The north Leucadia walking tour with the streetscape consultant Dan Burden.
Checking out the center median.
A beautiful post-storm day, perfect for walking Leucadia.
Donut shop under police protection.
Have mustache, will travel.
The area in front of Scott's Automotive has some walkability issues.
The Streetscape Workshop at city hall,
Residents lay groundwork for Leucadia improvements
Planning begins for Leucadia beautification
Walkable Communities, Inc
MW Peltz + Associates
That Dan Burden knows his stuff.
ReplyDeleteI say put a roundabout at La Costa which would work much better than thats signal. That Signal is always jacked up and making me waite for no reason when there are no other cars around.
A roundabout at La Costa and HW101 would be perfect.
Teresa Barth and Maggie Houlihan were at the workshop but no sign of Jerome, Danny or Bond. I thought Dan would attend because he lives in Leucadia.
ReplyDeleteLeucadians care about their town. L101 is going to be coolsmic when this is done.
ReplyDeleteLots of posters on this blog are not down to earth or realistic. They are ideologues. They put all the buzzwords on a stick and hang their hat on it.
ReplyDeleteWalkability, walkable, pedestrian friendly, vibrant, and new urbanism are some of the terms tossed out.
This Dan Burden is perfect for them. He is mister walkability. Seems like his title is well earned.
What many posters really want is for people to get out of their cars. It is going to be tough for them because, the structural motivators for facilitation of pedestrian activity is not those little details like where to put a roundabout or how narrow a street is.
The larger design of the neighborhood is so much more important and DAN BURDEN knows that.
FROM HIS WEBSITE:
"The principles of becoming 'walkable' are really straightforward," begins Burden. "It's not just about sidewalks or being able to get across the street. It's really about putting things in the right place—to make sure you get your civic buildings, your plazas and your greatest retail, residential and commercial buildings all within walking scale—that is, a five-minute walk from the absolute center."
So there is MASSIVE confusion on this website about what walkability means? Does it mean safe for pedestrians? Does it mean easy to progress down the street for pedestrians? Or does it mean a district that facilitates walking over driving?
Hate to tell this to you but L101 is in the OPPOSITE CONFIGURATION for facilitating more walking/less driving. IT IS THE WORST POSSIBLE SCENARIO. It is a linear strip, miles long. Few people have the extra time to throw around walking back and forth from Roberto's to Capt. Kenos. Besides how are they going to haul all the stuff they purchase?
Why is it that those posters can't see what they already know. If you want to shop where everyone walks from each shop to each shop, there are NO CARS to hit you, and you can hang out and eat some food or recreate between consuming we should build a shopping mall like UTC!!!!
UTC is the ultimate for walking.
Dan Dalager was at Friday's workshop for Leucadia 1o1 and Leucadia Town Council.
ReplyDeleteJames Bond was at Saturday's workshop for awhile, but today was a conflict with the Library opening.
Easter Island heads in the roundabouts!
ReplyDeleteAddressing the walkable thing, everyone who attended the lecture learned that Dan Burden's techniques actually move more cars per hour than the status quo. Making the coast highway pedestrian friendly translates into a nicer driving environment where traffic flows. Right now the L101 is dysfunctional, lots of chaotic breaking and desperate people trying to cross over from the Vulcan neighborhoods to the west side of the highway. The streetscape will calm the traffic, not eliminate it.
ReplyDeleteThe backwards parking thing is so genius...and so obvious. Beats the hell out of parallel parking and traditional angled parking. They should do it downtown Encinitas.
"Does not compute"= Does not understand.
ReplyDeleteLeucadia HW101 community is NOT a 2 miles stretch of “linear street”.
Leucadia Hwy 101 has huge neighborhoods on each side that wants to walk to visit our favorite stores along HW101, but currently it is illegal to cross the tracks and the crossing at Leucadia is more hazardous than illegally crossing anywhere other than that location.
Many of us illegally cross like Pirates of Leucadia and will continue to do so. Make more crossings and Leucadia will prosper. You can call it what you like, but most of us residents which live East of the Railroad tracks would love to walk and ride our bikes to visit the stores and the beach. The only reason we get in our cars is because its currently so unsafe.
