Italian Gilt Bronze Clock
2 months ago
Only a masochist or castrate would want to be Hillary's V.P. anyhow, since Bill would sit on him like a beanbag. -Camille Paglia(requires registration)
The first drivers in New York City found themselves in an unfriendly landscape. Cobbled streets, narrow roadbeds and a lack of traffic controls weren’t suited to expeditious movement by automobile. For a time, drivers contented themselves with carving out small niches in the urban fabric, but with money, political muscle and an aura of inevitability, the automobile lobby eventually brought about a program of wholesale curb-to-curb reconstruction. Up came the trolley tacks, down came the elevated trains, gone were the broad sidewalks of a great city of walkers — all in the name of a grand design. It was this street-by-street repurposing, just as much as the construction of highways, that reshaped New York’s streets around the car.
For four decades, activists for greener, safer NYC streets have scrounged at the margins of this automobilized streetscape. A few feet of traffic lanes converted to bike lanes, the occasional sidewalk extended to relieve a dangerous intersection — all important changes, but all within the context of streets that serve cars, first and foremost. But what would our streets look like if they were redesigned, building-to-building, to first accommodate walkers, bicyclists, the disabled and surface transit? The days of living at the margins are over: the Complete Streets revolution has begun.
....
A Complete Street is foremost a reapportioning of road space. Other than restrictions requiring 20 feet of roadbed for fire trucks, the space between buildings is malleable. At present, we give over the lion’s share to cars, usually with parking along either side and one or more lanes for travel in the center.
....
Today’s “incomplete” streets serve essentially one purpose: the expeditious movement of cars.
...
Understanding car traffic as part of a streetscape, and not its sole function, is the foundation of a Complete Street.
....
This type of design first serves the most vulnerable populations like seniors and children, and then builds the street from their needs up. Once a design has cultivated space where walkers and other non-drivers can move, it is time to create space for them to linger and interact.
....Returning the public space currently resting under parked cars and snarled traffic to the of service pedestrians, to walk or linger, is the last piece of the puzzle to making streets whole.
.... Sidewalks must be about more than moving pedestrians; they require space to sit, to comfortably walk side by side and to accommodate the disabled.
Public transportation use is up 32% since 1995, a figure that is more than double the growth rate of the population (15%) and up substantially over the growth rate for the vehicle miles traveled (VMT) on US highways (24%) for that same period.
Light rail (modern streetcars, trolleys, and heritage trolleys) had the highest percentage of ridership increase among all modes, with a 6.1% increase in 2007. Light rail systems showed double digit increases in the following areas: New Orleans (128.6%); Denver (66.2 %); Saint Louis (27.0%); Philadelphia (26.2%); Kenosha (18.5 %); the state of New Jersey (14.7%); and Memphis (11.3%).
(Corner stores or bodegas)often offer little in terms of nutritious food, with shelves carrying little more than hamburger mix, white bread, canned pasta and peanut butter, generally at higher prices than a supermarket charges.
...
One project is the return of the greengrocer pushcart, an effective and low-cost way to get fresh produce in certain neighborhoods, Bloomberg said. The city plans to license 1,500 street vendors to sell fruits and vegetables in the city's poorest neighborhoods.
Another program encourages bodegas to carry low-fat milk and to sell fruits and vegetables in single-serving bags.
....
"As we do new housing developments, we should think about how to structure space on the ground floor" and "make plans to incorporate street-level retail," said Linda Gibbs, the deputy mayor for health and human services.
Alicia Glen, the managing director of the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group, brings investment capital to underserved neighborhoods to stimulate economic development, including grocery stores. She said it is difficult to convince national supermarket chains "that even though people's incomes may be low, they still shop."
"I think you could characterize it as redlining," she said. "There's a real sense that there's certain places they won't go."
She said investors have been slow to realize that grocery stores can anchor neighborhood development. "How are you going to have million-dollar condos if there's no place to buy bok choy?" she asked.
A study by the Reinvestment Fund, a development finance corporation in Pennsylvania, found that every $1 spent on supermarket construction and operation generates $1.50 in additional economic activity.
The rationale for the vanishing grocery stores is clear: Grocers traditionally make profit margins of only 1 to 2 percent, while skyrocketing rent prices in recent years have outstripped the stores' income, industry experts said.
...
