CM Blair's bank, the State Street exurb, commercial dereliction, corporate welfare and non-transparency.

Lightning Food Mart is an excellent example of the durability of locally-owned independent small business.

Conversely, most of State Street between the hospital and I-265 long ago was given over to chains and franchises of varying stripes, with a handful of locally-owned businesses scattered randomly through the vicinity.

It's several blocks of exurban sprawl logic crammed inelegantly between neighborhoods where people actually live, with perpetually renewing auto-intensive development, traffic problems, more car-driven development and the ensuing hamster wheel of futility in trying to balance conflicting interests.

Meanwhile, on Sunday this posting racked up huge numbers.

Let's go Krogering?: Does CM Blair's fixation with a boarded-up Hardee's have to do with gas pumps and corporate welfare?

As pointed out to me subsequently, Kroger's ongoing machinations aren't the only reason to pretend that discussions of how to seize and demolish "derelict" commercial properties should occupy council time when other factors are involved.

From 2013 ...

First Savings Bank nearly finished with Wesley Commons project, by Kevin Eigelbach (Louisville Business First)

Clarksville-based First Savings Financial Group Inc., the holding company for First Savings Bank, has nearly finished developing a 4-acre retail center in New Albany. The bank held a grand opening for a new bank branch there, its first in New Albany, last month.

And this:

Tenants: A Bob Evans restaurant, a Tire Discounters store, a Visionworks eyewear store, a Qdoba Mexican Grill restaurant, Bella Nails manicurist, Fantastic Sam’s hair care, Woodside Dental Center, the First Savings branch and a Starbucks coffee shop with a drive-through lane.

Ooh, a drive-thru?

And this:

The bank’s total investment: $7.55 million.

As a friend notes, $7.55 million for all of Wesley Commons makes the $9 million for River Run seem even more inflated, but the point is transparency.

Granted, just because CM Blair is a banker, it doesn't mean he's to be vocationally vilified (even if the temptation always will be strong for me), but the fact that his bank is a player in the immediate vicinity, and Kroger's redevelopment designs were not clearly delineated by Blair or anyone else at last Thursday's council meeting (the razing of  the fire station at a loss to the city to suit Kroger on the other side of the plaza is a different but no less annoying topic), and the city council itself typically participates in decisions pertaining to zoning, traffic and land use on the State Street corridor -- look, all these factors demand more, not less, transparency from elected officials.

Although it does prove that "independent" means different things to different people ... and I like my definition better than his.

Props to Lightning Food Mart's half-century in business.

This article is a good illustration of the qualities that independently-owned local small businesses exhibit when surviving over the long haul. They adapt to changing markets, find undervalued niches, and provide great service. Obviously, Lightning has been doing these things right.

Lightning strikes twice in New Albany, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

When Tammy and Bob Wolford decided to move Lightning Food Mart across Charlestown Road from the spot it had been located since 1962, they knew it would be a gamble.

But risk and reward are concepts convenience stores are built upon. Ranked as the top selling lottery store in Southern Indiana, Lightning Food Mart’s reputation for facilitating winners stretches from Floyds Knobs to Louisville.

At the risk of picking nits, one sentence is unsettling to me.

“One of the things I take the most pride in is we’re one of the only American-owned convenience stores left,” Wolford said.

Of course, I'm an advocate of "American-owned," so there is no disagreement there. However, why say "American-owned," when "independently-owned and operated" conveys the same meaning, without a reference to American, which in this context implies code language for "not owned by foreigners"?

It's just that words, language and ideas genuinely matter, but let's not stray too far from the central point: Independent local businesses are the economic backbone. Instead of subsidizing big-ticket, plaque-ready projects, shouldn't we be tending to our fundamental infrastructure as the best way to help independent local businesses compete on a level playing field?

New Albany's new slogan: "Truck Through City" ... Part 98: Diesel-fueled postcard vistas of downtown on a Bored to Death of Works Tuesday!

Oops -- they can't all be scenic vistas.

Fundamentally delayed: The New Albany Street Piano "Grand Opening" is Saturday, September 5.

