Conclusion: The largely unimaginative quality of contemporary planning and design solutions in North America has become some of what of an epidemic. The notion that the creation of large ubiquitous commercial islands in the form of Transit-Oriented Development can cure the problems of our suburbs has little to do with how society actually works. Today, we are all inherently migratory. The notion that our social networks, places of work, and places we access our information be static ignores society. From Facebook to Google docs, we are increasingly creating new ways for us to do what we want, when we want, where we want. For some unknown reason this is constantly being ignored by planners and how they design our space. The Main Street Express and the Plug-in Commons, although somewhat fantastical, attempts to provide a design solution that
represents our daily lives – everyday migration. It is constantly in motion, adapting to the needs of it users rather than its users adapting to it. It avoids the creation of secured commercial spaces, and instead creates a kind of temporariness that allows the freedom, for both the shop keeper and the consumer, to provide and access goods and services in a more direct way – ignore the middle man, buy direct! At a larger scale it illustrates how existing infrastructure can be transformed with new technologies and without the necessary ‘buy in’ of developers that concepts such as T.O.D. heavily rely on. Currently found only in Long Island, The Main Street Express and the Plug-in Commons is coming to a suburban regional rail network near you – the future of tomorrow – today! /
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