I'm in Love with My Car.

A Twitter user encapsulates: "We need to take radical steps to build more resilient, equitable communities that reverse our climate- destroying, auto-centric land use."

Appointed and elected officials in New Albany insist that their half-measures of the past few years have magically calmed the city's streets.

I simply isn't true, period. Automobile supremacy continues to be the only writ they know, because pay-to-play doesn't work with walkers and cyclists.

If any of them ever make this claim of success to you, look them square in the eye and say, "You lie just like Trump."

Because that's exactly what they're doing -- and worse, as with Trump, they know it.

Slowing the Cars in Austin, by Gabe Colombo (Strong Towns)

... Drivers kill or seriously injure more than 70 people a year on Austin’s roads—nationwide, about 18 pedestrians die every day in traffic crashes—and the design of our roads plays a critical role in what is, by all accounts, a public health crisis. East Yager Lane, where Billy was killed, is about 30 feet wide, and the speed limit is 45 miles per hour. There are no sidewalks.

Traffic fatalities are also deeply inequitable. Black people are nearly twice as likely to be killed by cars while walking than white people, and the fatality rate for Native Americans is nearly five times higher. Lower-income metro areas also have a higher rate of pedestrian crash injuries and fatalities.

The reasons are many: Non-white and low-income Americans are less likely to have access to a private vehicle (which is more expensive to purchase, feed, and maintain) and more often have no choice but to walk for their daily needs. At the same time, streets in neighborhoods of color and low-income neighborhoods are more car-oriented—with more and wider lanes, fewer crosswalks, fewer trees and poorly maintained or nonexistent sidewalks—owing to a legacy of underinvestment. Plus, urban transit systems have historically excluded communities of color and low-income neighborhoods.

In light of this stark reality, Austin’s recent decision to reduce speed limits across the city could not have come at a more appropriate time ... while a reduction of five mph might not seem like much to a driver, it has a significant impact on pedestrian safety. A car is roughly seven times as likely to severely injure a pedestrian when traveling at 35 mph than when traveling at 25. Boston’s recent widespread reduction in speed limits from 30 to 25 mph resulted in a nearly 30-percent reduction in the likelihood that drivers exceeded 35 mph on the city’s streets ...

Meanwhile, in Texas: "Austin Restaurants Stand Ground on Open Carry."

There is this, courtesy of the one-party state.

Indiana lawmakers file bills to make guns easier to buy, carry.

Then there is Texas, and this conversation-starter from Austin. A brief digression is merited.

Roughly at midpoint of Bank Street Brewhouse's original dining concept, a customer entered with a piece prominently displayed, presumably with a permit to do so.

One of the employees called me at home: What to do? Other customers saw the gun, gotten up, and left the building. There was consternation in the room.

I told him that this particular form of narcissism was perfectly legal, and there wasn't much to be done. We'd be compelled to have a management-level discussion, which we subsequently did.

Should we post pictograms of guns with slashes through them? Should words of reinforcement be added, even in a society like ours that refuses to read?

Ultimately, we did nothing. It seemed to be a one-off, and I don't think it happened again, but I remember what one of our employees asked:

If we posted signs prohibiting guns on the premises, and then someone came in with one anyway, exactly how does a server politely ask the open carry to leave?

Good question. Now, to Texas.

Austin Restaurants Stand Ground on Open Carry, by Melanie Haupt (Eater Austin)

On January 1, the law allowing licensed handgun owners to openly carry their firearms in public went into effect. The law, however, allows for private businesses to opt out of this measure, provided there are posted signs with one-inch-high block letters in conspicuous places stating that guns are not allowed on the property.

Some restaurants across the state have embraced the new law, like Amigo's BBQ Grill in Pflugerville. One Houston barbecue trailer, Brooks Place, is even going so far as to offer a 25% discount to diners packing heat.

Here in Austin, a number of restaurants have already chosen to prohibit open carry. Foreign & Domestic is among those restaurants. "There are several reasons why [we chose to opt out]," owner Ned Elliott told Eater, "but first and foremost, a warm, safe, inviting, joyous environment for all does not include sidearms." He added, "We want Foreign & Domestic to be a celebration." As such, any behaviors that infringe on other people’s comfort are off the menu at the North Loop restaurant.

Mueller Community in Austin, Texas: "Planners minimize the supremacy of the automobile and shape the environment around pedestrians."

I'm reminded of Tempelhofer Park in Berlin, where an airport was transformed into a commons. In this instance, it's a community.

(sighs and shrugs) ... Of all the current candidates for office in New Albany's municipal elections, how many (a) would support "smart urban design," and (b) even know what it means?

Perhaps Irv Stumler can ask Jim Padgett for a one-way definition.

With Porches And Parks, A Texas Community Aims For Urban Utopia, by John Burnett (NPR)

In Texas, a state where cars and private property are close to a religion, there is an acclaimed master-planned community that's trying something different.

When Austin's municipal airport closed 16 years ago, it created a planner's dream: 700 acres of prime real estate close to the city core. What emerged from years of public/private/neighborhood collaboration was the Mueller Community — often spoken of as a masterwork of smart urban design.

Mueller is the product of the "new-urbanism" concept: the idea that a built environment can create meaningful community. Planners minimize the supremacy of the automobile and shape the environment around pedestrians.