The New Albany Street Piano "Grand Opening" will take place at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 5, and it is likely to be the politician-watching event of the millennium.

That's because:

Make no mistake: Jeff Gahan is the "driving force" behind the Bored of Works' inability to fathom street pianos, public art and modernity itself.

The street piano was quarantined for months by the mayor's insatiable need for down-low control, and when this fact became painfully obvious to the entire community (except Jimmy, of course), Team Gahan got hot and bothered.

GAHANS STRIKE BACK: Street piano approved but the social media fur begins to fly.

Now that something so very simple finally has been blessed by the self-appointed pillars, how many of them will turn out to claim credit for a phenomenon they neither understood nor assisted?

Celebrate the New Albany Street Piano, while remembering Team Gahan's dismal reaction to it.

I'll be there with a clipboard, checking off the hypocrisy.

Saturday, September 5
4:00 p.m.
Jimmy's Music Center, 123 E. Market St., New Albany

Mark your calendars! After all of the hullabaloo of the last few months, it is finally time to enjoy the New Albany Street Piano for its original purpose: making music and spreading joy to downtown New Albany. We hope to have a good crowd assembled for the unveiling, so please share this invite and bring a friend of two. We invite you all to stop by Jimmy's to see the piano and play/sing/listen for a bit, then head to enjoy an evening at one of the many fine establishments the downtown has to offer. Hope to see you there!

Parking Non-Problem 2: "How to respond when someone complains 'There's no parking.'"

It's been a couple of years since Jeff G mapped New Albany's parking supply (the photo above). Mapping is one of four responses to complaints of "there's no parking," as suggested by Nathaniel Hood, a transportation planner and blogger living in St. Paul who writes for Strong Towns and Streets.MN.

In Parking Non-Problem 1, there is a link to a City Lab article introducing Hood and his photos of wide open spaces where parking shortages are alleged to exist. In the following, Hood's points are truncated, so please click through and read the entire article.

How to respond when someone complains 'There's no parking', by Nathaniel Hood (Star Tribune)

OMG! There is NO parking!" - Concerned Citizen

I wish I had a bus ticket for every time I heard someone say this. Unless you're Manhattan or San Francisco, it is fair to say you don't have a parking problem. I take that back. You do have a parking problem -- there’s too much of it.

Here is a quick how-to guide on dealing with those who claim your city or town lacks adequate parking.

Step 1. Understand perception ... The easiest and most time-effective way of convincing your opposition is to have them acknowledge that the perception of parking availability is different than the reality.

Step 2. Map parking supply ... Load up Google Maps in your favorite web browser, search for your local area, and do a screen capture. Paste the image into MS Paint or a similar program. Start highlighting the open surface parking lots and parking garage structures. I recommend downloading Google Earth for this task.

Step 3. Document unused supply ... Walk around your selected area during normal conditions and take photos. And by normal conditions, I mean you shouldn't document supply during a Rolling Stones concert, nor should you snap photos at 4 a.m. on Monday morning.

Step 4. Use yourself as a case study ... Do it yourself advocacy is as simple as parking. I recommend getting a cheap dashboard camera (or mounting your phone) and recording yourself trying to park. I did this and here are the results on YouTube. I called it a challenge. It was anything but. As expected, parking was simple.

Parking Non-Problem 1. "The Real Downtown 'Parking Problem': There's Too Much of It."

There's not enough parking in downtown NA -- just the red areas.

The topic is "the gap between parking reality and parking perception" in St. Paul, Minnesota, where the Confidentials visited in 2014. We took the Green Line from our room, walked around St. Paul for hours, and enjoyed it immensely.

In Parking Non-Problem 2, we'll learn "How to respond when someone complains 'There's no parking.'"

The Real Downtown 'Parking Problem': There's Too Much of It ... A photographic tour of spots and lots in St. Paul’s booming Lowertown district, by Eric Jaffe (City Lab)

To hear USA Today describe it, the Lowertown district in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, is officially “up and coming.” In addition to some great restaurants and a year-round Farmers’ Market, the neighborhood is now home to Nice Ride bike-share stations and the new Green Line light rail. The St. Paul Saints, the city’s indy pro baseball club, started playing at the new CHS Field in Lowertown this spring.

