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Go Straight to the Bottom for a Cool Slide…The Chatter

December 9, 2011 2 comments

Public-note-to-self: sometime next week MyWHaT will begin a leave of absence. We’ve been going strong for two-years and it’s time for an assessment. When the break comes, the plan is to post a survey to elicit feedback from readers. Your responses will help plan the direction, possibly the discontinuation, of this blog. Wide participation in that survey will certainly be appreciated.

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To be sure there is plenty of reading opportunity, here is an extra packed Weekly Chatter, complete with a few links to archived posts. And, yesterday’s post discussing some of the City’s upcoming issues is highly recommended…many of those issues will need your holistic, well-reasoned input.

The Chatter

There are several quirks about LOS that give it what Henderson calls a “veneer of objectivity.” For starters, LOS delay is measured at the peak traffic rush. That reflects the belief that a street’s design should be based on its most congested hour or so, rather than configured to handle a wide range of travel modes throughout the day.”

We typically associate high automobile use in the U.S. with Americans’ need to drive and love to drive. But ultimately there’s a pricing and policy structure that enforces that. If we fully costed out some of the impacts on driving [...] and gave an alternative in the form of public transit or denser neighborhoods or shorter multimodal trips, then you could really see a pretty large change.”

(My contribution)

A dream, in a box / Encouraged by form, to drive / at excessive speeds.

Have your own street Haikus?

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The Retweets

The Wrap

Now, this is a slide. Of course, it is Japan. Hat tip to It’s Nice That.

Have a weekend (and then some).

Cities Change: Best Not To Fight It

December 5, 2011 Leave a comment

Well Put

The worst thing for a city to do is assume that things will always be the way they are because this is the way they have always been. Things are going to change, and if we don’t look forward, we’ll be forever looking backward.”

~ Irene Kennedy and Ed Houdeshel, City Council members from Newark, Ohio

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The above was written in a letter to the Newark Advocate after the paper ran an editorial critical of that city’s complete streets initiative. The Ohio city has since passed a complete streets policy.

Onward and upward across the country.

NOTE: The Complete Streets Coalition arm of the Grand Vision is hosting a discussion over lunch this Wednesday from 12-1. More information here. 

For the Love of Bike, Traveling Playgrounds, Stroads and Other Chatter

December 3, 2011 Leave a comment

Engage & Represent opportunity for a City resident seat on the Grand Traverse County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.  It is a 3-year term.  The Brownfield Redevelopment Authority promotes and facilitates the reuse and redevelopment of environmentally impaired properties by approving large sums of money for private and public developments.

If you are interested in serving, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at 231-922-4480 for an
‘Application to Become Involved’ (PDF). Applications are due by Wednesday, December 7, 2011.

The Chatter

From the Chalk Art Festival in Sarasota (TheWonderous)

For too long, we over-invested in the wrong places. Those retail centers and subdivisions will never be worth what they cost to build. We have to stop throwing good money after bad. It is time to instead build what the market wants: mixed-income, walkable cities and suburbs that will support the knowledge economy, promote environmental sustainability and create jobs.”

The Retweet

  • RTstevemouzon Economics, urban planning & ecology are only the means. Happiness is the goal. ~Enrique Penalosa
  • RT Fred_Kent You can’t let a good recession go to waste…let the creative juices flow.
  • RT jamesschwartz The Model T got 28.5 mpg, in 2007 the avg got 24.7 mpg. (#carjacked by @lutzfernandez)
  • RT DrMatthewSweet Driving your children to school is not a luxury but a necessity? In urban areas it ought to be an absurdity.

The Wrap

Bicycle animation via Bike Commute News and by 

Have a weekend!

Downtown And the Mall, Different Beasts for Different Needs

November 28, 2011 Leave a comment

Downtown isn’t going to win big box shoppers and  the mall isn’t going to win the person seeking character & history. We could pay someone to park but the Bed, Bath & Beyond shopper still wouldn’t come downtown.”

- Steve Patterson,  Poll: Thoughts on On-Street Parking Downtown 

via StreetsBlog Network

Well said.

Public Restrooms, Destroying Cities, 45 mph to Nowhere …Chatter

November 25, 2011 4 comments

It is astounding the excuses made for the lack of public bathrooms in downtown Traverse City. #JustSayin

The fact that nobody thought of putting bathrooms into the two parking decks and then staff and representatives look around like they don’t know what to do is absurd (Ticker).  I understand that as a culture we under value immediate needs and human nature (MyWHaT), it is quite clear in some of the brush-off comments on The Ticker, but at a certain point it becomes obvious that if we are to have a place that goes beyond adequate, then dedicated, attractive and inviting public bathrooms need to happen.

My vote: convert “Lot O” into a park with a LEED certified bathroom/warming area and if another deck goes in, a bathroom is required. Where we pee shouldn’t fall on the backs of businesses, lest they choose to rebel (NYTimes).

