why are Dublin streets not covered?

Cookie_Monster

So having lived and travelled in NZ for a while pretty much every town and city has covered footpaths in the centre, like the below image
http://goo.gl/maps/9LyZ1

Now they by no means cover all areas but are great for when it rains, given the Irish weather it's kinda surprising why such a feature never developed.

Anyone have any plausible reasons why it never developed in Dublin??

face1990

They look very dark and claustrophobic.
I'd rather rain (which to be honest I've never seen as an issue. Umbrellas are cheap) if it means more natural light.
Theyd also block a lot of natural light for the shops as well.

spurious

face1990 wrote: »

They look very dark and claustrophobic.
I'd rather rain (which to be honest I've never seen as an issue. Umbrellas are cheap) if it means more natural light.
Theyd also block a lot of natural light for the shops as well.

I think with the strength and heat of sunlight in antipodean places that was why they built them - can't have your Lamingtons melting in the sun.

They caused a lot of problems in the Christchurch earthquake.

doh777

From todays Irish Independent.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/tourist-town-to-combat-rain-by-building-roof-over-streets-3317403.html

face1990

Here we have to make to most of any daylight we get. Also I think the amount of rain a place gets is inversely proportional to how much people care about it.
For instance, in countries where they get monsoon rains, people just walk around in the torrential rain without giving a thought to it. In Ireland people will shelter from very heavy rain, but don't really care about anything lighter than that (well I don't anyway. Sure tis only a bit of water). If they did, they'd never get anything done!

Piliger

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

So having lived and travelled in NZ for a while pretty much every town and city has covered footpaths in the centre, like the below image
http://goo.gl/maps/9LyZ1

Now they by no means cover all areas but are great for when it rains, given the Irish weather it's kinda surprising why such a feature never developed.

Anyone have any plausible reasons why it never developed in Dublin??

Maybe because we are not a bunch of soft little sugar babes afraid to get a bit wet ...... :rolleyes:

face1990

Piliger wrote: »

Maybe because we are not a bunch of soft little sugar babes afraid to get a bit wet ......

Those Sugababes were notorious for their fear of rain.

Cookie_Monster

Piliger wrote: »

Maybe because we are not a bunch of soft little sugar babes afraid to get a bit wet ...... :rolleyes:

of course! why didn't I think of that!!!
:rolleyes:

pabloh999

Cos it looks sh1t?

vicwatson

There was a time not that long back that all the shops had canopies outside their premises.

BlatentCheek

It looks grand for 2 story buildings on reasonably wide road, as in the photo; it would have a depressingly dark and gloomy effect on the narrower roads with taller buildings on each side that are quite common in Dublin, particularly in winter.

DellyBelly

Have to say that street look awful on that picture. I noticed these in Australia as well and they make the street look very grotty...

Cienciano

In Turin it's done a lot better.
http://goo.gl/maps/vsQu0
http://goo.gl/maps/9PVBx

Most of the footpaths on busy streets are in behind those arches. Think it's because of snow.

Bummer1234

How about the large umbrella things they have near temple bar, Could they use the street lights with these?

http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/temple-bars-giant-umbrellas-wins-award-592762-Sep2012/

mitosis

Cienciano wrote: »

In Turin it's done a lot better.
http://goo.gl/maps/vsQu0
http://goo.gl/maps/9PVBx

Most of the footpaths on busy streets are in behind those arches. Think it's because of snow.

Looks very beautiful, very clean too. Is it a nice city?

spurious

Cienciano wrote: »

In Turin it's done a lot better.
http://goo.gl/maps/vsQu0
http://goo.gl/maps/9PVBx

Most of the footpaths on busy streets are in behind those arches. Think it's because of snow.

They have that kind of set up in many of the eastern European cities too. Separates the people from the traffic and allows for all sorts of little street food traders in under the arches.

JazzyJ

Or something like the coverings in Seville http://goo.gl/maps/2HRGD.

Granted they only have this on very narrow streets, a lot less rain and the covering is more for sun shade. :pac:

Not a fan of the NZ stuff at all. Looks hideous.

John Mason

cos they are really ugly and we are hardly going to melt in the rain

Esel

We don't really need it in Dublin. Not enough rain, and we need all the sunshine we can get.....

carlmango11

irishbird wrote: »

cos they are really ugly and we are hardly going to melt in the rain

That's so inconsiderate of Dublin's witches.

Mech1

Hailstones down there would get your attention, In one shower I witnessed even cars where sheltering under shop canopies.
http://thechive.com/2010/11/19/bodyshops-secretly-love-hailstorms-21-photos/

donvito99

mitosis wrote: »

Looks very beautiful, very clean too. Is it a nice city?

Italy is a very nice place. Bologna, Vincenze, Verona and most Italian towns and cities have these arcades with shops.

eyescreamcone

Our streets are not covered for one reason and one reason only.
The Brits didn't do it when they were here.
We have done very little to improve our architectural heritage and infrastructure since they left.
Our most beautiful city parks and buildings are all part of their legacy.

Reminds me of the line from The Life of Brian - What did the Romans (Brits) ever do for us??

imme

those canopies are real 1960's.

Reminds me of the way Kiwis wear 1980's clothes today, because they're their clothes,

whereas the Aussies wear 1980's style retro clothes in an ironic way, because they can afford it.

bb1234567

mitosis wrote: »

Looks very beautiful, very clean too. Is it a nice city?

Looks like a very nice city:)

RADIUS

The horizontal rain in Ireland would render them useless

Cienciano

mitosis wrote: »

Looks very beautiful, very clean too. Is it a nice city?

It's a really nice, very under rated. Really relaxed and friendly people too.

Cienciano

Fremont Street in Las Vegas has a roof on it, it's almost 500m long.




But being Las Vegas, it's not an ordinary roof, the inside is also an LED display.



Surprising the amount of people that go to Las Vegas and don't bother going to see it.

donvito99 wrote: »

Italy is a very nice place. Bologna, Vincenze, Verona and most Italian towns and cities have these arcades with shops.

I did a holiday for a month travelling around Italy, went from Amalfi right up to Turin. I reckon if you throw a dart at a map of italy and went to the nearest town it would be an amazing looking place.
Every town, village and city I visited was quality. Except Milan, that's a hole!

charlemont

eyescreamcone wrote: »

Our streets are not covered for one reason and one reason only.
The Brits didn't do it when they were here.
We have done very little to improve our architectural heritage and infrastructure since they left.
Our most beautiful city parks and buildings are all part of their legacy.

Reminds me of the line from The Life of Brian - What did the Romans (Brits) ever do for us??

Sadly it's true.

Tabnabs

The "Brits" had them in London and found out that they were a natural haven for crime and prostitution, especially after dark and they also hindered the ability of pedestrians to actually see what shops were behind them, so they tore them down and opened up the street-scape...