But to hear the local papers describe Lowertown, the area’s emergence at a downtown destination has come with a severe parking shortage. Here are two city officials speaking to the Pioneer Press this spring:

Jack Gerten, who manages the Farmers' Market for the city, said he was trying to balance the needs of residents, potential area business patrons and the Saints.

"Lowertown's coming alive, but unfortunately, there's consequences," Gerten said.

City parking manager Gary Grabko added: "The development happening, private and public, has totally changed the parking situation ... especially in Lowertown. That's the reality of the problem.

Local transportation planner and blogger Nathaniel Hood sees things a bit differently. In several recent posts he’s pointed out that there is a parking problem in Lowertown—there’s too much of it. To help make his case, Hood took his camera to Lowertown on a recent “bustling Saturday afternoon” and photographed the shortage.

Let's go Krogering?: Does CM Blair's fixation with a boarded-up Hardee's have to do with gas pumps and corporate welfare?

On Friday, I emitted a rant.

Council meeting recap 1: State's a trashy chain-ridden asphalt nightmare, and this sole derelict Hardee's must go!

There was this interesting comment ...

Did we overhear Kroger managers talking about the company's plans to move the Kroger gas station to the Hardee's site?

If so, shouldn't Kroger pay for the demolition and site remediation?

Even though the city sold a relatively new fire station for much less than the replacement cost to allow Kroger to expand?

This morning over coffee, it was time for some research, prompted by this timely report from another helpful friend who agreed to hit the Internet for me. Let's have a look at the properties involved ...

The Hardees lot is a separate parcel cut from the large State Street Plaza lot. Both are owned by "New Albany Plaza LLC" using Kevin Schreiber as their listed agent. Kevin Schreiber is part of "The Shopping Center Group" - see: http://theshoppingcentergroup.com/people/kevin-schreiber/

Kroger is now listed as the owner of the former fire house lot using their holding company used for retail land purchases:

"Kroger Limited Partnership 1, through its General Partner KRGP, Inc., doing business as Kroger."

The Principal Officers are as follows:

President/COO: David B. Dillon of 1050 East Rookwood Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45208

Sr. Vice President/Secretary: Paul W. Heldman of 1135 Edwards Road, Cincinnati, OH 45208

Vice President/Treasurer: Scott M. Henderson of 10548 Secretariat Drive, Union, KY 41091.

And a bit more:

The existing Kroger store lot is currently owned by an entity named "B B W T, Inc." - I can't find out any information about that group, and I don't know what the initials represent.

Interestingly, supposedly the Penn Station (former 1st National bank building) comes down, and the Long John Silvers/A & W combo becomes part of the Kroger footprint to the west. When the project was announced, the plans were shown to the front line people, who talked about it for a few days. Now, if you ask any of them about it, all they'll say is that it's in the hands of the higher ups.

Here's a late update from yet another friend:

The Kroger on State Street owns the building that now holds Long John Silver and A & W. The owner of that franchise is looking to build where the Hardees buildig is now. He tried to get it in the contract for Kroger to remove that building and build a new one, but did not. However, the first stage of the Kroger expansion is to tear down the Long John Silver building in order to expand the gas station. Hope this helps.

Thanks to the three of you. Bankers seldom bother containing their enthusiasm for down-low deals of this nature, so it makes me wonder: Just how many deals are going to be cut for Kroger?

As an aside:

Almost from the moment the Kroger store opened on Grant Line Road, just across University Woods Drive from my pizzeria and public house business, the rumors began: Eventually, Kroger would buy Elliott Phillips's parking area (bounded by University Woods and Plaza Drive) and build a gas station there.

It never happened, but the rumors have not ceased.

Phillips no longer owns the property in question. It was purchased a couple years ago by ... the Blairs, from whom NABC leases parking spaces.

Road Kill 2: "The Trucks Are Killing Us."

