Community supported blogging?

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Speed kills: What are you gonna do about it?

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Always appreciative of Daniel Pink’s emotionally intelligent signage series.

The posting of the above sign was timely because I saw it shortly after a phone call with a friend who called me out of complete frustration with cars speeding by her Traverse City home. She lives near a heavily foot-trafficked intersection and has gone through Traverse City’s traffic committee process, her neighborhood’s traffic committee process, and has reached out repeatedly to the City police department to increase enforcement of the 25-mph zone…nothing has worked to help slow down traffic. The latter doesn’t pull people over unless they are going over 35-mph (more on that bullshit nonsense later).

At a certain point, taking things into your own hands is the best option. It may or may not be apparently effective, but it adds a bit of fun to the situation (on my street, we experiment with duct-tape delineation (TW) and even the penguin’s were working until stolen).

There is a market for emotional signage…Recently, a reader sent me the following image from Kingsley, Michigan, where  the community took the polite route to nudge people to slow down through the village’s main drag and neighborhood.

Kingsley’s emotional plea

In another emotional appeal from Pink’s blog, he highlights a sign from the sign company Drive Like Your Kids Live Here, which sells different versions of the same message. This is certainly a sign I could see being popular in Traverse City. 

In the town of Needham, Massachusetts, the community went for the heart-strings of drivers by having children make the appeals to slow down (Boston Globe). The town manager wrote a letter describing the strategy (.doc), “the goal of this project…was to raise awareness of the importance of speeding on local streets, and it is clear that the community is engaged and drivers are noticing these signs and thinking about their purpose.”

Needham making signs personal–do you hate kids? 

Signs aren’t going to “solve” the speeding issues in our neighborhoods, but that isn’t really the point of these emotional appeals. It’s more about showing that people, residents, are present and need to be expected to be present by those oblivious to the context of the community they are driving through.  So show them. And, don’t be afraid to be a little whacky…

via How We Drive

Signs like the one above would make  David Engwicht, who champions creating “intrigue and uncertainty”  to reclaim neighborhood streets, proud.

I can get behind that–a little cognitive dissonance created in the minds of drivers is likely to pull them out of their morning commute stupor or their end of the day slog home more than you think. Once you have them thinking about the context they are in, it is only a quick skip and a jump to realizing they are driving a 2-ton machine of death too fast for context.

What messages can you come up with? Please share…

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A few from the scribble pad and with a bit more umph:

Just place on tree lawn

Same theme, a little more direct:

I’ll go back to the scribble pad with any ideas shared here. If you’d like to organize a sign-making soiree, I encourage you to do so…keep readers posted or send me a message.

Thank you

Are we designing communities for the next 50 years or the past 50? 

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“Almost half of all 18 to 34-year-old drivers are driving less, and nearly two-thirds would drive less if alternative transportation options were available.”

~ Survey: Half of Gen Y would rather text than drive, USA Today

Graphic via Baby Boomers drive boom in new car sales (Freep)

“Those students, who are starting their college life as soon as today, are the youngest of a tech-infused millennial generation who – in sharp contrast to Baby Boomers and other previous generations – no longer view a driver’s license as a rite of passage into adulthood.”

~Marketing shift seen for Millennial generation, SFGate

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…it is greatly appreciated.

c

Yesterday, Walk Score announced Bike Score for a few select cities. No big surprises on the order of the scores, Minneapolis and Portland continue to bounce between the 1 and 2 spots. If you recall, Walks Score provides a rating of 0-100 for an address based on the walkability of that location. The higher the rating, the better the walkability. Real estate agents are beginning to use it and we once used it to map out City Commissioners’ home addresses (MW).

Walk Score

One of the new services the programmers at Walk Score have created is the rental search tool that filters results according to commute times by different modes of travel. So, put in the address of your work site and choose the commute time and mode of travel desired, and the results will return the listed rentals within that range. I’m not looking to move, but the tool is helpful to illustrate how Traverse City’s 14,000 plus residents are prime to be champions for more transportation choices.

Let’s say you work at the Governmental Center at 400 Boardman Avenue, where could you live that is still within a 20-minute walk?

