Colombian slum gets outdoor escalator

[ycaruzob]

cual es no hay Tejas de plasticos? cuando el problema de lluvias para Oxidos de metal y daño de electrica con peligro voltaje.

[mattennisdesign]

Pablo Escalator

[iraprusia]

/-xQz3w2JMNw 

[DaBigPear]

A lot of people here needs to know that Medellin, and Colombia in general, is not the same city as 20 year ago... Like, seriously, come here and you will be amazingly surprised... or even easier, google it! We still have a lot of HUGE problems, but we are working in them (a tiny example, outdoor escalators for the poorest ones!) =D

[Winnipegplayboy420]

y not build some houses for them they place looks so poor

[ArtStone]

Why are people still using the stairways next to the running escalator?

[Ningunoization]

Dear @ReiGrim. Don’t give a man a fish, Teach him how to fish instead. This people doesn´t need free food ... this people needs more opportunities, more quality in their lives. This stair provides to the community another reason to live.

[walgasa]

Colombia invierte en los pobres y acaba con la pobreza, mientras en Europa y Estados Unidos los multiplican.

[ArtStone]

Stairway to Heaven(?)

[RazsterTW]

Here is my prediction... The gangs who lurk around there will soon charge a fee for using it and in a few years the escalator will break down from weather and because steps.

[rollingklouds]

What happens to the machine when it rains?

[iraprusia]

@rollingklouds the project is not finished yet. all escalators have roofs.

[titatus08]

@rollingklouds The machine was designed thinking about that. It has the latetest tech.

[likpit]

they should operate by sensors that would tell if someone is going to use them instead of wasting so much power.

[RileyNRA]

Thats really cool. Old tech finally catchs up!!  lol

Can't wait to the the first donkey they try to ride up that thing! lol :-)

[titatus08]

@RileyNRA It´s not older tech. It´s with the new tech that it´s made because it´s in open air.

[RileyNRA]

@titatus08 Yeah, I was referencing I guess, the engineering of an escalator is "old" tech, I would think.

Amazing that such a thing is used outside of malls! :-)

[ehpl]

is this not the onion news? surely it can't be right - maybe they plan to build a large bank at the top of the hill so the wealthy have some entertainment on their way to work- a birds eye view of the starving and abused perhaps some folk selling quallity rocks to stone folk with too.

[MEGIDIOT]

Well i hope its free, its a freaking escalator!!!

[rollingcan]

Now you wonder, is this for the poor or the escalator company.

[FedupwithR]

Wow! Something positive and free for the poor!

[alluminyo]

MADE IN CHINA_ ASSEMBLED IN COLUMBIA

[titatus08]

@alluminyo Colombia, not Columbia.

[MrWatchmen759]

do those escalators come with free food

[DonaldxR]

Sponsored by Coke.

[lighttree2012]

Scrap metal time!!

[Herimia]

I bet gangs are going to make a toll fee

[HoltCalifornia]

This probably came from America's money

[DarkFlaze]

@HoltCalifornia Or from Colombian Drug money.

[xxtruthbetoldx]

@HoltCalifornia you've come to this conclusion based on what exactly?

[MrBlingMonkey]

when it rains ur fucked no lie

[ThePositiveAussie]

Those with a silver spoon up their arse seem to think its a bad thing to do anything good for the poor.

[badgeless]

@ThePositiveAussie

agreed.

[oolong2]

Infrastructure can radically change an area.

People can criticize the idea of an escalator but believe it or not many people don't simply jump in their SUVs to go to Trader Joes.. They WALK.

An escelator can make a huge difference when it comes to climbing a long steep hill every day for work, education, food, trade, medical needs and access to police and other services.

Being able to make multuple trips in a day and save on physical labor could be an economic boom to that community.

[jakiner]

I hope it's water proof.. what's the weather like down there?

[kanserstyx]

u know if we each gave a penny a day... i would be filthy rich!

[FullSwagSyceGame507]

its easy to criticize and talk shit behind a computer when you living in the US. this project might seem dumb to you spoiled gringos, but this is going to help alot of ppor people in that neighborhood

[AbdallahKProductions]

This is the stupidest idea I have ever seen. There lower-class people live in horrible conditions always struggling to make ends meet and the Columbian government decides to build them an escalator? Wow. How about investing that money in social programs or job training to actually benefit these people instead of building them a useless escalator that will break down in no time.

[xxtruthbetoldx]

@AbdallahKProductions job training? this is Colombia, not America,,,,well not like that would really even help in America, as apparent by the lack of available jobs there.

[yourtreat2]

This will radically change the hardship on Coca farmers that used to have to carry 150lbs bags of the leaves up steep hills. 

[60NXNP09]

Now that's what I called "Stairways to heaven"!

[TheEsotericDesi]

Wait until it rains... and landslide takes the whole shit down w/ it... :)

[solheights]

YAY! Now all they need is social reform, jobs, eradication of the drug gangs and the removal of corrupt government/police officials.

