A view of the city

We are friends with Charles Krauthammer now

So now we know: The price point is $4.

At $3 a gallon, Americans just grin and bear it, suck it up and, while complaining profusely, keep driving like crazy.

At $4, it is a world transformed.  (read more)

Raleigh in 1920

With apologies to other blogs -- here's Old Raleigh, way Before the Beltline:

Note the large institutional uses located at the edge of town -- penitentiary, "hospital" (Dix Asylum), St. Mary's School, and the Methodist Orphanage.  The early suburb, Cameron Park, is labeled "Park."

From the 1920 Automobile Blue Book.  The ABB guides provided early motoring maps and directions for most American states.

Hillsborough Street: Already 100% happier

Well, it's true: As long as former councilors Jessie Taliaferro and Joyce Kekas had their fangs in Hillsborough Street's neck, no initiative for that street on the part of Mayor Meeker or his supporters could go anywhere.

But since Monday, a 7 to 1 city council majority for re-investment and revitalization of this important urban corridor -- the front door to the state's flagship land-grant university -- is in play.

Word's in from the first meeting of the Hillsborough Street Partnership since the new City Council was sworn in Monday night:  The mood was encouragement -- relief -- and renewed hope that Raleigh's long-neglected main street will soon be on the mend, with the institutional buy-in that's now possible with a working, pro-Raleigh majority on the city's elected board.   

Change won't take long, either.  In May, construction will begin on the first two Hillsborough Street roundabouts, along with landscaping, parking, and median improvements.  The ugly aerial utilities will come down, and streetscape improvements to sidewalks and other street furnishings will be installed.

Next up for consideration, on December 11: choices for another roundabout, at Morgan Street. 

The last time Council looked at the question, it was still mired in the same voting deadlock that impeded progress on so many other issues in the last two years. 

Meanwhile, at the staff level, the highway dinosaurs in the city's Public Works department (and the consulting engineers they hired) were still advocating for a high-speed thru lane to circumvent the roundabout -- as if Hillsborough Street were just another Taconic State Parkway. 

Expect a different approach next week.  And over the next two years. 

Side note:  Woe betide those city staffers who don't shift gears (or perhaps we should say, match their stride) to the new council's more inclusive, pedestrian-friendly approach.   

 

It's in our DNA

God made us walking animals — pedestrians.  As a fish needs to swim, a bird to fly, a deer to run, we need to walk — not only to survive, but to be happy.

— Enrique Penalosa, urbanist and former mayor of Bogota, Colombia

Location, location, location

This insert in a Progress Energy electric bill highlights Bingham Ridge, a new subdivision in Chatham County – the first “green neighborhood” in Progress Energy Carolinas’ system.   The insert says that “all of the homes are energy Star Certified … each home is equipped with solar panels and other innovative technology.”

 

What’s the problem with this neighborhood and energy efficiency?  Here’s a hint from the insert: 

From Chapel Hill, take 15-501 South. Turn Right on Mann's Chapel Rd. Go 2 miles. Turn right on Poythress Rd. Bear left at the Chapel, onto Lamont Norwood Rd. Go 2 miles to Bingham Ridge Drive.

Nice as this place may be, it’s located eight miles from the nearest town.  You remember town -- that's where you get groceries, and go to your job.*

 

Every house in this subdivision will generate at least 9 vehicle trips per day (ITE Manual, 6th edition).  Most of those trips will be at least 8 miles long because this place is that far out in the sticks.         

Transportation accounts for a third of greenhouse gas emissions in the US.  Residents of Bingham Ridge will be buying into a compulsory driving lifestyle that will far outpace the energy savings from all those high-end fridges and dishwashers.

 

Better approach – build the houses in a walkable neighborhood in a town or city where folks can walk**, bike, or take shorter car trips to their destinations.

 

* Towns also have restaurants, sporting events, banks, FedEx/Kinkos, and stuff like that.

** You remember "walk" ...  

Secretary of Transportation says bikes are not transportation

The Secretary of the US Department of Transportation says that bicycles are not transportation.

The comments in response are the best part.

Bike Louisville

Check all the bikety stuff on the “Bike Louisville” homepage.

And here is what the City of Raleigh webpage has to say about bicycling in our town.