Photo credit (from Vancouver WA)

In a densely populated urban area, big trucks should be traveling far more slowly than 35 - 40 mph, as they typically do when passing through New Albany.

Let's be truthful: Jeff Gahan is politically gutless and has done nothing to challenge this potentially hazardous equation. As mayor, at least I'll try -- consistently, openly, in public, from a standpoint of transparency. In the battle for New Albany's streets, we may in, or we may lose.

But you will have absolutely no doubt where I stand on the topic.

The Trucks Are Killing Us, by Howard Abramson (New York Times)

ACCIDENTS like the one that critically injured the comedian Tracy Morgan, killed his friend and fellow comedian James McNair, known as Jimmy Mack, and hurt eight others on the New Jersey Turnpike last year are going to continue to happen unless Congress stops coddling the trucking industry.

More people will be killed in traffic accidents involving large trucks this year than have died in all of the domestic commercial airline crashes over the past 45 years, if past trends hold true. And still Congress continues to do the trucking industry’s bidding by frustrating the very regulators the government has empowered to oversee motor carriers.

Road Kill 1: "Despite improvements, driving in America remains extraordinarily dangerous."

From the article.

"Roads get wider and busier and less friendly to pedestrians. And all of the development based around cars, like big sprawling shopping malls. Everything seems to be designed for the benefit of the automobile and not the benefit of the human being." -- Bill Bryson

Not to mention it being hazardous to one's health.

Traffic accidents: Road kill ... Despite improvements, driving in America remains extraordinarily dangerous (The Economist)

 ... Drunk-driving is just one of the perils of American roads. In 2014 some 32,675 people were killed in traffic accidents. In 2013, the latest year for which detailed data are available, some 2.3m were injured—or one in 100 licensed drivers. These numbers are better than a few decades ago, but still far worse than in any other developed country. For every billion miles Americans drive, roughly 11 people are killed. If American roads were as safe per-mile-driven as Ireland’s, the number of lives saved each year would be equivalent to preventing all the murders in the country.

In most of the rich world, far fewer people die in road accidents these days; cars are much safer than they were, with crumple zones, airbags, anti-locking brakes and adaptive cruise control. Use of seatbelts is widespread. But compared with other countries, America has not improved much. And in some ways things have been getting worse. For example, between 2009 and 2013 pedestrian deaths jumped by 15% as the economy recovered. In Britain, over the same period, the number fell by a fifth.

Many states are as safe to drive in as Europe: New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts all have low accident rates, for example. But in rural, sparsely-populated areas, where people drive long distances on long empty roads, the death rates can be shocking. In Wyoming in 2014, 131 people were killed in fatal crashes—a traffic-accident death rate higher than in most of sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, many deaths involve drivers who refuse to wear seatbelts.

Still confused about "road diets" and street redesign, Irv? Take a video tour and LEARN.

What? You mean just like in this document? Wow!

Even your grandchildren can watch a video ... and comprehend facts.

A Wonderfully Clear Explanation of How Road Diets Work: Planner Jeff Speck leads a video tour of four different street redesigns, by Eric Jaffe (City Lab)

A road diet is a great way for cities to reclaim some of the excess street space they’ve dedicated to cars—generally preserving traffic flows while improving safety and expanding mobility to other modes. But just as food dieters have Atkins, South Beach, vegan, and any number of options, road diets come in many flavors, too. Urban planner and Walkable City author Jeff Speck, in collaboration with graphic artist Spencer Boomhower, takes us on a tour of four types of street diets in a deliciously clear new video series.

"Ten Ways to Democratize the Economy," apart from the parties.

I won't be long-winded about this, as the article is lengthy and thought-provoking.

The fundamental difference between me and either Jeff Gahan or Kevin Zurschmiede is that as mayor, I'd be doing whatever I could to support democratization initiatives like the ones explained here.

In fact, I'd challenge the community to embrace these, and to do more. I sincerely believe that insofar as posterity cares about Gahan's term, it will focus on the perpetual pander: "Relax, and let me spend more of your money. You needn't do or believe anything. Just trust me."

