In Case of Armageddon, Break Out the GIS

ADiva writes "There's a detailed, three-dimensional, interactive map of New York City which captures the five boroughs down to the square foot, incorporating everything from building floor plans to subway and sewer tubes. Could the city be rebuilt if destroyed? Should it?" As a New York resident, let me say that if something Bad happened to the city, I hope it is built anew rather than trying to recreate the 1910-era buildings that make up half the city's housing. An "Old New York" in the Metaverse might be fun to visit, though.

Comments

I vote for 100 year old designs

[doom]

As a New York resident, let me say that if something Bad happened to the city, I hope it is built anew rather than trying to recreate the 1910-era buildings that make up half the city's housing. An "Old New York" in the Metaverse might be fun to visit, though.

As a San Francisco resident who has seen the difference between buildings put up at the turn of this century and at the turn of the last one, I would sincerely vote for building replicas of 100 year old designs.

Somewhere along the way, modern industrial culture lost the ability or the desire to build anything that isn't a piece of crap. If anyone can explain why that is exactly, this thread might not be a totally useless fluff magnet.

Re:I vote for 100 year old designs

[rgmoore]

There's a degree of false sorting in the belief that the things built that long ago are better. Part of the reason that those 100 year old buildings seem to be so well built is because the badly built buildings from the same time period have all been replaced already. The 1900 equivalent of our lousy apartment buildings and cheaply built houses have either been knocked down for those newer developments or have degenerated into the awful old slum housing that you've probably never visited.

Also, when you look at the wonderful 100 year old buildings that impress you so much, you have to remember that they're not necessarily exactly like they were when they were built. Buildings are not static. The structure may remain largely the same but the interiors undergo periodic renovation and reconstruction. In the process, people change the things that annoy them or they think are badly done. Space gets redistributed to different needs, design flaws get smoothed over, and things are generally improved. Many, many buildings become gradually more functional over time as they're adapted to the way that people actually do things, rather than the way that architects imagined that they'd do things.

Most places should get virtual copies made

[philipsblows]

With the advent of these new standardized 3D file and render formats (see here) I would think that there would be plenty of room in the virtual museum business, along with maybe virtual architecture, virtual chamber of commerce, etc, to construct virtualized cities from the past and present for everyone with a copy of Mozilla 2.0 to view and enjoy.

Granted, it is a lot of work...

I really like this one, a temple in ancient Thailand reconstructed for walktroughs and everything. It's only a small area, of course, but this sort of thing would at the very least change the way history is taught in the future... especially if it is easily editable.

Of course, being able to play 2nd generation and later online multiplayer games in super-accurate virtual cities from around the world would be pretty cool, to say the least.

Suggested plans to rebuild NYC

[Navius Eurisko]

In you already didn't know, there are a lot of scenarios regarding rebuilting cities (and New York in particular.)

* Rebuilt New York as a maximun security prision and plot out a flight path for Air Force One right over the city.

* Rebuilt New York a mile away. Motocycle gangs will battle each other, gray skinned wrinkly children will roam the streets, and a teenage boy with a red cape and a "Da Da Da" theme will wreak havoc.

* Dinosaurs. 'nuff said.

* In case of flood: Lease out above water skyscrappers to robotics manufacturers.

* In case of attack by phantasmal alien beings: Erect a "Barrier City" and make everyone look like a Doom III screenshot.

* In case of attack by 200' tall lizard or ape: Air force to the rescue, barbecue for the civilians.

As you can see, you can rest easy knowing that every possible scenario regarding NYC has already been covered.

Warning: NYC rebuilding scenarios may require several poor thought out and executed "sequel" scenarios should the first scenario be received well by the population.

Re:Suggested plans to rebuild NYC

[Anonymous Coward]

Besides, you forgot the "talking apes keeping humans as slaves/pets" option.

I think he assumed everyone was familiar with present day New York. :-)

--
AC

i live in times square

[circletimessquare]

i live in times square and i just have a few details for the metaverse keepers:

yes, there are dishes in my sink, but when you rebuild could you replace them with an empty sink?

i have a pile of laundry as well. see what you can do about that. thank you.

i'd like a bigger tv for me in new york 2.0, please? oh and more windows! i don't know why there isn't one on the west wall, it's a perfect place for it.

move that hotel over a few feet so i get a better view too.

thank you! much appreciated! ;-P

ps: can you fix the bedroom window? it lost it's spring and doesn't stay up when i open it, thank you very very much.

Re:if new york is destroyed,

[guttentag]

Citizen 1: "Where are we going to find food to eat?"
Citizen 2: "What about the radiation?"
Citizen 3: "Don't worry about that. Our first order of business is to get the Empire State Building back up. We're Americans! We have to show 'em we're not afraid! Give me a hand with this girder... c'mon! We've got to get all these building back up before they come back and bomb us again!"

As a NYC native, I must concede the discussion would probably wind down to an argument over which to rebuild first: Yankee Stadium or Shea Stadium. And the survivors would kill each other trying to work it out.

Get over it

[K.]

Considering that the USA and the rest of the world lived under the threat of nuclear annihilation from
pretty much the fifties to the dismantling of the USSR, you're letting this pissant terrorist threat thing get to ye far more than it should. It's hard not to wonder if you aren't in fact just being cynically manipulated to distract you from the ridiculous amount of domestic problems your current administration is causing and/or ignoring.

It's about time you got over it, either built a Ground Zero memorial park or used the space for buildings, stopped beating up on random eastern countries, implemented decent accounting laws, and returned to being the arrogant but lovable bunch of tech-obsessed golden boys that we all remember from the 90s.

And ratify Kyoto already - have you seen the weather lately? Can't you take a hint?