Random Facts Flashcards
Native American Acreage
Approximately 56.2 million acres are held in trust by the United States for various Indian tribes and individuals.
There are approximately 326 Indian land areas in the U.S. administered as federal Indian reservations (i.e., reservations, pueblos, rancherias, missions, villages, communities, etc.).
The largest is the 16 million-acre Navajo Nation Reservation located in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
The smallest is a 1.32-acre parcel in California where the Pit River Tribe’s cemetery is located.
Many of the smaller reservations are less than 1,000 acres.”
Total acreage of U.S. Natl Forest
196 million
Herbert Simon
American economist, political scientist and cognitive psychologist, whose primary research interest was decision-making within organizations and is best known for the theories of “bounded rationality” and “satisficing”.
Lawrence Haworth
Lawrence Haworth wrote the book, The Good City, which argued for a thoughtful approach to what actually makes a city good.
first regional plan
Daniel Burnham’s Plan for Chicago was the first regional plan in the United States in 1909
BART
The first segment of the BART system officially opened in 1972 following decades of engineering work and political and funding challenges. The BART story began in 1946 and gradually evolved at informal gatherings of business and civic leaders on both sides of the San Francisco Bay.
Grand Coulee Dam
The largest concrete structure in the US in 1942 was the Grand Coulee Dam, located on the Columbia River in the state of Washington.
ITE trip generation rates
The Institute of Transportation Engineers’ Trip Generation manual provides trip generation rates for numerous land use and building types. Based on the 8th edition, An apartment would be expected to generate 6.6 trips per day, a single family house 9.5, a townhouse 5.8 trips. Duplexes are not specifically included in the ITE manual.
Traffic Signal Change Interval
There are two intervals provided in a traffic signal, the change interval and clearance interval. The change interval or yellow time is provided after green time for movement. The purpose is to warn a driver approaching the intersection during the end of a green time about the coming of a red signal. They normally have a value of 3 to 6 seconds.
Oldest Skyscraper
The Home Insurance Building in Chicago, built in 1885, was the United States first skyscraper but is no longer standing. The Manhattan Building built in 1891 is the oldest standing skyscraper at 16 stories tall.
Native Am. and Federal Rules
Native Americans living on a designated reservation are required to follow federal governing development.
National average for housing + transportation cost
According to the 2010 APA Policy Guide on Surface Transportation the majority of Americans pay in excess of 50% of household income on transportation and housing.
Sub-state regions that have special jurisdictional powers
Outer Banks, North Carolina
Meadowlands, New Jersey
Reedy Creek, Florida
Westerville, Ohio
Carrying Capacity
The term “carrying capacity” was first used in 1845 by the then U.S. Secretary of State James Buchanan. Ian McHarg wrote about the concept of carrying capacity in his book Design with Nature.
Cul de sac design
Cul-de-sacs with maximum length and minimum radius standards of 400-450 feet long and 40-foot turn-around radius
Street gradients
Regarding street gradients, the minimum gradient in most areas is 0.5%. In areas with cold winters the maximum gradient is 5%; it is 8% for areas with mild winters.
Highway LOS
A- Free flow. Avg space btw vehicles is 550ft or 27 cars
B- Reasonably free flow. Speeds are maintained within the traffic steam is slightly restricted. 330 / 16 lengths
C- Stable flow. At or near free flow. Ability to maneuver through lanes is noticeably restricted and lane changes require more driver awareness. 220ft / 11 lengths
D- Approaching unstable flow. Speeds slightly decrease as traffic volume slightly increase. Freedom to maneuver within the traffic stream is much more limited and driver comfort levels decrease. 160ft / 8 lengths
E- Unstable flow, operating at capacity. Flow becomes irregular and speed varies rapidly because there are virtually no usable gaps to maneuver in the traffic stream and speeds rarely reach the posted limit. 6 car lengths.
F- Forced or breakdown flow. Every vehicle moves in lockstep with the vehicle in front of it, with frequent slowing required. Travel time cannot be predicted, with generally more demand than capacity.
The first earth day
First Earth Day was April 22, 1970.
Source of US electricity breakdown
62.7% fossil fuels (split by coal and natural gas)
20% nuclear
17.1 renewables (mostly wind and hydropower)
Aging Population
By 2030, people over the age of 65 are expected to represent 20 percent of the US population
Wilderness lands
According to the National Park Service, as of 2016, there are more than 106 million acres of federal public lands designated as wilderness.
National Scenic Byways Program
The Federal Highway Administration developed the National Scenic Byways Program in 1992.
the roadway must have archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and/or scenic qualities. As part of the designation process, a Corridor Management Plan must be prepared, which documents the roadway’s intrinsic qualities, identifies goals and strategies, includes an implementation timeline, and identifies responsible parties.
Edge City
Edge city describes a relatively new concentration of business, shopping and entertainment outside a traditional urban area in what had recently been a suburb or rural community. The term was popularized in the 1991 book Edge City by Joel Garreau. Edges have five rules
- It must have more than five million square feet of office space to accommodate between 20,000 to 50,000 office workers (as many as some traditional downtowns);
- It must have more than 600,000 square feet of retail space, the size of a medium shopping mall. This ensures that the edge city is a center of recreation and commerce as well as office work;
- It must be characterized by more jobs than bedrooms;
- It must be perceived by the population as one place;
- It must have been nothing like a city 30 years earlier.
Minimum R-value recommended for home insulation
R-20 is the minimum recommended R-value