This offends me, and it should offend you. Corporate welfare of the sort practiced by both major political parties has nothing to do with grassroots sustainability and democratization.

You have to push from the ground up. If I'm mayor, I'll listen and try to help.

What Then Can I Do? Ten Ways to Democratize the Economy, by Gar Alperovitz and Keane Bhatt

The richest 400 Americans now own more wealth than the bottom 180 million taken together. The political system is in deadlock. Social and economic pain continue to grow. Environmental devastation and global warming present growing challenges. Is there any path toward a more democratic, equal and ecologically sustainable society? What can one person do?

In fact, there is a great deal one person working with others can do. Experiments across the country already focus on concrete actions that point toward a larger vision of long-term systemic change – especially the development of alternative economic institutions. Practical problem-solving activities on Main Streets across the country have begun to lay down the elements and principles of what might one day become the direction of a new system – one centered around building egalitarian wealth, nurturing democracy and community life, avoiding climate catastrophe and fostering liberty through greater economic security and free time.

Margaret Mead famously observed: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Some of the ten steps described below may be too big for one person to take on in isolation, but many are exactly the right size for a small and thoughtful group committed to building a new economy, restoring democracy and displacing corporate power.

As the history of the civil rights movement, women’s movement, and gay-liberation movement ought to remind us, it’s precisely actions of this sort at the local level that have triggered the seismic shifts of progressive change in American history.

Trump this ... because it isn't funny.

My friend Gregg Seidl wrote some very wise words on Facebook.

So Trump is going to rid the country of approximately 14 million people, and, according to him, the move will be quick, "and it won't be pretty."

The only difference between his commentary and that of the past is the last time those plans were spoken in German.

Actually, Joe Stalin uttered similar words in Russian, as pertaining to the Kulaks ... and it was not pretty.

When you reduce people to labels, they're dehumanized. When they're dehumanized, then "ridding" the country of them becomes nothing more than sweeping a floor, or spraying poison on insects.

But that first step remains dehumanizing them.

I realize that some other friends, and readers of this blog, are riding Trump's bandwagon. I believe most of you will dismount of your own accord, absent the need for me to hector you with inconvenient facts. But as an aficionado of history, Gregg sees something very important: When you start bandying phrases like "make us great again," the devil's truly in the details.

Who are we?

And: Who must be made to suffer in order to make "us" great again? Read the history books, folks. Trump is unleashing malevolent genies. The sooner it ends, the better.

Donald Trump Just Stopped Being Funny: Win or lose, Trump's campaign threatens to unleash the Great American Stupid, by Matt Taibbi (Rolling Stone)

So two yahoos from Southie in my hometown of Boston severely beat up a Hispanic homeless guy earlier this week. While being arrested, one of the brothers reportedly told police that "Donald Trump was right, all of these illegals need to be deported."

When reporters confronted Trump, he hadn't yet heard about the incident. At first, he said, "That would be a shame." But right after, he went on:

"I will say, the people that are following me are very passionate. They love this country. They want this country to be great again. But they are very passionate. I will say that."

This is the moment when Donald Trump officially stopped being funny.

Ottawa-on-the-Ohio: Jeff Gahan looks to Canada, and a kindred spirit in non-transparency.

"Mr. Gahan’s campaign for re-election has so far been utterly consistent with the personality trait that has defined his tenure as prime minister: his peculiar hatred for sharing information."

Shrug. I only substituted one word.

The Closing of the Canadian Mind, by Stephen Marche (New York Times)

THE prime minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has called an election for Oct. 19, but he doesn’t want anyone to talk about it.

He has chosen not to participate in the traditional series of debates on national television, confronting his opponents in quieter, less public venues, like the scholarly Munk Debates and CPAC, Canada’s equivalent of CSPAN. His own campaign events were subject to gag orders until a public outcry forced him to rescind the forced silence of his supporters.

Mr. Harper’s campaign for re-election has so far been utterly consistent with the personality trait that has defined his tenure as prime minister: his peculiar hatred for sharing information.

Americans have traditionally looked to Canada as a liberal haven, with gun control, universal health care and good public education.

