Why not?

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!

BATA Releases New Study: Exclusive First Look at Improvements

December 2, 2011 1 comment

~ Guest Contributor James Bruckbauer, transportation specialist at MLUI brings MyWHaT readers the first look at sweeping new recommendations for BATA. Bruckbauer also writes about transit for the MLUI blog, Our Voices, where a version of this post will appear. 

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The Bay Area Transit Authority unveiled on Wednesday a groundbreaking study aimed at improving our region’s largest bus system. Working with transit consultants Vlecides-Schroeder, recommendations are now in place that, if implemented, will help people get from their homes to jobs and stores. It will help visitors and tourists better connect to and enjoy the region. At the same time, BATA will continue to be a vital service for hundreds of families for daily needs. It could will transform transportation in the region.

It’s called the Transit Service and Coordination Study and it could be one of the most significant pieces to implementing the Grand Vision to date.

You can view it here or in the embed below.

The following recommendations are worth noting:

  • Reorganize the Cherriot system: for example, straightening routes, getting rid of inefficiencies, and increasing speed.
  • Provide a “campus connector”: create a  service that circulates the city (replacing the Express Route) connecting NMC’s main campus, the University Center, and Munson Hospital.
  • Improve Village Connectors: BATA’s “fixed-schedule routes that connect to cities and towns outside TC every hour, possibly extending the hours, and running on Saturdays and Sundays.
  • Add Village Connectors: develop two more Village Connectors that would connect Traverse City to Interlochen and the Grand Traverse Resort in Acme.
  • Introduce Technology: upgrade the fare system to use card-swipe technology.
  • Miscellaneous: other perhaps more obvious recommendations include improving bus stops and their connections to sidewalks and trails, redesigning the agency’s website, and improving overall marketing.

The plan is not perfect; a few lingering questions remain about Cherriot routes in town. For example, Why not run a bus on Division? Is there a strong need to run on Oak St.?

Still, most of the changes would be a dramatic improvement. With these changes, the system would become more attractive for those who want to get around the region without depending on a car, including many commuters.

But we need to be patient; this will take some time. In fact, the agency will still have to turn the recommendations into a solid 5-year plan before it can implement. However, I trust we can get this done.

This study supports the way we want to grow in this region. Our towns and villages will be better shaped and connected to each other, commuters will have more choices, our streets will have less congestion, and our neighborhoods will be healthier.

I’ll try to keep you informed in the coming months on the plan, some of the changes, and what they will mean to you.

Go ride a bus! 

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She Rides so Light, She Flies

December 2, 2011 Leave a comment

Mental Break

via the Tumblr universe

Short days touched me. Started thinking of spring time.

Fly free.

Poetry welcome.

Weighty Decision: The Walk Commute or The Bike Commute

December 1, 2011 3 comments

Not sure what happened, but I’m back at _____ lbs…Or, around a 25-pound extra footprint I’m unnecessarily  leaving behind everywhere I go–my apologies.

If I’m to burn some of this extra weight off, I’ll need to work some additional exercise into my commute, typically a 2-mile return commute. What are the choices?

  • 2 miles at a 4-mph pace and at my weight will burn 233 calories. A slightly slower pace for a 20-minute mile and I’ll burn 186 calories…both equal a beer! 
  • If I choose to be lazy and bicycle the 2-miles at 10-12-mph pace, I only burn 99 calories, however, if I take an extended tour and tack on 20 minutes the burn increases to 280-calories…more than covering that beer!

It is good to have choices.

Calculate the benefits of your car-free commute at any number of online calculators, the most robust I found is here.

Do you see your commute as a calorie burning opportunity?

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NOTE: I’m fully aware I’ll need to do a little more to slim up than just walk to work–thank you very much. Also fully aware that beer isn’t necessarily the best thing for a diet, however, in moderation, it is a nice coping mechanism.

 

 

Crosswalk Ordinance? What Crosswalk Ordinance?

December 1, 2011 5 comments

Last year, Ann Arbor passed a crosswalk ordinance that become the model Traverse City used for its recent crosswalk ordinance (TC’s Uniform Traffic Code Section 410.03). It requires all vehicles (including bicycles) to stop for pedestrians in unregulated crosswalks that are marked and posted.

If you haven’t noticed, it is in effect. Any reports from the streets?

Front side of a postcard campaign by Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition

Driver Behavior Remains the Issue

Ann Arbor has had issues with compliance of their law as the privilege associated with driving a car is difficult to change. People behind the wheel are still not readily stopping and there has been an uptick with fender-bender rear ends when someone stops too quickly. Ann Arbor is attempting to improve that with stricter enforcement, enhanced warning systems and perhaps with a slight clarifying of the ordinance language to clarify that a stop is only required if “a pedestrian is stopped at the curb or ramp leading to a crosswalk.” It avoids the vague term of “when approaching” a crosswalk.

Still, authorities in Ann Arbor are discovering that the biggest obstacle to compliance has nothing to do with the ordinance or pedestrians; the biggest issue remains driver behavior. Namely, distracted driving and driving too fast. There is state law to help reduce the former and the latter requires that the city focus on design of the streets to restrict speeds, but also to protect pedestrians with greater use of bump-outs, medians and narrow streets. It appears from the comments by council members, that Ann Arbor’s council is supporting continued improvement in street design guidelines to achieve those ends. Ann Arbor is also attempting to raise the awareness of the ordinance through postcard and ad campaigns, as well as continuing to provide video footage of the experience on the street.

Want to Help

Forces are coming together in Traverse City to begin a PR campaign for our new ordinance, both through the City Planning office and through citizen effort. If you’re interested in lending a talent, an idea or being filmed as you navigate the streets, you can send me a message or contact the planning department to be plugged in. TC resident Marya Tyler is also interested in putting together some short PR videos that will air online and public access. If interested, email at: maryawashingtontyler@hotmail.com

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The following video was effective in helping to get A2′s ordinance passed. (If you need a bit of a pick-me-up in your attitude before your daily walk commute, watch this video).

“We can have a community where we no longer feel invisible as pedestrians– where motorists stop to allow children to cross the street.”

Related Articles:

Letting Children Create Their Own Play

November 30, 2011 2 comments

Water & Play: Just Try to Drag Them Away

Part of the interactive playscape at Darling Park, Sydney Australia by Aspect Studios

This what I’m talking about!  Creating parks that draw children in and capture their imaginations for hours on end through endless movement, experimentation and, what the designers of Dalring Park call, “acceptable risk taking.” (FastCo. Design)

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Can you think of anywhere in your community where some innovation & inspiration is needed?

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NOTE: Traverse City is no Sydney Australia and we won’t be matching this output on our waterfront. However, part of the goal from the 2010 planning process was capturing the essence of creating play through out the entire project, namely at Clinch Park. We do this through great design. 

For more inspiration: