps a bicycle shop with rentals in town is necessary...it's a great idea for the locals anyway.

Also, seatbelts are required by most states (if not all) in modern cars, and I personally won't get in any vehicle, even a vintage one, without one. Moving on...

Cell phones (on vibrate, or maybe a simple, classic telephone ring, not some annoying rap song ringtone, for instance) and the internet should be permitted, and not just because I'm sure many of us would shrivel up and die without them. This isn't to distance ourselves from technology, or to make a strict re-creation of a particular time and place. Rather, it's to create the best of the past, and fill in with the best of now. For instance, I don't really think anyone would argue against the use of modern medicine, such as cancer screenings, diabetes medications and polio vaccines for children. My grand-uncle, Paul, contracted polio around age 9 in the 30's. It left him rather disabled and completely deaf. He could still take care of himself and lived on his own until he died, but I'd never wish such a preventable fate on anyone.

Onto power plants and other methods of making money. Now, my idea leans toward a sunnier locale, even though I myself would like that one month of snow at Christmastime. Outside of the town, perhaps even away from the "staging area" for the tourists, we could set up wind and solar power generating. Being green energy, there are tax breaks and incentives for setting them up, and possibly government funding, though I'm not sure about the latter. If more energy is generated than needed by the town, it can be sold back to the electric company. Electric companies love buying green power, because it gets them tax breaks, too.

Also, in that same area, a recycling center would be a good idea. This is the sort that takes in trash and processes it, burning the un-recyclables to also generate power. With today's technology, this is also considered green energy. There are massive air scrubbers that remove the particulate from the smoke and keep from belching out black smoke from the center. That same ash is in itself a saleable product.

Oh! And the shops in town, at least the department store, ought to stock proper foundation garments and stockings. Else the seamstresses should be prepared to take orders. ;)

I can do a lot of things, so I'll just fill in once everyone else is all sorted. That is, of course, if I'd ever be able to talk my hubby into this idea. *laughs*

In all seriousness though, I think that it could really be a workable idea. In theory, it could have one of, if not the lowest, crime rates in the country. Think about it - a bunch of people creating a real community, the kind where you look out for your neighbor and work together toward a common purpose, rather than trying to get ahead and beat everyone else out with a snooty attitude on top of it all.

I've gotten so many ideas in reading this, and I should have been taking notes, but I wasn't. I'll try to post them as I remember.
 
But do we have to be stuck with those Godawful overweight CRT TVs and monitors?

Hmmm, a wristwatch phone made like DT's watch would be convenient--never lose the darn thing again--but where'd the keypad go? Or would it be a separate piece you plug in when calling?

Solar panels could go on the flat roofs of all those buildings downtown, up where the tourists can't see along with the TV/radio antennas and satellite/microwave dishes.

Problem: how to deal with my computer-controlled Firebirds I'm planning to build? Given that if they get to the final development stage, their onboard artificial-intelligences are quite possibly the only crack at "kids" I might have if my personal life continues along current track...
 
Diamondback said:
But do we have to be stuck with those Godawful overweight CRT TVs and monitors?

Hmmm, a wristwatch phone made like DT's watch would be convenient--never lose the darn thing again--but where'd the keypad go? Or would it be a separate piece you plug in when calling?

Solar panels could go on the flat roofs of all those buildings downtown, up where the tourists can't see along with the TV/radio antennas and satellite/microwave dishes.

Problem: how to deal with my computer-controlled Firebirds I'm planning to build? Given that if they get to the final development stage, their onboard artificial-intelligences are quite possibly the only crack at "kids" I might have if my personal life continues along current track...

Probably due to too much Knight Rider watching when you were a child no doubt? ;) :p
The TVs could also be oufitted with a decent furniture cabinet to fit in with the rest of the decor.
Who needs keypads when you have voice activated controls? :D
 
jamespowers said:
Probably due to too much Knight Rider watching when you were a child no doubt? ;) :p
The TVs could also be oufitted with a decent furniture cabinet to fit in with the rest of the decor.
Who needs keypads when you have voice activated controls? :D
lol Actually, I wasn't that serious of a fan and still am not. Just figured that like Doc Brown and time-machines, "If I'm gonna build a supercomputer into a car, why not do it with some style?" (Seriously, the project this is for required an extremely low-drag body, and the only thing lower-drag than an '80s Firebird is a '70s Plymouth Superbird/Dodge Daytona--remember the one Richard Petty drove until they banned it from NASCAR?)

