Comments on: Archive Photos: Bergen in the 19th Century

By: Carol Harris

Carol Harris — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 00:03:27 +0000

Do you have pictures of or from the island of Sotra (my spelling may be wrong)?

By: William L. Larson

William L. Larson — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 17:38:38 +0000

Couldn’t agree more with Judy Hollister’s assessment regarding the (now former) bus situation in Bergen’s historic district. Although I miss seeing the city buses on St. Peter Street, here in St. Paul, Minnesota where I live (the line was relocated recently a block further east after light rail put in downtown), the exhaust and constant noise these diesels created was a real nuisance over the years. This was immediately evident when I first moved into my condo, in 1981, and which then continued over the next 20 yrs or so. The pollution was so bad, in fact, it even ate the finish off my bicycle stored on my balcony over winters (not just due to salt, either). The irony was that the old street car tracks on St. Peter (most are still there) had been paved over decades earlier following the city’s conversion to rubber-wheeled gas and diesel buses. We can all thank Goodyear, Goodrich, and the like, for promoting same, so as to demise the cheaper and cleaner trolleys of rail that once efficiently plied our streets. Hopefully, more light rail here will be added soon.

By: Judy Hollister

Judy Hollister — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 15:22:10 +0000

and the exhaust fumes will be less, and the buses won’t block the views. It’s hard enough just trying to see around heads in the crowds of bus groups. The amosphere can never be the same as centuries ago, but those of us who like to imagine that – with sounds of horses snuffling and clop clopping, wagons squeaking if any are being pulled, and hopefully softer voices when people don’t have to compete with the humming buses running their air conditioning and toot tooting as they search for where to park and block MY view – CHUCKLE Should help preserve the age old buildings and atmosphere too.

By: Judy Hollister

Judy Hollister — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 15:14:29 +0000

I’m glad for the touring bus ban – they must be hard on elderly buildings, and alter the atmosphere of and interfere with experiencing the area tourists want to experience. Of course, crowds of tourists also alter the environment but at least the bus fumes and the blockage of being able to see the area is improved. Just banning buses doesn’t take us back to the history but it helps in the noise level being somewhat less and the exhaust fumes happening away from this very historic area.