~ photo by four12

The Chatter

(My apologies, there may just be too much here.)

with numerous studies from different cities the world over repeatedly suggesting positive economic benefits on a local scale, urban bicycle networks could provide our cities with a much-needed economic boost.”

We’ve built a 45 mile per hour world, one that moves too slow to be efficient yet too fast to provide a platform for value. Our transportation system embraces mediocrity, not from a lack of resources, but from a lack of focus. We must quit fooling ourselves, understand what it means to really create value in a transportation system and commit ourselves to building Strong Towns.”

Listen to to the Strong Town’s post:

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Retweets

  • RT everybodywalk Quote of the Day: “The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.” ~Buddha
  • RT stevemouzon One test for potential for greatness is how infrequently someone lets urgent small things trump important big things
  • RT transportdata ”Social life happens when we walk or bike. It doesn’t happen in a car.”
  • RT urbandata $45 of every $100 spent at a locally-owned business stays in local economy. Only $14 of that same $100 spent at chain store stays.
  • RT Maddz4planning Not new knowledge. Crime leads to perceived risk and inactivity. Encouraging biking and walking is about more than just lanes and sidewalks
  • RT ellyblue Yeah! RT @remyholwick: elizabeth braun begs to differ; she bikes in heels, dresses, and suits– aggressively– daily, and has for years.
  • MT brainpicker ”Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

The Wrap

“We can do better” is the winning film for a LA based contest called “Changing Your City for the Better.“– I’d like to see a campaign like this for Traverse City, just say’in.

Have a weekend!

Some Guidelines for Criticizing and Complementing

November 21, 2011 2 comments

Well Put

Humility is the recognition that we don’t know, even when we think we know. 

~ Tony Schwartz, in his article There’s No Such Thing as Constructive Criticism 

Worth a read for a reminder of how we are all in this experience of inquiry together.

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Hat tip to @joelga  for the find. Ding! Ding!

Buses & Health, Cities & Responsibilities, Physics & Cycling and the Ultimate Yarn Bomber

November 19, 2011 2 comments

A quick reminder to contact the TC’s City Commissioners in support of honoring their spoken commitment to building something great along the Bayfront. With engaged & enthusiastic City Commissioners getting to excellence in 2012 is possible–without them, impossible.

….Also, come to the Civic Center tomorrow to see some Cyclocross action–there might even be a MyWHaT team.

The Chatter

At that point, the police arrived for the first time. We talked to them for a bit, but, like every time we have done this, we tell them we are just doing what government should be doing themselves.”

Darren Flenoy [...] made a good salary as a security guard, saved his money and bought a home that he could afford in the far suburbs of the Bay Area in 2006. Inspired by a $6000 rebate that appeared to offset rising gas prices, he bought an SUV….”

Retweet

  • RT transportdata: Impact of storms on #sprawl - “I was hysterical crying. I was cursing my boyfriend. I was asking, why did I move here.”
  • RT urbandata: 1940:Americans’ time spent gardening & cooking. Now: spent hauling one’s $$$ car & tired ass to huge supermarket.@Michele_Owens #foodpolicy
  • RT Maddz4planning: Bike love is turning off someone else’s lights when you park your bike next to theirs.
  • RT tinybuddha: ”Information is not knowledge.” ~Einstein
  • RT BrooklynSpoke: ”I always tell people that I would rather drivers/cyclists be courteous to each other than to blindly obey the law.” AMEN.@theurbancountry

The Wrap

Traverse City’s Yarn Bomber  (IPR) has nothing on Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam. What else do you do when you order yarn by the tons? (Hat tip to Playground Designs).

Go Play. 

Poor Design: A Series of Small Crimes Against Humanity

November 14, 2011 5 comments

Well Put

Suppose the fault really lies in the device, so that lots of people have the same problems. Because everyone perceives the fault to be his or her own, nobody wants to admit having trouble. This creates a conspiracy of silence, maintain the feelings of guilt and helplessness among users.”

~ Donald A. Norman, The Design of Everyday Things

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Norman is a cognitive scientist who has applied his skills to the usability of objects big and small. The Design of Everyday Things, which I just started this weekend, spends a lot of time defending humans against shitty shoddy design. A key observation from his work is that humans spend a lot of time assigning blame to ourselves for an environment largely designed against our natural ways of interaction.

There must be one object in your house or office that is designed pleasing to the eye, but that trips you up every time you use it. For many, it is stove top controls that aren’t intuitive or an office copy machine/printer that seems to always require a technician. For my household, basic food packaging that can never simply be opened is a constant source of aggravation. It is a bag of chips, do I really need a saws-all?

Poor design is a series of small crimes in our everyday lives that add up to societal retreat and helplessness. It must be us; it usually isn’t.

If you follow this blog, you see where I’m going…the design of our public spaces and our streets is helping to create a feeling of helplessness and retreat. We have city parks that are aesthetically pleasing, from the roadway, but that do nothing to draw us in as humans. We might logically conclude from this that we personally aren’t into city parks or people watching, when we all know what happens when we are in a place that works. Who doesn’t stop, if even for a moment, when passing a busy ice rink like you’ll find in the Rosa Parks Circle Ice Rink in Grand Rapids?