20-minutes equates to about a mile walking at a leisurely pace of 3-mph, the speed that planners use to gauge walking times and distances people are willing to walk (I average about 3.7 mph, so distance will vary). As you can see below, if you choose to walk one-mile there is a wide area within Traverse City where you might find a home. At least 4, if not 6 different neighborhoods are within range. *

20 minute walk commute

If you’re willing to walk 40 minutes one-way (2-miles), then the range covers almost the entire city except for the outskirts in the hills. Admittedly, most people aren’t going to choose to walk 40-minutes one way, not because they are unable or they don’t have the time…it’s because for the last 50 years, in some people’s opinions anyway, walking has been trained out of us (Slate).

20 minute walk commute

Still, mapping where most Americans mentally, if not physically, are, shows that a 10-minute walking commute provides a lot of habitat for a promising city or county employee working at 400 Boardman Ave. The walkable area would even include the soon to be built Depot Property. Not to mention, the amenities found within this walking cloud are robust: parkland, grocery shopping, bars, restaurants, nightlife, a river, Lake Michigan beaches…not a bad living.

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What’s your walking cloud look like?

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Are there any surprises? What’s more in range than you thought it was?  

For comparison, the Walk Score tool also creates a commute range for bicycling, driving and for transit. The latter isn’t available yet for Traverse City, but if you choose to pedal to work your optional ranges really expand. And, despite the disconnects in infrastructure, the City is a pretty pleasant place to pedal around. These are the 15 and 20 minute bike clouds for 400 Boardman Ave. for riding at a leisurely 10-mph pace.

15 minute bike commute

20 minute bike commute

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 Apartment search tool demo:

* Walk Score apartment finder allows you to filter for other amenities you want to have in walking distance. I chose all of them in the above searches to remove the current listings in Traverse City for cleaner looking maps. 

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Related articles

• What’s Your Bike Score?: First there was Walk Score, now… (dc.curbed.com)
• Walk Score Launches Bike Score (theatlanticcities.com)
• Bike Score ranks Portland nation’s 2nd best city for being bicycle commuter (oregonlive.com)
• Top 25 Most Transit Friendly US Cities (triplepundit.com)

…it is greatly appreciated. And, needed.

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Announcements

Wednesday Night: Ride of Silence–a slow cycling procession to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while riding on public roadways. Starts and ends near the Filling Station at the old train depot in Traverse City. This is a national event and if you’re not in Traverse City likely a ride near you (Ride of Silence).

Saturday 1pm: Route 35 Dedication Ceremony–Traverse City is hosting the ribbon cutting for the establishment of Route 35, one of the newest additions to the U.S. Bicycle Route System (Wiki).  U.S. Bicycle Route 35 is a 500-mile route that runs from Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, through Michigan to Indiana generally following the Lake Michigan shoreline. A map of the U.S. system (PDF) and a map of Michigan’s routes (jpg).

Saturday 4PM: Tweed Ride–A fun, leisurely ride in your finest tweed; pretty simple. Gather at the Open Space for a departure shortly there after. No fee, no need to register, no special gear required. A post-ride social will be at the Outre Lounge at the InsideOut Gallery around 6:30pm

Wednesday May 23rd: Lucinda Means Bicycle Advocacy Day–Click through for more details and history of the this event via the League of Michigan Bicyclists. This is an annual event at the state capital. The Lucinda Means Bicycle Advocacy Day is an opportunity for those who “enjoy riding on Michigan roads, trails or dirt single track” an opportunity to advocate with other like-minded  citizens in a day of advocacy. The day kicks off with a police escorted ride, speakers, visiting Michigan legislators, lunch, and afternoon activities. Registration is required.

June 4-8, 2012: Smart Commute Week–The annual weeklong event encourages us to consider ways to lessen the number of miles spent alone in our cars. What part of your commute could you move towards more active transportation? Is pedaling that 4 miles to work an option? Walking that 1 mile? Can public transit assist your commute? Is there someone to car-pool with?  Registration for TART Trails’ 18th Annual Smart Commute Challenge is now open. TART has several events planned throughout the week, so visit TART Trails website for more information.

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Any events I’m missing?

Please add in the comments…

…it is greatly appreciated. And, needed._

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Why did men stop wearing stylish hats? (NPR)

In the 1950s — and this was one of Ike’s grand accomplishments — he built a vast highway system across America. Interstates went up everywhere. Cities extended roads, turnpikes, highways, and suburbs appeared around every major city. People, instead of taking a bus, a tram, a train to work, could hop into their new Chevy or Ford and drive.

