Press release coming soon.
Showing posts with label walkable neighborhoods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label walkable neighborhoods. Show all posts
Friday, May 13, 2011
Monday, February 16, 2009
Looking Back to Move Forward
One of the little discussed but much agreed upon issues put forth at the neighborhood forum last week was the idea that we need to identify where we’re going in order to get there.
My father was a carpenter by trade with little more than an eighth grade education. Yet he possessed an uncanny ability to look out over a vacant lot and see the finished home sitting there, complete with paint and landscaping, before driving the first nail. He had the vision in his head and then set forth to make it a reality.
Conversely we in New Albany do not have such a vision, at least not in any broad sense, to work toward. There are multitudes of individual concepts both public and private that float to the top on occasion but rarely do they get much farther than the door jamb of the room in which they are voiced.
So even though I realize that from many fronts I’m going to get the same old tired retorts of, “The city is broke!”, “We’re in a recession!”, “We can’t!” or “The sky is falling!”, I’m going to throw the question out once again in hopes of beginning an expansive, broad based, and far reaching conversation.
One that will hopefully look far beyond two-way streets, potholes, signage, and low manpower issues.
One that will explore such questions as what assets or attributes do we have (or need to develop) to entice individuals & businesses to call New Albany home?
What role do we play or want to play in the Metro area?
What’s missing from our downtown and core neighborhoods that would make living here more attractive and enjoyable?
I, for one, choose to look backwards in a sense to find those solutions. I, like many of you, grew up with the “Ward & Beaver ©” syndrome deeply embedded into my psyche. Likewise I, like most of you, arrived at the horrific conclusion that for the most part, it was bunk!
However, it was not all bad as I remember. In Scottsburg where I grew up the local 5¢ and 10¢ was also the fabric shop and the bookstore where we got our textbooks & supplies for the new school year. Oh! And it had the best 1¢ candy selection in two counties!
There was the grocery store complete with a fresh meat butcher shop, the drug store with a soda fountain, the hardware store so well stocked that if they didn’t have it you couldn’t possibly ever need it, and all this rounded out by the bank that not only knew your name when you walked in but was willing to talk to you!
All of this was in the downtown core by the way.
During that same time prior to Interstate highways coming thru, we used to come to and thru New Albany to shop and get to Louisville and points south. (See, the more some things change, the more they remain the same!)
Doing so for me was a treat because Woolworth’s had a bigger soda fountain than did Hancock's and Jerry’s had shrimp & oysters which were unheard of in Scottsburg. The store fronts had more elaborate signage and bigger plate glass windows as well!
Nostalgia? Of course, but the point being there was an atmosphere that embodied both small town comfort and safety, combined somewhat with big city bustle and availability. Those memories in large part are why I chose to live here for many years and to ultimately buy a home here.
Can we go back to that point in time? Of course not but I believe we can look at what worked about that era and rework some it to fit into the 21st century.
I think a soda fountain for the younger set could exist alongside a WIFI ready coffee shop for their elders. I can see a seamstress shop next to an art gallery. I have no problem envisioning apartment and lofts over ground floor retail establishments that cater to young single adults in conjunction with core neighborhood single family housing for all ages and income levels.
And speaking of neighborhoods, what’s to stop a small corner grocery stocked with staples along with community gardens for fresh veggies and small parks where neighbors can gather to visit while they watch their kids play?
The above may sound way too hokey for many but I’m convinced that for just as many it may be just what the doctor ordered. Yet another primary reason for me choosing the core of New Albany was that every need (read need as opposed to want) could be met within walking distance if all else went to hell in a hand basket. In our current economic environment that is a biggy.
So now that I’ve bared my soul along these lines, it’s your turn. What kind of atmosphere do you ultimately want you and your children to live in?
What kinds of retail, service business, and entertainment would entice you to invest in a community?
What do we have or can create that the rest of the Metro Louisville area doesn’t have, or wants and needs more of? How do we fit in that big picture?
In my view these are the questions that must be answered in order to form a vision. Once we can see the end result in our collective minds eye, then we can begin the process of getting there. Back to my Dad again!
And in the end, the results will not be exactly what we envisioned but it doesn’t really matter. The three things that matter are that we ask the questions,
form the vision, and AGREE COLLECTIVELY to work towards those goals.
So have at it! Let your imaginations run! Let’s begin this conversation in earnest!
My father was a carpenter by trade with little more than an eighth grade education. Yet he possessed an uncanny ability to look out over a vacant lot and see the finished home sitting there, complete with paint and landscaping, before driving the first nail. He had the vision in his head and then set forth to make it a reality.
Conversely we in New Albany do not have such a vision, at least not in any broad sense, to work toward. There are multitudes of individual concepts both public and private that float to the top on occasion but rarely do they get much farther than the door jamb of the room in which they are voiced.