But the nine and half years of Mr. Harper’s tenure have seen the slow-motion erosion of that reputation for open, responsible government. His stance has been a know-nothing conservatism, applied broadly and effectively. He has consistently limited the capacity of the public to understand what its government is doing, cloaking himself and his Conservative Party in an entitled secrecy, and the country in ignorance.

Hey, ESNA.

The missus and I live within the boundaries of the East Spring Street Neighborhood Association (ESNA). We moved into our house on Spring Street in October, 2003. This blog began in October, 2004, and my first-ever blog reference to ESNA came in November, 2004.

There is a reason for mentioning this.

I'm running for mayor as an independent. While my candidacy is not restricted to any one area or neighborhood in the city of New Albany, it is no exaggeration to suggest that my platform almost perfectly jibes with the long-term aims of ESNA.

In fact, it seems to be a all-embracing composite of what we've discussed these many years.

The beauty of it is that these precepts apply equally to all the city's areas and neighborhoods, even if they're particularly applicable to ESNA's.

Baylor for Mayor: 3 Goals + 7 Platform Points.

As for the political ramifications, it may or may not be true that Kevin Zurschmiede will be the ultimate beneficiary, but the ballot is set, and there's nothing I can do about the likelihood of Jeff Gahan's strange vanity candidacy siphoning votes from the only genuine Democrat left in the mayoral race.

That Democrat is me, and conscience is key.

Campaign Diary, Chapter 3: Insurgencies, signage and conscience.

All I ask is that you look at my candidacy rationally. Neither Gahan nor Zurschmiede really gets where you're coming from. They cannot, and they never will. Their political clubs come first, not you.

This isn't propaganda.

It's simple fact. I appreciate your support ... even if you can't announce it.

The East Spring Street Neighborhood Association Inc. is formed to foster the ongoing revitalization of the area, and to improve the quality of life for those who live and work within the association boundaries. Additionally the association is designated as follows:

To be a forum for the discussion & review of community issues & projects

To be an advisory body & advocate to our elected representatives on behalf of our members

To monitor & facilitate public services & infrastructure investments within our association boundaries

To educate & establish communications in the community & to externally promote New Albany

To develop solutions to community issues & to shape the future vision of New Albany

To seek grants and other funds for community projects

To implement, promote, or coordinate with other agencies and programs for the protection, safety and enhancement of the neighborhood community

We have also just recently gained our non-profit status as a 501C3.

Walking is not a crime: Dunman and others on the scourges of jaywalking in auto-erotic America.

Photo credit: Vox (below).

I walk.

I walk a lot.

There is me, and there are hundreds of vehicles. Conscious of the disparity between 235 lbs and several thousand, I try to pay attention, but every now and then, I'll get distracted. except that I'm not moving very fast, and comparatively speaking, the vehicles are ... and at this late date, is it necessary to remind readers of how often all of us are distracted while driving?

Of how drivers talk, text, sing, and play with their cigarettes?

Of how they approach an intersection with a one-way street and look only in the direction of oncoming traffic, and almost never the other -- where a walker may be trying to cross?

Of how while distracted, they're usually traveling at an unsafe speed, especially in densely populated urban areas?

When you're walking, you see all of it, because you must do so for the sake of your own safety -- and for the sake of your own safety, you use your own two feet as intelligently and resourcefully as you can. Jaywalking isn't a crime. It's a defense mechanism to circumvent wheeled stupidity, plain and simple.

The Vox piece referenced by Dunman is worthy of a highlight.

The forgotten history of how automakers invented the crime of "jaywalking", by Joseph Stromberg

... "In the early days of the automobile, it was drivers' job to avoid you, not your job to avoid them," says Peter Norton, a historian at the University of Virginia and author of Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City. "But under the new model, streets became a place for cars — and as a pedestrian, it's your fault if you get hit."

One of the keys to this shift was the creation of the crime of jaywalking. Here's a history of how that happened.

Joe Dunman does a great  job of shining a light on another Fischer administration misstep: Blaming walkers for the behavior of drivers.