Elsewhere in the public realm, we have city streets that are built and maintained for one mode of transportation and thus we find it arduous, if not dangerous, to walk or ride a bicycle as viable options. We might logically conclude from this experience that we don’t like walking or that we don’t have the ability to ride a bicycle to get to work. We shut down that desire and think others are crazy for suggesting such nonsense. We apply the same logic to inadequate public transit.

The problem is that it isn’t you. It’s the design. 

…to be continued 

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Where have you seen poor design? Big or small?

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City Ski Hills, Granny Flats, Driver Privilege, Place Capital…The Chatter

November 12, 2011 2 comments

To begin, thank you to all of the candidates who ran for elected office this fall. You put yourself out there on behalf of the community–and for that, you deserve respect. Thanks.

Also, thank you to everyone who voted. It wasn’t that difficult, was it! Now, your job isn’t over. The one’s fortunate to be elected need your help. They won’t often ask for it, but they need your support in prioritizing the values of the community. The following contact page will help you contact them on issues, but don’t feel you can’t invite anyone of them to coffee at anytime–engage and represent.

The Chatter

Screen grab of possible commute in Traverse City
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#9. I can complain to friends, family, and aquaintances about minor accidents and other annoyances without being told that I should stop driving.”
How we channel human, social, economic, infrastructural and cultural capital into the generation of Place Capital effectively determines a community’s success in attracting and spawning further wealth generators.”
For centuries, pedestrians had undifferentiated dominion over both the sidewalks and the roadbed — sidewalks were not pedestrian cattle pens, but off-limits zones for vehicles. “The street” meant the entire open area, from building line to building line.“

Retweet

  • RT Velocentric: Todays lesson: it doesn’t matter if you’re on foot or 2 wheels – drivers hate you. Your safety means nothing vs their time.
  • RT copenhagenize: Heard a cool statement: “Bicycles save more lives than helmets ever can”
  • RT DPGilmartin:”We have disconnected performance of our #transportation system from performance of our neighborhoods” #EoP #placemaking #nlc11
  • RT bikinginla: ”If the lane is too narrow for a bike and car to share, it’s not because the bike is too wide.” – Ryan Snyder #CABikeSummit
  • RT @everybodywalk: Fill in the blank: Despite the _________, I´m going to get my 30 minutes of walking in!
  • RT webb: Social media works where there’s a will and appetite for change.@causes says building a community starts with a committed person. #sm4np (Are you committed?)

The Wrap

It’s All About the Bike … Brainpickings featured this short video based off of the book of the same title.

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Have a weekend.

The Empathetic Mayor’s Last Call, Show Him Some Love

November 7, 2011 8 comments

Well Put & Well Served

… the system of governance we should strive for is the one we would accept without knowing what our role would be – whether we would be a renter or a homeowner; whether we would own a business or bag groceries at the supermarket.  Whether we’re a city commissioner, a member of the parks board, or someone in the audience of a meeting.  Whether we’re a senior on a fixed income or a young family with kids at TCAPS.”

~ Mayor Chris Bzdok, A Theory of Governance, 2010 Great Lakes Bioneers Conference

Put another way, run a City where the process is inclusive, information is readily available and digestible, and all feel welcome to participate and contribute. A system of governance where we engage & contribute despite knowing that the outcome might not go our way, but knowing that the process will reflect a shared vision and that the outcome will likely prove to be better because of a broad scope of input and diverse opinions. This is the style of governance that Mayor Chris Bzdok has brought to the Traverse City City Commission over the last 5 years, the last two years as Mayor. Tonight is the last night of this run. His leadership will certainly be missed (mayor wanted).

Thank you for serving, Chris.

I invite MyWHaT readers to show your gratitude to Mayor Chris Bzdok in the comments section below. Shower him with love or roast him, your preference. Either-way, let’s show him appreciation for guiding the community with unparalleled dedication and a commitment to raising the level of engagement across a broader swath of citizens.

 I’ll begin…

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Dear Mayor Bzdok,

The community is a better place because of your commitment, grace and ability to articulate that critical nugget to surprisingly complex issues.  You brought a calming to City issues. Personally, there were several moments in the past two years where I came to you at the height of frustration, what hair I have left in full fury and flames, regarding a particular matter of the City.  You didn’t talk me down or explain how I was overreacting, instead, you explained the options for a path forward and promised, not as much an outcome as a course of action that would attempt to douse the flames. For that, I thank you Mayor Bzdok…and, don’t think that because you are no longer mayor that I won’t be showing up at your doorstep seeking similar council.

Thank you for your service!

Mayor Chris Bzdok & "first lady" Colleen Masterson-Bzdok in the Cherry Festival Parade

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What’s your message for the Mayor?

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