So even though I realize that from many fronts I’m going to get the same old tired retorts of, “The city is broke!”, “We’re in a recession!”, “We can’t!” or “The sky is falling!”, I’m going to throw the question out once again in hopes of beginning an expansive, broad based, and far reaching conversation.
One that will hopefully look far beyond two-way streets, potholes, signage, and low manpower issues.
One that will explore such questions as what assets or attributes do we have (or need to develop) to entice individuals & businesses to call New Albany home?
What role do we play or want to play in the Metro area?
What’s missing from our downtown and core neighborhoods that would make living here more attractive and enjoyable?
I, for one, choose to look backwards in a sense to find those solutions. I, like many of you, grew up with the “Ward & Beaver ©” syndrome deeply embedded into my psyche. Likewise I, like most of you, arrived at the horrific conclusion that for the most part, it was bunk!
However, it was not all bad as I remember. In Scottsburg where I grew up the local 5¢ and 10¢ was also the fabric shop and the bookstore where we got our textbooks & supplies for the new school year. Oh! And it had the best 1¢ candy selection in two counties!
There was the grocery store complete with a fresh meat butcher shop, the drug store with a soda fountain, the hardware store so well stocked that if they didn’t have it you couldn’t possibly ever need it, and all this rounded out by the bank that not only knew your name when you walked in but was willing to talk to you!
All of this was in the downtown core by the way.
During that same time prior to Interstate highways coming thru, we used to come to and thru New Albany to shop and get to Louisville and points south. (See, the more some things change, the more they remain the same!)
Doing so for me was a treat because Woolworth’s had a bigger soda fountain than did Hancock's and Jerry’s had shrimp & oysters which were unheard of in Scottsburg. The store fronts had more elaborate signage and bigger plate glass windows as well!
Nostalgia? Of course, but the point being there was an atmosphere that embodied both small town comfort and safety, combined somewhat with big city bustle and availability. Those memories in large part are why I chose to live here for many years and to ultimately buy a home here.
Can we go back to that point in time? Of course not but I believe we can look at what worked about that era and rework some it to fit into the 21st century.
I think a soda fountain for the younger set could exist alongside a WIFI ready coffee shop for their elders. I can see a seamstress shop next to an art gallery. I have no problem envisioning apartment and lofts over ground floor retail establishments that cater to young single adults in conjunction with core neighborhood single family housing for all ages and income levels.
And speaking of neighborhoods, what’s to stop a small corner grocery stocked with staples along with community gardens for fresh veggies and small parks where neighbors can gather to visit while they watch their kids play?
The above may sound way too hokey for many but I’m convinced that for just as many it may be just what the doctor ordered. Yet another primary reason for me choosing the core of New Albany was that every need (read need as opposed to want) could be met within walking distance if all else went to hell in a hand basket. In our current economic environment that is a biggy.
So now that I’ve bared my soul along these lines, it’s your turn. What kind of atmosphere do you ultimately want you and your children to live in?
What kinds of retail, service business, and entertainment would entice you to invest in a community?
What do we have or can create that the rest of the Metro Louisville area doesn’t have, or wants and needs more of? How do we fit in that big picture?
In my view these are the questions that must be answered in order to form a vision. Once we can see the end result in our collective minds eye, then we can begin the process of getting there. Back to my Dad again!
And in the end, the results will not be exactly what we envisioned but it doesn’t really matter. The three things that matter are that we ask the questions,
form the vision, and AGREE COLLECTIVELY to work towards those goals.
So have at it! Let your imaginations run! Let’s begin this conversation in earnest!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
REWIND: Biking, walking and other blatant attacks on the New Albanian way of life.
At the invitation of Mayor England, I'm preparing to board my bike and pedal to a stategy session on community biking/walking systems. There'll be more on the afternoon's discussion coming later this evening. Until then, here's a "rewind" from January, 2005, and you'll note that I was wrong. We're having a forum of sorts today, and it is being chaired by the mayor. That seems like progress to me.
Biking, walking and other blatant attacks on the New Albanian way of life
For the second consecutive temperate January day, NA Confidential will be bicycling to work. Of course, it is essential to use the side streets, as New Albany's major thoroughfares are too dangerous and lack not only bike lanes, but ridiculously often, the bare minimum of sidewalks for pedestrian use.
Fittingly (in more ways than one), today's Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO) and staffer Rochelle Renford return to last month's report by the Surface Transportation Policy Project, "which names Metro Louisville the 23rd most dangerous place for pedestrians among 50 similar-sized regions."