Like proven time and time again- change the characteristics of the road and the disstressed (blight) unsafe conditions will disappear and we will have a wonderful mainstreet.
If you want to see true blight- go visit any of the OC road arterials like El Toro Road, Irvine, Anaheim, or Santa Ana. Those communities followed the traffic model where if you have traffic widen the road and the intersections. Look how they turned out. Dan Burden knows his stuff. Listen and Learn.
The consultants and the community are doing a wonderful job. I am glad to see so many be a part of the solution.
To JP,
ReplyDeleteDan clearly sees what is going on, this is great.
My 9:38 post was aimed not at Dan Burden. It was aimed at a few particular Leucadians who think they can get other people "out of their cars" by manipulating public infrastructure.
They envision a L101 where the road is a distant second to the sidewalk. The road is miserable to drive to the point that people would "rather walk".
They apply dream-state logic to their plans for L101. This is why I am so glad Dan Burden is a part of the L101 process.
Dan sees the dream can not be realized, and trying will really screw up Vulcan and L101.
dnc= does not understand
ReplyDeleteThere is a passionate anti-car crowd in Encinitas, this is true.
ReplyDeleteIsn't L101 the name of our Mainstreet Association, not the name of Hwy 101?
ReplyDeleteSaturday was an amazing day for Encinitas and Leucadia in particular. The enthusiasm and hope shown by the Streetscape attendees says much for this community. Those that had an opportunity to also visit our new library were blown away by what a fine addition it is for us and lots of generations to come.
ReplyDeleteThere is one nagging element to the potential improvements to HWY101 that concerns me, and that is, we're all jacked up on this workshop and the potential improvements to the street. Many of these improvements are based on the possibility of narrowing HWY101 to single lanes each direction (at least ocasionally). This action (true or false) will cause many of our intersections to fail to LOS below what our General Plan (Circulation Element) insists we do (all this is established by Traffic Engineers). I believe our challenge in the future is to somehow convince the politicians that single lane traffic on HWY101 will not reduce those levels. For a Traffic Engineer who deals purely in numbers, this will be tough. I believe that if we can bridge that mode of thought, we can get these wonderful improvements. I think it's ultimately going to take some balls on the part of out leaders to recognize the logic. Politicians, like the rest of us, are deathly afraid of doing anything on this large a scale, and finding it doesn't work (bad legacy). On the other hand, if it's wildly successful, they may take full credit.
For those who did not attend the workshops, Dan,Jim,Jerome and others,
ReplyDeletethere are videos that are going to be made available that show examples of successes in the lane configuration reduction. I hope that all interested parties, particularly councilmen, review the presentations so they all are aware of what may be proposed.
I was very impressed by all the workshops and the participation from L101, LTC and the community.
These concepts are new to us, but the examples of successful projects are impressive.
A rewarding day for Encinitas and great couple of inspirational days for Leucadia.
No doubt all that video and the reports will be posted right here!
ReplyDeleteWe are about to see Leucadia get the love it deserves. It can be done well and make Leucadia GREAT. If we try to accomplish things that are unrealistic it can be really screwed up.
ReplyDeleteBlack beard throws out the exact sort of comment that really needs thought out with a critical eye.
For instance, "Leucadia Hwy 101 has huge neighborhoods on each side that wants to walk to visit our favorite stores along HW101, but currently it is illegal to cross the tracks and the crossing at Leucadia is more hazardous than illegally crossing anywhere other than that location"
But that has little to do with the STREETSCAPE!!!! That has to do with making it LEGAL to cross the tracks on foot. Is that even being discussed?
Also, you are wrong. Very few people living at Sea Bluff want to walk all the way to Ducky Waddles to shop. It is too far.
Pedestrian rail crossings are planned at Hillcrest and Union. I am sure that the street scape plans will incorporate these ped. pathways in the design.
ReplyDeleteI know hundreds of people that live within a 1/2 mile of ducky waddle east and west of the tracks that would love to walk to ducky waddle or the beach but dont because the walk is so unsafe and unpleasant.
ReplyDeleteI think DNC has the closed mind that will never convince that change is sometimes good. I am just glad there are more open minded people in Leucadia than closed minded Nay sayers that would rather have our town continue to go down the Orange county traffic management path.