On LMPD’s jaywalking crackdown: We should not convert our police into well-armed tax collectors, by Joe Dunman (Insider Louisville)

... The idea that pedestrians don’t belong on the street and should only cross at narrowly defined places is a recent invention of the automobile age. Earlier this year, an illuminating article by Vox explored the history of traffic laws and jaywalking. In the old days now long gone, cities were a space for people, not cars. Now, especially since the Urban Renewal age of the 1960s and 1970s, all public space belongs to the almighty automobile. Where once it was the primary duty of vehicle drivers to avoid pedestrians, we now expect people on foot to get out of the way or risk death.

Not unexpectedly, there's this. How do supposed "Democrats" rationalize it?

It may or may not surprise you that the brunt of “broken windows” policies like jaywalking crackdowns falls disproportionately on the poor and non-white. Minor violations are used as an excuse to harass and financially exploit. In New York, 81 percent of the 7.3 million minor citations and summonses issued by police between 2001 and 2013 went to black and Hispanic people, who comprise much smaller minorities of the city’s total population.

Two years ago, NAC pointed to the following. It's worth a reprint. The passage below emphasizes solutions, but there is more to it. Hit the link, and learn.

Walking is Not a Crime: Questioning the Accident Axiom, by David M Nelson (Project for Public Spaces)

Solutions
There are many things that can be done to keep pushing the message back to a place that values human life first, and speed and efficient movement of automobiles second. On the policy side, get a Vulnerable Users Law introduced into your state legislature. Vulnerable Users Laws shift the burden of evidence onto the more dangerous individual. Drivers are responsible for cyclists, cyclists for pedestrians. I’m a huge fan of these laws, because pedestrians are put on a pedestal. They’ve been popular in Europe and are catching on in the United States.

You can also pursue other policies like Vision Zero, famously applied in Sweden and currently being campaigned for by Transportation Alternatives in NYC. Essentially, Vision Zero is a directive to eliminate all pedestrian and cyclists fatalities in quick order. The central premise being, “that no loss of life is acceptable.” Concerning law and order, you can find local lawyers to represent and advocate for justice on the behalf of pedestrians and cyclists injured or killed by drivers.

You can work to lower the speed of traffic. More specifically, advocate to decrease the range of speeds driven over a segment of road. A fundamental belief in traffic engineering is that differences in operating speed causes higher risks of crashes. Spread can be reduced by lowering speed limits and using roundabouts instead of signalized intersections. The end result is travel times remain the same but maximum operating speed and the range of speeds are significantly lowered. Other geometric changes include narrower lanes, pedestrian refuge islands, neck-downs and Rightsizing.

However, only so much will be accomplished until our local papers and the nightly news starts putting pressure on state DOTs and public works departments to keep our citizens safe on foot. So, first and foremost, pay closer attention to the way that pedestrian deaths are portrayed by the local media in your area, and don’t be afraid to put pressure your local news outlets when you see improper coverage that blames the victim. It is easy to find language in your State Statutes that debunk published misconceptions about crosswalks and jaywalking. We all have the right to walk—and like most rights, it’s one that must be defended.

Diane pissed off the mighty Oz, and five years later ...

... Slate Run Road still awaits attention.

Is there any better example than Slate Run Road as proof that multi-modal transportation design such as that espoused by Jeff Speck can exist outside the city's core?

But it takes political will ... and a remote sense of fairness, because it's clear that Team Gahan's non-action on Slate Run is a result of vindictive political considerations.

These need to stop, and the means to do so is right around the corner.

August 21, 2010: New Albany seeking input on Slate Run construction, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

...“What we want to do is upgrade the facility to make it accessible and safe for pedestrians,” (Carl) Malysz said. “There’s a couple of different design approaches and that’s what we want to talk with the neighborhood about.”

Council meeting recap 1: State's a trashy chain-ridden asphalt nightmare, and this sole derelict Hardee's must go!

I went to last evening's city council meeting solely because the word on the street was that Scott Blair wanted to talk about demolishing eyesore commercial properties.

