A view of the city

Walk / don't walk

The admirable Miss Manners gives clear advice on a growing problem in Raleigh.  Best to print this out and take it with you next time you're planning to cross the street.

Dear Miss Manners:

When one encounters a motorist waiting at a red light whose automobile is occupying the pedestrian crosswalk, what should one do?  I say that climbing onto and walking across the hood or roof of his vehicle is always proper.  My friend insists that this is correct only for small two-door autos.  In his view, when one encounters a four-door car blocking one's path, the proper action is to open the near-side door and walk through the vehicle, excusing oneself to any occupants of the rear seat.  Which of us is correct?

Gentle Reader:

In your spirit of consideration to motorists, Miss Manners suggests that you extend the courtesies by knocking at the automobile window and asking the driver which method he or she would prefer.  It is not polite to rush these things, which should last through two green lights.

-- from Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior by Judith Martin (Warner Books, 1982)

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

In the know

The next lecture in the City of Raleigh's excellent Designing a 21^st Century City Lecture Series is September 20. 

Adrienne Schmitz, a nationally recognized author on density and walkability, and Walter Kulash, a pioneering expert on traffic calming and walkable places, will present "The Public Realm: How Do We Create a Pedestrian-Friendly City?"

Previous lecturers in the series have included Donald Shoup, whose engaging and thought-provoking slide lectures have created a following of urban-planning groupies known as the "Shoupistas," and Reid Ewing, whose 2003 study of sprawl and public health (performed in partnership with the UNC School of Public Health) may have received more national media coverage than any planning study ever covered, and has become the most widely cited paper in the social sciences.

If you are interested in planning, development, and building a better Raleigh, do not miss these lectures. 

This superb series has attracted a following that includes Raleigh's best "placemakers," not to mention plenty of old-boy movers and shakers who may or may not really understand placemaking, but would like, at least, to be seen in attendance among those who do.

The lecture is free and open to the public.  It takes place from 6:00 to 8:30 at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Kennedy Theatre, in downtown Raleigh.

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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" ...