Who is closed minded?
ReplyDeleteBlack beard, I brought up that you made a point about crossing the tracks as part of STREETSCAPE project. Are you so closed minded that you don't see a reason to address the track crossing issue.
I ask, how does the streetscape make it safer OR LEGAL to cross the tracks? Is there any effort by those who want positive change in our town to make it SAFE or LEGAL to cross the tracks?
Is asking those questions closed minded, or is ignoring those inconvenient questions closed minded?
Black Beard,
ReplyDeletePlease reread my post. I am very excited about fixing the 101 and making it SAFER for pedestrians.
I don't want this great opportunity ruined by a few closed minded people who are blind to the realities of what we have in place today.
Maybe you are not one of them. You seem to focus on safety. ME TOO. So you and I should be on the same side of this. You should be very careful when you use the term walkable. That term has been hijacked and when you say it people "hear" different things. That is my point.
Unless you are one of the "no more cars" crowd, say "safe" not "walkable". No confusion when you say SAFE.
DNC - The realities of today is we have much too much I5 traffic cutting through our town and killing our business community and quality of life.
ReplyDeleteThe streetscape will be designed for local traffic, but the extra pavement currently used by the I5 traffic should be used for more important things like parking, trees, walkways, and bikelanes. The plan will serve our local traffic, businesses and residents much better than it currently does.
I call that walkable and sustainable living.
I am totally with you anon 106. I don't think I wrote anything that should make you think otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI do emphasize the safety issue as does black beard. For some people like us, walkable means safe walking routes. Which is not necessarily the same as anti-car traffic.
As with black beard you use words that have ambiguous meaning to me.
"we have much too much I5 traffic cutting through our town and killing our business community and quality of life."
ReplyDeleteIt is only going to get worse as long as San Marcos, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, and south orange county continue to upzone. Carlsbad just upzoned their downtown.
Where are all those Ponto people going to drive?
Maybe all this effort being put into the streetscape should be focused at ending upzoning in north county until traffic flows freely on the freeway.
The way anon 106 puts it, it sounds like the streetscape is going to be window dressing on a very ugly problem that is only going to get worse unless people start standing up and putting an end to higher density.
We can only control whats in our City. Let Carlsbad figure out how to handle the traffic from their highly overdeveloped boxy subdivision. Let them take the freeway to commute and they can use our one lane road to visit our cool local shops and hang out in our nice place. One of the few left nice places to hang out along the overpaved traffic dominated coastline.
ReplyDelete"Where are all those Ponto people going to go?" If we compress HWY101 to a single lane, and I'm all for that, the answer is, they will have to go down La Costa (RR bridge widening), to Vulcan or cut through Leucadia to Leucadia Blvd. Think for a moment how you would go. We could find ourselves with the problem that Del Mar has had with traffic cutting through the heart of town. People find the path of least resistance very quickly. Del Mar has tried speed humps, one way streets, wiggles in the alignment, one lane roadways, you name it.
ReplyDeleteThe real problem is simply volume. We have grown beyond our capacity.
Left coast-
ReplyDeleteThere are simple solutions to make sure the adjacent neighborhoods do not get increased traffic. Traffic calming is needed on Vulcan, and only a few more stop signs in the neighborhood.
I can tell you how the people living in the Ponto Box Village will commute south. They will either travel to I5 via Poinsettia which is what they should do, or they will chose to drive 20 mph through the roundabout at La Costa and then drive at 30mph east on La Costa Drive to I5. Either that or they can drive 25 mph south on HW101. They will not want to cut through the neighborhoods because with a few stop sign, that path would take longer. They will take the path of least resistance. If we make our resistance higher, more will travel on I5 were they belong. We could never have enough capacity to handle all the I5 traffic, so traffic calming is the only thing that will help for our southbound traffic. Local traffic will be able to get to local destinations and restaurants and homes. The commuter and I5 traffic will stay on I5. If we don’t do traffic calming the Ponto Box residents will only make our conditions that much worse.