Before Eisenhower, many more people used public transportation. After Eisenhower, they used a car. That, my father thinks, created the critical Head-To-Roof Difference.

Hmmm. Should also mention that men also stopped walking to work. Many stopped walking in general. As a man with not much protection on top, I’m sympathetic to the loss of this cultural trait. Certainly, when walking I’m almost never without a hat and now I’m reminded that my hat reserve could use a boost.

(Hat Tip to M.G. for the link.)

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This is a good time to throw out a reminder: TC TWeed Ride is May 19th…good time to lose the helmet and wear a nice looking hat.

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…it is greatly appreciated. And, needed._

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On the Bike

by reifindout

Freedom of the bike ride expressed in this promo for REI’s city cycling brand. Certainly provides a nice portrait of #WhyWeRide (SBlog)….Independence, pleasure, stress free, connections, fun…what else?

Do video’s like this inspire you to hop on a bike and go?

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Dear Michigan,

Year after year, your robins, chickadees and wrens have sung the start of my days; your vultures and hawks have circled the blue skies of my summers with perfect, silent poetry; your woodpeckers have drummed my every entry into your great oak forests; your cranes and geese have given raw, potent voice to each magnificent turn of season; your owls have filled my winter nights with sweet unseen mystery…

For so many years, I have dwelled upon your glaciated ground, walked your loamy eskers and moraines, climbed your soft dunes, picked up your stones and held them in my hand, in my gaze.. Stones from till, from lake bottoms, from beaches, from islands, from U.P. mountaintops, from well-known farm fields and hard-won garden beds. All of my wonder has begun here – in seeing the colors of your Earth. All of my dreams have begun here – while resting on your solid ground.

Nordhouse Series, Ludington, MI

How many times have I brought myself to stand upon and to run the lengths of your great shorelines – miles upon miles of beloved beaches – urban and wild – on Michigan, Superior, Huron… And how many times have I died with joy to immerse myself in your abundant fresh blue waters.. so cold and so sweet, from May through Octobers – even December once — and often, so often, in my dreams. Oh the midnight of Superior, the teal of Michigan, and the promise of every hue of every changing sky your waters have held… The dawns and the dusks you mirror and celebrate unceasingly, moment by moment, as if nothing else mattered. Oh to have lived here, totally surrounded by water, with shorelines not just east or west but all around – in your cradle of sweetwater coasts.

How many snowflakes have you placed delicately in my hair, in months of total surrender to the cold white wonder? How many winters has my heart entered into a trusting marriage with silence, to heal the years’ pains, to incubate dreams lying patiently dormant. How many configurations of ice and snow — falling, freezing, melting, freezing, glittering, thawing — have dazzled my eyes and awakened my deepest elemental awe, in the season of self-made light and warmth.

How many years has the power of spring awakened my spirit to the core – the scent of magnolia after a warm spring thunderstorm.. the fragrance of crabapple, lilac, of wet worm-rich earth, the scent of sun again on one’s skin… the new flood of birdsong in the mornings, the great melting of perceived boundaries along with the snow.

How your hot summers have made my body move… running your dirt roads, bending over your fields, carrying your harvests from here to there, biking downhill to a certain lake for a night swim, breast stroke out to the middle of it for the best view of the moon, with bat flight and fireflies all around…

And how many autumns have I wholly welcomed and walked into with a calm heart and a favorite sweater, going out to collect turkey feathers, red maple and sassafras leaves from the matrix of the forest floor, knowing that change is good…

And finally, how many good people are rooted here in your folds, working to protect your water, your wildlife, your fertile farmland, your forests and savannas and prairies and wetlands; as well as to fortify, beautify and uplift your cities, towns, and villages and all the people who live here. How many of them am I blessed to know as friends, teachers, healers, revolutionaries, or uncommonly kind strangers.

As I journey towards a different state, a different coastline, I bring gratitude for the years, and will do my best to bring the wisdom of Michigan to light abroad.

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Jessica is native to the Great Lakes region though has recently migrated to the Monterey Bay area where she is transitioning from sweet water to salty. She maintains a website with a blog focused on relationship to place at www.jessicamaris.com

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Related articles

• Being a Michigan Girl: “Do Good, Have Fun” (MyWHaT)
• The Michigan Exodus Myth (Burgh Diaspora)

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Help keep me off the road, donate to the walking shoes fund

…it is greatly appreciated._

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Connect the Dots

TC350 supporters gather for Climate Impacts Day at the Open Space.

