Thursday, January 21, 2016

Hey, whatever happened to Two Way Streets Now?

The illustration is borrowed from the Bookseller, who wrote:

I'm really getting tired of having to apologize to visitors on the streets of New Albany. Really tired. There IS one way to fix it. Why haven't we?

One thing invariably leads to another. First, a question included in this post: Your questions answered from “(Re)Building Downtown”, at Smart Growth America.

Q. In my community, we’ve had feedback that residents do NOT want downtown to be walkable—in part because Main Street is currently a major thoroughfare. Do we listen to that or move forward with a more walkable downtown despite it?

A. Listening is incredibly important. If residents are angry and upset about a revitalization project, it’s not likely that the project will succeed in the end. That said, try to dig in deeper on why they want Main Street to stay how it is. Ideally you would meet with concerned residents one-on-one at a coffee shop or other neutral place, and try to understand their motivations and share your perspective. Try to find common ground and go from there. They obviously already care about how your community works, and that’s not a bad place to start.

Then, a "ping" inside the ol' cranium.

I skipped over to Facebook to see the latest at Two Way Streets Now, only to be greeted with this:


Whatever happened to the Two Way Streets Now group?

If it were a web site and not a Facebook page, I'd guess that the domain expired and was claimed by Warren Naps -- you know, so as to prevent motivations and perspective, because that's what a one-party system tends to do.

Interestingly, one of our lawyer friends now has an office on Spring Street, and recently made this observation.

I love my new office at 611 E. Spring, but it really brings home just how terrible the one-way streets are for quality of life and how the traffic, noise, and speed discourage walking. The difference from 412 E. Main (which has problems, too) is stark. You really do have to live this every day to get it. Never fully appreciated it until now.

Team Gahan doesn't live it, and so ... they don't get it, do they?

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