There's an idea: build the TV with an LCD face, and have drawers for the remote and DVD's built into the cabinet, so it's pulling double-duty and the cubic inches aren't going to waste... or use it for a "Home Theater PC" system--but then how to disguise the big-screen and the speakers?

As for voice, it has its uses but it's still buggy--call me a Ludditelol , but I still prefer having physical buttons to push.
 
Diamondback said:
lol Actually, I wasn't that serious of a fan and still am not. Just figured that like Doc Brown and time-machines, "If I'm gonna build a supercomputer into a car, why not do it with some style?" (Seriously, the project this is for required an extremely low-drag body, and the only thing lower-drag than an '80s Firebird is a '70s Plymouth Superbird/Dodge Daytona--remember the one Richard Petty drove until they banned it from NASCAR?)

There's an idea: build the TV with an LCD face, and have drawers for the remote and DVD's built into the cabinet, so it's pulling double-duty and the cubic inches aren't going to waste... or use it for a "Home Theater PC" system--but then how to disguise the big-screen and the speakers?

As for voice, it has its uses but it's still buggy--call me a Ludditelol , but I still prefer having physical buttons to push.

You Luddite you. :p ;)
That TV set up was what I had in mind. :D
Low body drag? How about a Citroen? :p
 
Citroen? Oh H### No... Too high roofline, too short length just for two (a Trans Am's actually lower-drag than an F-15), not to mention the dreaded "rollover" and the ridiculously-low top speed. (The URV--Urban Reconnaissance Vehicle--concept these Firebirds'll be developing requires something that can both have a very efficient low-speed cruise for loiter-time in the AO, and an extremely high-speed "dash" capability for at least 1.5-2 hours at triple-digit speeds for the bugout back to "friendly territory.")

Unless we stretch things to consider WONK as a source of inspiration... would citing it as "1943 Pontiac Blackbird experimental scout vehicle" work?
 
Diamondback said:
Citroen? Oh H### No... Too high roofline, too short length just for two (a Trans Am's actually lower-drag than an F-15), not to mention the dreaded "rollover" and the ridiculously-low top speed. (The URV--Urban Reconnaissance Vehicle--concept these Firebirds'll be developing requires something that can both have a very efficient low-speed cruise for loiter-time in the AO, and an extremely high-speed "dash" capability for at least 1.5-2 hours at triple-digit speeds for the bugout back to "friendly territory.")

Unless we stretch things to consider WONK as a source of inspiration... would citing it as "1943 Pontiac Blackbird experimental scout vehicle" work?

Only if it involves replacing all plastic exterior appointments (bumpers, trim and name badges etc.) with real tripple dipped chrome. It would also need a two-tone paint job, wide white wall tires and chrome hub caps. :D
 

dhermann1

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,154
Location
Da Bronx, NY, USA
Y not?

Maybe you could make it look a little like this:
Yjob.jpg

or this:
Montgomery2.jpg
 
jamespowers said:
Only if it involves replacing all plastic exterior appointments (bumpers, trim and name badges etc.) with real tripple dipped chrome. It would also need a two-tone paint job, wide white wall tires and chrome hub caps. :D
Bumpers? What are those? lol (Oh, so that's what those hunks of steel inside the body-shell are...lol) Trim and badges are already gone anyway... Find me a set of Z-rated whitewalls that'll fit and those might work. Black over silver it is, then...
 
Diamondback said:
Bumpers? What are those? lol (Oh, so that's what those hunks of steel inside the body-shell are...lol) Trim and badges are already gone anyway... Find me a set of Z-rated whitewalls that'll fit and those might work. Black over silver it is, then...

I am sure they make white walls with that rating. Roadsters have them on them all the time.
You need chrome bumpers. Make up some new badges and trim---either stainless steel or chrome. You choose. :D
 

Cricket

Practically Family
Messages
520
Location
Mississippi
I would love to be the town editor or reporter. I am a reporter now, and I spend my days dreaming about a smoky office with a pack of smokes in my drawer. Of course I would need the hat with the press pass. Old camera. And I would snoop around town with all the latest news. But then my office door, complete with window and name plate would always be open for anyone who wants a glass of scotch and an ear full after hours.
 
Cricket said:
I would love to be the town editor or reporter. I am a reporter now, and I spend my days dreaming about a smoky office with a pack of smokes in my drawer. Of course I would need the hat with the press pass. Old camera. And I would snoop around town with all the latest news. But then my office door, complete with window and name plate would always be open for anyone who wants a glass of scotch and an ear full after hours.

Did someone say single malt Scotch? I think we might just have room for you. ;) :p
 

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