Review the birdrock traffic management plan, you will get a feel for what should be done for Leucadia's traffic management plan.
http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd1/neighborhoods/lajolla/pdf/birdrock.pdf
Whatever cut through traffic is decreased in Leucadia will be a benefit for all of Encinita, Cardiff and Solana Beach.
As for Carlsbad'soverdevelopment. maybe they better think about how their citizens will circulate without causing unwelcome blight in the surrounding areas. Let them improve Avenida Encinas to a 4lane roadway. They definately caused many problems, now they better start fixing them. We should not allow them to create blight in our town.
We need to take care and control whats in our own City
Left Coast-
ReplyDeleteHow do you propose we control Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista and San Marcos's growth plans?
I think the answer is you make La Poinsettia the path of least resistance, make La Costa to I5 the next best path of least resistance through a widened bridge. You put stop signs or traffic calming on Vulcan and the neighborhood streets to make sure thats not the path of least resistance. thats what Downtown encinitas did east of Vulcan street and it worked.
ReplyDeleteI just drove south on HWY 101 in Carlsbad. The City has closed one lane over a bridge and only has one lane going south. That is yet another place in Carlsbad were they have one lane southbound on Hwy101. It will be that way for months.
ReplyDeleteOne lane southbound on Hwy101 will work great in Leucadia and we can slow things down to 25 mph.
Life will be good.
Re/ dnc 1=0:16
ReplyDeleteRailroad pedestrian crossings were not only discussed at Saturday's meeting, excellent slides were shown of RR ped crossings elsewhere that only cost 50K instead of the $5 million currently proposed.
On Sunday, the lights went out at Leucadia Boulevard. They are still out on Monday morning.
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing is that the traffic actually flowed pretty well, maybe better that when the light works!
So, perhaps the traffic is lighter than normal, but this acecdotal evidence may mean that roundabouts and other changes may just work better than traditioal tools along the 101 through Leucadia.
It is really cool to see that so many people were able to participate. Hopefully the city wont blow all those citizens off like when they did the well attended workshops for the Hall Park.
ReplyDeleteThe comment on roundabouts at Leucadia and 101 is a bit of a leap. Was it operating like a stop sign? Then why not suggest a stop sign?
Fred's comment on ped crossings makes it sound like we can have crossings at every street for less than the cost of one of the City's crossings. This should concern us all greatly. Wasn't city staff at that meeting? Did they say that the $50,000 crossing was ridiculous or not? Is staff or the presenter crazy? $50,000 versus $5 million IS A BIG DIFFERENCE. That difference should not be ignored because someone is manipulating the public.
DNC is on to something. There are a lot of catch phrases being used to manipulate the public. Sustainable is one of them. What does sustainable mean when talking about a streetscape? Can anyone explain the difference between a sustainable streetscape and a not so sustainable streetscape?
Anon 8:18:
ReplyDeleteRoundabouts are better than stop signs, since they let traffic flow, until there is a reason to stop/yield. Why have thousands of cars stop, then start up again if you don't need to? The observation was that the stop lights at Leucadia Boulevard are so completely screwed up, that a simple stop sign moved traffic better than the lights. But a Roundabout might be better. ANYTHING would be better than the current situation!
Regarding the train crossing systems - the $50,000 would be a simple at grade crossing, with ramps, rails, etc. Basically making what a lot of people do now illigal, legal. The $5 million solution is a tunnel.
"Sustainable" or "walkable" is something that Lynn will never understand. So no need explaining.
ReplyDeleteLynn you should agree with DNC....considering.
Regarding the Leucadia Vulcan and Leucadia light. I think it shows that an all way stop or roundabout would work better than the existing signal.
The City should take down the signal and install all way stops or roundabouts at the intersection. They clearly are more efficient.
Replace the signals at Vulcan Avenue and Leucadia Blvd., Hwy101 and Leucadia Blvd., and La Costa Avenue and Hwy 101, with roundabouts or all way stops.
ReplyDeleteanon 12:43,
ReplyDeleteYou didn't address dnc's real point . Why are we building $5 million dollar crossings if they can be done for 50,000 dollars?
Even our city isn't that screwed up. Are the $50,000 dollar crossing being used as bait for all the people that will take it. Does the screetscape objectives work if there are only $5 million dollar crossings?