The group isn’t alone. The event was an international day of photos, led by the 350 campaign, to highlight the harbingers of global weirding that are already occurring. In Traverse City, the theme was roughly based on the hottest March on record (NOAA)–winter hats and bathing suits, anyone?

A slide show of Connect the Dots images is available here.

I certainly appreciate the following group photo from Bekaa, Lebanon connecting active transportation to more resilient transportation.

Locally, I admit there is very little to do about global weirding. However, we can build resilient communities that are able to quickly adapt and respond to adversity. In Traverse City, weatherman Dave Barrons explores these topics bi-weekly on his public access show, Investigating Community Resilience.

In a recent show, he discusses with Bob Russell of the Neahtawanta Center two of the primary drivers of change: climate change and resource depletion.

Thank you for all those paying attention and drawing attention to the issues.

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Related:

• The Historic March Heat Wave (NOAA)
• Majorities of Americans say that global warming and clean energy should be among the nation’s priorities. (Yale)
• Connecting the dots between climate change and extreme weather (WunderUnderground–Jeff Masters)
• Sustainable Living TC (Local Blog)

]]> http://mywheelsareturning.com/2012/05/07/connecting-the-dots-tc-is-part-of-a-global-action/feed/ 1 GLHowe Give climate transport http://mywheelsareturning.com/2012/05/04/announcement-tree-planting-along-boardman-lake-trail/ http://mywheelsareturning.com/2012/05/04/announcement-tree-planting-along-boardman-lake-trail/#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 13:22:29 +0000 GLHowe http://mywheelsareturning.com/?p=20102 ]]> Announcement

MyWHaT underwriter TART Trails, as they often do, is taking a lead on a community improvement project this afternoon and you’re invited to come lend a hand or simply ride by and give them a big thank you.

In partnership with the City, volunteers will be planting trees along the Boardman Lake Trail near the waste water treatment plant.  There is a combination of 26 White Pines, 26 White Spruces and 20 Virginia Creeper (vines) to be put in the ground.

Volunteers will be equipped with wheelbarrows, shovels, buckets for water and gloves, but if you want to work you may also like to bring your own favorite tool(s). They will be meeting Today at 3:30pm along the trail near Hull Park and expect to be done by 5:30.

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Where can you plant a tree?  

Have a weekend.

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Help keep me off the road, donate to the walking shoes fund

I was walking in the narrow one-way street heading into the Grand Traverse Civic Center. There are no sidewalks and it was more crowded with parked cars than usual. It can be a bit of cluster-bunch there. I’ve always thought it just needs a bit of intentional design to improve it.

As I was walking, a car approached from behind. I moved closer to the south side of the street to allow room, but I was headed to the north side to access the trail system. As the driver pulled by, I made my cross expecting him to continue into the Civic Center. Only he didn’t continue, instead he stopped and abrubtly started to back-up without hesitation–I was already crossing the street and now directly in his path. Luckily, I did notice even if he didn’t and bounced out of the way. As I stepped around the front of the car and the driver continued to back-up apparenlty oblivious to my presence.

I had a completely normal human reaction; I shot a stink-eye and mumbled an insanity. That was enough. No harm, just a reaction. Moving on. Then the car stopped and the driver rolled down the window to ask, “what did I do?”

“You almost hit me. You didn’t have a clue I was walking there when you began to back-up,” I replied, not quite knowing what to expect and still a little rattled by almost getting smacked by a sedan.

He got out of the car and began to walk towards me. By now the park fence was between us and we both approached each other; choosing to further engage. I wasn’t in the mood for a fight. Really, I thought, do I want to do this right now. Thankfully, neither was he.

With an uncomfortable smile, he explained how he had seen me and expected me to keep walking on the right. I said I understood and simply had a reaction to all of sudden having a car backing-up towards me. I pointed out how the bottle neck of the entrance didn’t help the situation and that extra caution was needed due to the lack of design considerations. He wasn’t expecting a discussion about street design, but agreed and said he sees the problem. We both agreed to watch out and shook hands as best we could through the fence.

All quite civic and civil.

That’s it. A story of civility from the wild streets of Traverse City.