Referring to sociologist Richard Florida's assertion that the presence of bicycle lanes is one amenity (of many) needed to attract the creative class, Renford bluntly adds that "in Metro Louisville, bike lanes and the ability to avoid the automobile are still just dreams, although there are downtown lofts and a very hip skate park."
Renford surveys recent efforts in Louisville to improve this abysmal ranking. Coming up in February is the Metro Louisville Bicycle Summit, where longtime public advocates like the CART organization will join with other attendees for a public forum hosted by Mayor Jerry Abramson.
A public forum? Chaired by the Mayor? Son, that's Louisville, not New Albany. Besides, it's funny enough trying to imagine any current City Council members riding a bike, much less expressing support for the same.
Here are the relevant links:
Walk This Way: A pedestrian-friendly community is a livable community, by Rochelle Renford in LEO
Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson hosts the Metro Louisville Bicycle Summit, February 7-8, 2005
CART: Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation
Biking, walking and other blatant attacks on the New Albanian way of life
For the second consecutive temperate January day, NA Confidential will be bicycling to work. Of course, it is essential to use the side streets, as New Albany's major thoroughfares are too dangerous and lack not only bike lanes, but ridiculously often, the bare minimum of sidewalks for pedestrian use.
Fittingly (in more ways than one), today's Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO) and staffer Rochelle Renford return to last month's report by the Surface Transportation Policy Project, "which names Metro Louisville the 23rd most dangerous place for pedestrians among 50 similar-sized regions."
Referring to sociologist Richard Florida's assertion that the presence of bicycle lanes is one amenity (of many) needed to attract the creative class, Renford bluntly adds that "in Metro Louisville, bike lanes and the ability to avoid the automobile are still just dreams, although there are downtown lofts and a very hip skate park."
Renford surveys recent efforts in Louisville to improve this abysmal ranking. Coming up in February is the Metro Louisville Bicycle Summit, where longtime public advocates like the CART organization will join with other attendees for a public forum hosted by Mayor Jerry Abramson.
A public forum? Chaired by the Mayor? Son, that's Louisville, not New Albany. Besides, it's funny enough trying to imagine any current City Council members riding a bike, much less expressing support for the same.
Here are the relevant links:
Walk This Way: A pedestrian-friendly community is a livable community, by Rochelle Renford in LEO
Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson hosts the Metro Louisville Bicycle Summit, February 7-8, 2005
CART: Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Distance Education
Our school corporation consumes 66% off all property taxes in Floyd County.
A significant portion of those taxes go toward transportation. We've budgeted $1.3 million for bus replacement in 2008 alone, with an additional $1.3 million earmarked for future purchases. $1.3 million buys 15 buses. The school system operates 130 of them.
According to the NA/FC Consolidated School System web site, those buses travel about 1 million miles a year. With mileage at 10 miles per gallon and diesel fuel prices at $3.50 per gallon, that's $350,000 per year in fuel costs.
That doesn't include driver contracts or salaries, insurance, and maintenance. It also doesn't take into account the school system's penchant for closing schools in walkable neighborhoods and expanding them in far flung, sparsely populated areas, requiring more, not less, driving.
No one pays a direct fare to ride the buses. People who would pay fares are restricted from them, even though 17% of all households and 24% of rental households in six of New Albany's inner city census tracts have no vehicle access and we could all save money and fossil fuels with adequate public transportation.
I'll be the first to defend investment in public education as beneficial to the common good but, having purposely decided to live within walking distance of public schools, I'm confused as to how spending inordinate sums of money to set a bad example of unsustainable practice for our children as a part of their educational experience is beneficial or defensible.
Anyone care to educate me?
A significant portion of those taxes go toward transportation. We've budgeted $1.3 million for bus replacement in 2008 alone, with an additional $1.3 million earmarked for future purchases. $1.3 million buys 15 buses. The school system operates 130 of them.
According to the NA/FC Consolidated School System web site, those buses travel about 1 million miles a year. With mileage at 10 miles per gallon and diesel fuel prices at $3.50 per gallon, that's $350,000 per year in fuel costs.
That doesn't include driver contracts or salaries, insurance, and maintenance. It also doesn't take into account the school system's penchant for closing schools in walkable neighborhoods and expanding them in far flung, sparsely populated areas, requiring more, not less, driving.
No one pays a direct fare to ride the buses. People who would pay fares are restricted from them, even though 17% of all households and 24% of rental households in six of New Albany's inner city census tracts have no vehicle access and we could all save money and fossil fuels with adequate public transportation.
I'll be the first to defend investment in public education as beneficial to the common good but, having purposely decided to live within walking distance of public schools, I'm confused as to how spending inordinate sums of money to set a bad example of unsustainable practice for our children as a part of their educational experience is beneficial or defensible.
Anyone care to educate me?
Sunday, April 01, 2007
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