Keeping your definition of "sustainable" a secret? Scared that the one who is actually closed minded is you?
ReplyDeleteLook before you leap. Anyone driven a roundabout across an intersection with four lanes and as much traffic as 101?
ReplyDeleteI've driven several roundabouts in Mexico that are 3 lanes leading into the RB and 3 lanes out, 6 lanes total, with 4 to five roads leading to the RB with 5 lanes within the roundabout!!! It's not easy, but it's not hard either. If you can't drive these Encinitas RB's you have no business behind the wheel of a car. Maybe riding the bumper is better for you!!!
ReplyDeleteI am not against roundabouts. I am glad to hear that they work for multiple lanes of traffic.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the roundabouts are very efficient and move lots of traffic and reduces delay time.
Some people in Leucadia would rather we be "riding the bumper".
They want to deter traffic from coming through town.
They want us to have really nasty intersections that make it really slow to get through Leucadia so that people go around Leucadia instead of cutting through.
It sounds like these roundabouts will be to efficient and do a good job at moving traffic.
They aren't going to like roundabouts because they want 101 to be so miserable that people avoid it on their commute.
Re 8:18
ReplyDeleteYes, the difference between 50K and $5 million is staggering. And so is the design of the cheaper crossing. It's just a hand rail basically that forces the pedestrian to slow down, meander and LOOK BOTH WAYS as they approach the track to cross from either side. Nuthin fancy. But pretty ingenious.
No doubt that would rub tunnel companies the wrong way.
But does it rub the city the wrong way?
ReplyDeleteAnon 3:08:
ReplyDeleteThe simple crossings are not "legal" per the Public Utilities Commision or some other umbrella agency. I am not sure what the City position is, but that is what we learned at the workshop.
Seventeen years ago Leucadia stakeholders worked with the City of Encinitas staff to draft the North 101 Corridor Specific Plan. Last week were the first workshops to develop a streetscape plan. Has it been worth the wait?
ReplyDeleteCrowds of concerned Leucadians were offered a series of workshops, presentations and site walks by MW Peltz and Associates, a landscape architectural and urban design firm from Solana Beach. The concepts proposed were inspirational and would not have been offered many years ago. The science of traffic engineering has progressed as has our population. The idea of slowing traffic to increase traffic flow instead of just creating more lanes, utilizing roundabouts, reverse angled parking, parking nodes, landscaping and trees to benefit traffic safety and flow, increasing bike lane width and reducing car lane width to create a safer more efficient roadway and a healthy business atmosphere were just some of the options explored. Dan Burden, an associate of Peltz, offered enlightening examples of past successes utilizing these urban design concepts. At one workshop, all participants had maps of the area and designed improvement elements that they deemed needing attention. The input from the community was impressive, as was the caring of the consultants to have this input.
Will this firm be able to accumulate the list of needs and wants from the local population, the requirements of the city and the unknowns of the future, and blend it all into a workable executable plan that will make it through planning and the city council approval?
We in Leucadia hope they will. Leucadia’s time has come.
It has been a good week for Encinitas. Our new magnificent library had it’s grand opening and Leucadia has been inspired.
Thank you Encinitas City Council, city staff and all the caring citizens that made these milestones a reality.
Let's just hope there is no more talk of a "Drainage Ditch" for Leucadia. Such nonsense!!
ReplyDeleteI rather a drainage ditch than a underground pipe anyday.
ReplyDeleteThe Public Utilities Commission says no new at grade crossings.The ones we saw slides of were in Oregon. Our state has caved to lawsuit fear. We and our elected officials need to lobby for change. I crossed safely for over 3 decades only been killed twice.Lets face it 23 hours a day the tracks are clear if you do see the train you let it pass then cross grade level crossing is safe but illegal. We need to change the PUC's mind.
ReplyDelete3
Another long comment, so feel free to skip it, if you are not interested in my opinion. This is the first time I've posted on this thread, by the way.
ReplyDeleteI didn't make it to Saturday's workshop; it was my daughter's birthday.