In the end, the discussion about these properties was mercifully brief, and the bulk of the evening was given over to discussing storm water issues, and how we're probably never going to do what we should to begin resolving them.

Twelve years of do-nothing 8-1, 8-1 and 7-1-1 Democratic council majorities have calloused my demeanor, but Blair is a nominal "independent," and I came close to being rendered speechless last night at the notion that in a place like this where there is no rental property registration, zero rental property inspection, zoning codes in desperate need of updating (Shane Gibson said so himself), storm water problems, one-way streets -- a lengthy, seemingly endless list for a passive, leashed council with precious little on its twice monthly agenda throughout the Gahan term -- all this, and the boarded-up Hardee's on State Street inspires an immediate need for action!

Yes, it's been sitting there for a long time. But have you ever stood in the middle of the New Albany Plaza parking lot, dodging speeding Kentuckians and their cigarette butts, and looked around?

It is a depressing, soul-crushing, exurban tableau of chain stores, rutted asphalt, clamorous traffic, trash and auto-centric ugliness. There's almost nothing human about it. We slayed the fascist dragon in WWII for this?

Again: We live in what amounts to a city-wide slumlord empowerment zone, and the city council has not done anything about it -- EVER.

EVER.

And the banker's offended by an empty fast-food building surrounded by acres of impermeable surfaces that -- wait for it -- bear prime responsibility for the drainage problems the council members all want to look concerned about because, yes, THIS IS AN ELECTION YEAR.

Rant over.

As you were ... as we ARE, which may be the ultimate problem.

Council meeting recap 2: Dear Jeff.

Dear Jeff,

Missed you again at the council meeting Thursday.

Members of the public came to talk to the council about how the storm water plan is deficient, and the zoning code is whacked (your own attorney even conceded it), and the animal shelter needs help ... and you know what's crazy? Not a single one of them said, "Hey, but we have a water park now, so never mind -- it's all good."

So, when there are this many major infrastructure issues being mentioned this often for the past 12 years -- ever since you first served on the council -- exactly how is it that you've made New Albany fundamentally "better" since you've been mayor?

That is, unless you're having another vocabulary malfunction?

We really need to get together and debate. My people will call yours. Cool?

Not "Kool-Aid."

R

---

Flooded with concerns: New Albany residents ask for help with drainage problems, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

Sept. 24 fix at the Taj Mahal: I'd prefer a genuine debate to a staged re-enthronement, but let's do it.

I've received my letter from the League of Women Voters, inviting me to the "candidate forum" for 2015 Mayor and City Council Candidates. It will be on September 24 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Silver Street Park. The event chair is Linda Moeller, the city controller.

As controller, she pays the bills for the park, which cost several million dollars and features prominently in her immediate supervisor's campaign for re-election.

But as the rules (see below) clearly indicate, a non-partisan atmosphere must be maintained.

In addition, closing statements "should be significantly related" to questions provided in advance to the candidates. In short: No truth telling, okay?

I've nothing against either Linda Moeller or the League of Women Voters, but let's be honest. The chair is a Gahan appointee, the venue itself is a Gahan gilded palace and platform plank, and considering these two trends, the questions almost certainly can be relied upon to be incumbent-friendly.

I'd prefer a genuine debate to a staged re-enthronement, but of course I'll sign and return the sheet, agreeing to abide by these rules.

As I interpret them ...

Matt Nash kicks off 5th district campaign: "New Albany Should Expand its Recycling Program."

For those just tuning in, Matt Nash was chosen by Democratic Party precinct heads to replace Dustin Collins on the 5th district council ticket after Collins withdrew owing to illness.

His first platform plank deals with recycling.

New Albany Should Expand its Recycling Program

In a recent News and Tribune article it was announced that Floyd County government would cut some recycling services due to budget concerns.

As a councilman I would support a measure that would expand the current services of the city's recycling program. Currently the city offers weekly curbside pick-up of recyclable materials. I believe that New Albany could work with the Solid Waste Board and work out a deal that included utilizing current county equipment and workforce to allow for drop off sites to be manned in locations within city limits or just along the fringe areas.