High-end grocers are doing well, such as Whole Foods Market. It recently opened the largest grocery store in the city, at 71,000 square feet, including a sushi bar, an ice cream bar and a fromagerie. FreshDirect, an online grocer that delivers to certain neighborhoods, has so transformed food shopping that many new residential buildings include a refrigerated room off the lobby for food deliveries.
...
"Traditionally people went to their neighborhood stores to buy their needs," he said. "They won't be able to do that. It's not just grocery stores."
9.27.1945: This accident occurred on Vine Street at Clifton Avenue. A streetcar that was southbound on Vine from Mulberry Street was struck in the rear by an automobile. Moments later, another streetcar hit the automobile, sandwiching the vehicle between the two trolleys. The driver of the car was killed and 40 passengers of the streetcars were injured.
Photograph - Dennis Maag Collection
BOCKFEST PARADE 2008
Friday, March 7th at 6pm
Starting at Arnold's Bar & Grill
210 East 8th Street
Admission is Free
Best Parade entry wins a HUGE, one-of-a-kind beer stein handcrafted by the Art Academy
The Bockfest Parade is Cincinnati's most bohemian parade!
Best entries are determined by originality, Bockfest themes (Bock Beer, Goats, German Renaissance), and general funkiness!
Visit www.bockfest.com for more details!
Minister bails on ceremony
University's concerns prompt Lapin to rescind offer to officiate same-sex marriage
By: Jesse Call Posted: 3/5/08
One day prior to scheduled same-sex marriage ceremonies being held on campus, the ordained minister chosen to officiate over the ceremony, who also happens to be a Northern Kentucky University faculty member, got cold feet.
...
Sam Lapin, a communication arts lecturer at the Grant County Center and a minister ordained through the Universal Life Church, an interfaith religious organization, had originally agreed to conduct the wedding services of same-sex couples on the main campus at a celebration of Freedom to Marry Day, organized by Common Ground, a student organization supporting the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community, Feb. 19. Lapin said he was asked to participate in the event after the group, unaware of his ties to NKU, found his Web site. However, he said he ultimately decided not to participate because he had some of the concerns as the administration and his supervisors had.
... e-mails revealed Lapin and others were concerned that he was being intimidated and that he was questioned about the event's legality.
...
In the Commonwealth of Kentucky, neither same-sex marriages nor civil unions are legally recognized. Marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman.
...
"This incident is exactly the sort to reinforce cynicism in our students about political activism and the importance of free expression in a democratic society," Alberti said in his e-mail to the administrators. "The students involved are among the most idealistic and committed on our campus, and they deserve better than to have their event undermined through the inappropriate pressure placed on a faculty member."
...
According to Common Ground Ambassador, Maggie Lewis, the group is still planning to have a marriage event, but are working out the details and taking more time to plan the event. She declined to name specifics until the planning was complete.
...
The proposed state legislation said to be behind the concerns of the supervisors, administration, and Lapin is Senate Bill 112. That bill simply adds a few definitions within state law relating to health benefits for public employees. The definitional changes would define spouse as "a person to whom the employee is legally married pursuant to Kentucky state law." In addition, it excludes domestic partners from the definition of a "family member."
No region should receive special favors from the ...government... But our cities deserve a level playing field. A level playing field requires that urbanites should not bear an undue burden of caring for the poor and that suburbanites should pay for the environmental costs of energy-intensive lifestyles.
Edward L. Glaeser, a professor economics at Harvard University, is director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston.
Hays-Porter is located on an eight-acre site with very little greenspace, in the center of an urban environment. The property is partially fenced for security. Access onto the site is somewhat restricted due to roads on three sides of the building. Site circulation is somewhat congestion but is controlled by signals. There is no designated space for school buses to load and unload on the site. Most of the site is paved asphalt, and no playground equipment is provided.
Each of Ohio's 88 counties elects a County Engineer. Only persons who hold registration certificates form the State of Ohio as both Registered Professional Engineer (P.E.) and Registered Professional Surveyor (P.S.) may hold the office of County Engineer. To achieve both accreditations requires a minimum of a college degree in engineering and surveying, four years of experience in engineering and surveying, and 16 hours of testing for each license. Ohio has the most rigorous standards in the United States for qualifying its County Engineers.
Families and Urbanism in Cincinnati