I knew that there would be a bunch of anonymous posts, addressing me, by the same person, probably, after I made my post about the Thursday night Burden (of Birdrock Roundabout fame) workshop, on the previous thread. I was correct. And Dan Dalager, Jerome Stocks and James Bond were NOT at the Thursday workshop, not held on Friday, as mentioned by some previous poster. In fact Jerome Stocks and Jim Bond said they didn't want to participate because they didn't want to be part of the process of something they would be voting on. That's absurd, because they are part of the process in sub-committees all the time. Jerome and Jim just don't want to participate in the PUBLIC process of these workshops. Teresa and Maggie were there, fortunately.
Anon, 12:47, wow, you must really like to say my name? I don't mind, it's really a tribute, in your strange way. And at least what I said, before, was read.
Sustainable, to me, means that we could use reclaimed water to maintain the rotating plantings of drought tolerant flowers, including poppies and sunflowers, perhaps aloe vera, in medians along North Coast Hwy. 101.
Sustainable also means drought tolerant trees, restoring the canopy. These are issues that the environmental committee could consider. I was aware that Steve Aceti was appointed, and was not pleased. Thank you, Teresa, for understanding that too much sand damages the kelp, and adversely affects the surfing conditions.
Also, Steve Aceti was a huge proponent of Prop C, which lost by a landslide. The people did not agree with his views, and that was evident at the polls. Council should not have selected him, knowing how we, their constituents, have expressed ourselves. Aceti was good at twisting the truth, here, on this blog. So he may be the one saying I am doing so, now. Exactly what have I said that isn't true? Or do you just want to keep posting anonymously, saying I am "making things up?" Whatever, coward.
Whenever there are this many posts on any one "thread," you can bet Steve Aceti has his hand in it. The City overlooked some very well qualified candidates to put Aceti in place. This appointment can change, though. Is this selection for one year or two?
The City can and should change its General Plan so that we can have an honest to goodness Environmental Commission, not just a "committee." Council has amended the General Plan many times, for zoning changes.
This commission is important. And several people suggested, at the Council Meeting, that the committee could have nine members. That is certainly do-able, also; three for water, three for trees, and three specializing in sustainable plantings, such as drought resistant, non-invasive flowers. I'm not certain those were the categories, suggested, but the City should really let ALL participate who are willing to donate their time and talent, in a spirit of cooperation and community.
But yes, some very good committee members were appointed, as well.
As for the workshops, we'll see if anything actually gets done. It took 12 years for Cottonwood Creek to go in. I can recall Mary Fleener's excellent cartoons on that subject.
The City has limited funding for actual construction of a streetscape, in part due to the new raise for staff salaries and pensions, including the SDWD and the Fire Dept.
Of course, the library was hugely expensive, as was the Mossy Property Public Works Yard, and the new fire stations, still in progress. And we have a lot of interest payments on debt on two lease revenue bonds.
Remember, we have only about 62,000 people living here, and the bulk of the City's money comes from property taxes, right? My point is, we did not have to pay this much for a consultant fee. We do need to pay a design fee, but please, let the committees and commissions do their jobs, and put some of the huge consulting fee into actual PLANTINGS. We are also paying Peder Norby $100,000 + per year to consult on the 101 Corridor, right? Just seems as though we are privatizing government, and the one's who profit the most are the consultants and "independent contractors," while the trees just keep getting axed.
Lynn- Again I disagree with you. The consultant fee of $250k or whatever is the best money the City has ever spent.
ReplyDeleteThe City does better from using private services whenever it can. They are experts on their subject and the City does not have to pay benefit liabilities forever.
Like usual, you speak out of both sides of your mouth. Our City needs smaller local government and needs to use private (less expensive) services whenever possible. The government is not here to be an employer, we are employed and pay taxes to provide a government.
PS- You have been caught lying so many times your credibly sucks. I could care less if this is the first or ten time you posted on this thread. The bottom line is I don’t believe or give credit to anything you say.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous I commend whichever of your many manifestations that contributed to the conversation with "The government is not here to be an employer, we are employed and pay taxes to provide a government." Thank you. I couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhoever you are, you are a coward. Leave my street name out of it, or I will report you to the authorities. Your "stalker" posts can be traced.
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly why JP stopped accepting anonymous posts, before. But that's right, you would like nothing more than to ruin this blog for me, or for everyone.
