I saw at the Herald website that at last week’s forum at Town Hall Mayor
Chilton “…suggested telling developers what type of development the town wants
in its commercial districts to make it less risky for developers to spend
time and money on proposals to present to the town.” Hurray for that. The
Board has the ability to put in place street plans. The most recent I’m
aware of is the Roberson St. Plan. This plan addresses widths of sidewalks,
on-street parking, and street trees and landscaping. All of these
components of the plan are intended to improve the general streetscape, to
make our town better for all of us. The plan serves the town, meaning us,
by making pleasant sidewalks, more general parking, and by increasing the
width of the right of way. New buildings are pushed back, making sure that
we’re not too shadowed or leaned upon as pedestrians.
I just received an email announcing the organizational meeting for the Durham Orange Friends of Transit and it got me to thinking... As a resident of Carrboro, I continue to hear a lot of excitement at the neighborhood and town level about the idea of some type of fixed rail service with a stop in downtown that takes folks to the university and beyond to Durham. Despite this, everyone that I've heard that is "in the know" about transit issues seems to be dismissive of the idea that a station in Carrboro is a viable idea. I believe this is partially due to the perception that the Carrboro population is not large enough to sustain such a station. The types of statistics I've seen that justify transit and transit stops tend to only use population and density numbers, but don't take into account the percentage of the population likely to use such a service.
One of the recent threads raised the issue of the unsustainable increases in taxes that Chapel Hill citizens are faced with. I'd be interested in knowing what services/benefits citizens (this includes Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County) would be willing do do without in order to minimize tax increases or to even decrease taxes. Would you be willing to have trash picked up every two weeks instead of weekly? Would you be willing to have recycling every other week as well? What about schools? Would you be willing to have larger class sizes and/or fewer teachers? How about fire/police protection? Would you be willing to have fewer police and fire persons or to have fewer stations and longer response times?
Anyone who watched the Chapel Hill budget process last year knows that the Town Manager and his staff worked hard to cut the budget to the bone, in many cases leaving staff positions unfilled to make the Council-requested percentage cuts. Although I don't believe public safety was jepoardized by these cuts it is hard (for me, at least) to see where any future cuts might come from.
Sustain Foundation has published the first comprehensive mapping
of the natural surface trails in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. These important
natural resources are unknown to the community at large.In response, members of the organization used
GPS/GIS to walk to trails, researched and designed 12 trifold brochures about
the 12 main trails in the area and linked them all on general map of Chapel
Hill/Carrboro. There are over 25,000 brochures in print and they are currently
for sale at several businesses and at UNC Student Stores. However, Sustain Foundation
needs help in accomplishing our mission of providing these trail guides to the
community so that people are introduced to these beautiful trails and begin
utilizing them.
Position: Sustain Foundation is
looking for volunteers who genuinely appreciate running in nature or being
active in the environment more generally to promote the Community Trail Guide.
We are building a Task Force of volunteers to attend events and lead creative
efforts in which awareness and sales of the Trail Guide are increased. In
addition, Sustain Foundation hopes to have a weekly guided hike and/or run of
each of the 12 trails over a 12 week period to students or community members.
This volunteer opportunity would be a great way to serve the community by
making information about the vast, beautiful natural areas and trail network
known to all who seek to trail run, hike or connect with nature. Also,
volunteers would be able to network with businesses, non-profits and
students/community members with similiar interests in active living and
promoting natural spaces. Positions could vary from a structured weekly
engagement with the community such as leading a walk/run on a trail to
consideration leadership and creativity in event planning or fundraising for
the Sustain Foundation and for the team through selling
the guides on commission and splitting the revenues. Semester commitment of 3
hours per week. Visit our website: sustainfoundation.org to learn more and contact sustainfoundation@gmail.com
if interested.
OrangePolitics is a not-for-profit website for discussing progressive perspectives on politics, planning, and public policy in Orange County, NC. Opinions are those of their authors. Learn more.
Community Guidelines
By using this site, you agree to our community guidelines. Inappropriate or disruptive behavior will result in moderation or eviction.