Still, it'll only take the drug dealers 5 mins to get into the city centre to sell their stuff, so, not all bad :/

[ShaktipatSeer2]

3 hours a day ?

[damania]

i don't get it

[semih007]

oooh, this is what they only need.

[UsernameofBoang]

LOL

[TheYoungTurdz]

What a great example of a government weakening their citizens.

[ladylordess]

What a great idea. Now they can run up the escalator when they are being chased by criminals. Their problems are all solved. Isn't government great?

sigh.....

[draoi99]

I think the problem Medellin has is not enough government, rather like Somalia and other Libertarian paradises.

[ShaktipatSeer2]

@draoi99 Hahaha ron paul sucks

[ladylordess]

@draoi99 Oh, you mean you prefer corruption, perhaps like the US.

[call2allah]

u sure this will last

once kids start playing with it wount be much time before it cracks down

[ReiGrim]

WTF? I hope this is a joke! It's like giving a laptop to someone who is starving!

[miorlego]

@ReiGrim Come on. This news doesn't mean that their government doesn't make any other effort to reduce poverty and starvation. This is one of the effort. What happened to the elderly who need to go to work daily? 30 minutes walking up hill and maybe 20 minutes down take almost an hour daily to work. This thing is almost the same as providing free shuttle to the city. peace~

[ReiGrim]

@miorlego Maybe you're right, but when I think of helping the poor I always think of building schools and hospitals.

[xxtruthbetoldx]

@ReiGrim This is exactly what the Canadian government does for the natives living on reservations, they give them laptops, flat screen tvs....it's so that they don't complain, it really just covers up the problem but doesn't do anything to solve it

[iraprusia]

@ReiGrim The Government of Medellin is providing "quality of life" to people that can't have access to "modern commodities". its a nice bet for transportation regarding a extreme topography. lost of elderly and handicapped people can have a decent life with this project. I invite you to visit Colombia. no, we are not all about drugs, and no, we don't live on trees or die for starvation. Get educated.

[tutoriales3minutos]

@ReiGrim Actually a Laptop can feed you all your life, but a luch will feed only ONE time. With a easy access people can go an work.

[Pedrofrombrazil]

@ReiGrim Brazilian slums characteristics: Most people don't starve. They live there 'cause they don't have money to buy a house in organized legal city neighbourhoods. These areas are occupied 'forgotten' lands (mainly owned by govt). There are irregular buildings without legal license/permit, nor provided by basic services as water & power, at least legally, but not all houses are in this way. Many slums were built in dangerous or very cheap areas, specially at river's edge and hills' side.

[Pedrofrombrazil]

@ReiGrim I don't know if colombian slums share same characteristics, but in the case of brazilian slums: Most people have illegal power/energy from poles. Poverty, lack of formal and good education and health care, very very low wages and earnings, lack of sewers. Many areas are dominated and controlled by drug gangs /mafia /dealers /criminals violently.

[DaBigPear]

@Pedrofrombrazil I study architecture, and there is a bad joke we tell when we talk about illegal urbanism in the slums: after the illegal urbanizer and before the actual residents, comes the public energy company...

[megadethrulez1]

@ReiGrim

No not really, did you not hear it takes them 1 hour or so from top to bottom? I'm pretty sure many of them really appreciate this..

[leeo268]

@ReiGrim

look on the brighter side, this can fight starvation by helping the poor to save their calories. lol

[musicjock2]

@ReiGrim Did you pay attention to the narrator? He said this thing cuts their 30 minute clikb down to six minutes! An obvious improvement in the day to day life of some struggling people.

[walgasa]

@ReiGrim @gvi341984 Jealous 

[sMASHsound]

great, so now they can be both poor and unfit....



[youngbuck189]

Excellent idea, finally Colombia invests in the poor and working class. It's about time they stopped copying US economics which tells one to protect the rich and elite while fighting class was on the poor.

[AK8591]

Boggles the mind

[jumper1294]

a dream come true lmao

[mogul50]

What if it rains?

[GGLebo23]

@mogul50 You might want to listen to 0:48 again. He said it was built against rainy weather

[shinobiR1]

@GGLebo23 You might want to listen to 0:48 again for yourself. "They plan to build a cover for rainy weather." (Like a long canopy overhead.)

[GGLebo23]

@shinobiR1 Oh ok. Thx for the correction

[mogul50]

@GGLebo23 Oh right, my bad.

[megaloskardia]

So it doesnt have a cover right now? Damn hope it doesnt rain. Keep telling myself how weird this project is.

[gvi341984]

Wouldn't maintenance be a problem?

[bsimpson505]

@gvi341984 That is always the problem with large projects without the good governance to back them up.

[iraprusia]

@gvi341984 The project it's not finished yet, since all escalators have roofs and a special design for landscaped and garden areas. this is designed by architects and engineers from Colombia working for EDU (Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano).meaning the Company for Urban Development.

[brrrrrrrratt]

AWOH