You, anonymous coward, have not shown where I have not told the truth, here. It's easy, and obviously self-serving, to call someone else a liar, and not say what the supposed deception is.
I think the drainage ditch could go on the east side of Highway 101, in NCTD's right of way. It could be graded so that water would not accumulate, as it does now, in huge puddles, like where the bus bench is. I've seen ducks there, lol.
Bob, I also agree that the government is by and for the people. My point: some of the huge consulting fees could instead go directly into planting trees and flowers in the medians, particularly replacing what has already been neglected and destroyed.
In this case a high-priced consultant has been EMPLOYED, another middleman between the people who want more greenery ASAP, and the government employees, and elected officials who will eventually put the designs into effect.
We now have an environmental committee, yes, which includes Steve Aceti, I know, and we have some excellent engineers and city planners, who could have, together, run the workshops. These people should be qualified to gather data. And staff and the environmental committee will be participating in the design, yes?
In the future, I am not going to respond to being baited my mean-spirited, cowardly, obsessive and always "anonymous" posts.
I continue to appreciate JP's posts, this blog, and the opportunity to help my community, and to explain my ideas. I'm not an engineer, so yes, I'm not an expert, and have never claimed to be.
Your are clearly not an expert and your comments make no sense.
ReplyDeleteOnce again we've resorted to personal attacks. It really isn't necessary. We can disagree, great. That actually helps the process. Let's keep in mind that this is a process. We all want a better environment. And we can have it if we'll show one another a little respect. Be constructive, offer a solution, admit when you're out to lunch. Humans, you got to love us, jeez!
ReplyDeleteJust keeping it real. No need for PC on the blog. If your comments suck, you will be told so.
ReplyDeleteMakes sense to me. And leftcoast, you make sense, too.
ReplyDeleteThere was an interview on the Daily Show by Jon Stewart with the man who wrote, "Against the Machine." This author talked about how bullies and "cyber stalkers," get away with often escalating cruel tactics under the cover of anonymity. He talked about this being particularly true on political blogs.
I see you deleted, JP, and I'm glad. Sometimes a few posters do not have the self control to show public restraint and common courtesy. We all care about our community and our quality of life.
With your help, we can come together, and get over these personal attacks, which work to distract and to divide.
If your comments suck, you will be told. The last comment was a worthy comment. I will not flame you but beware
ReplyDeletekeep your points clear and use common sense. Most of all no rambling. Illogical comments will get the response they deserve.
Lynn, if mentioning your street offended you I apologize, I will not do it again. And I keep my promises.
ReplyDeleteJP, I will no longer respond to any postings by Lynn.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to bring this back to Lynn and that is the point of my post! Lynn has the ability to move the conversation away from the topic and bring everyone with her. Lynn catalyzes the meltdown of the blog and that is why she gets voted off the island every six months.
ReplyDeleteLynn brings up the topic of why JP got rid of anon posting in the past. Look in the archives and you will see that right before that happened Lynn and Russ were melting down.
Lynn we appreciate that you have improved and that you no longer think you own this blog or have the right to control the blog.
People can tolerate your squirrelly posts sometimes as long as you stop getting drawn in to squabbles.
Has anyone emailed the City Council or staff to support investigating lowering the speedlimit to 25 and reducing the number of lanes to make more room for pedestrians, parking, bikes, and trees? If not, you should!
ReplyDeleteDan Burden appears on satellite tv this week. Here's the info:
ReplyDeleteTuesday, March 4, The Universityhouse Channel will show Episode 14 of "Perils For Pedestrians".
Contents of Episode 14 (1997):
--Dan Burden on Walkable Communities.
--What is a Transportation Engineer?
--Mark Fenton of Walking Magazine on the benefits of walking.
--Walk Boston and pedestrian advocacy in Boston, Massachusetts.
--America Walks: a national network of local advocacy groups.
--Innovations in actuated pedestrian signals.
DISH Network Channel 9411 -- The Universityhouse Channel
Tuesday -- 9:30 PM Eastern, 6:30 Pacific
Episode 14 is also available on Google Video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3616187601802350820
Note: Public access cable channels are showing different episodes than DISH Network.
Thank you.
John Z Wetmore
www.pedestrians.org