Planning & Transportation
Philip Duchastel has a searing column about Carolina North in yesterday's Chapel Hill News. I think he raises some good points, although he also seems to look at the issue as if no conversation or process has come before. I certainly don't agree when he says that "all assume building Carolina North is good." And I also wish he would propose some kind of better way forward instaed of just predicting Chapel Hill's doom.
...the big questions have gone unspoken. The behemoth of those is growth. It seems assumed by all that growth is desirable, and of course that growth is possible. I beg to differ.
Carrboro touts its "walkability," and it is more walkable than, say, Cary. Yet one only need hangout downtown for a little while (e.g. on the lawn in front of Weaver Streer) to notice that most folks only walk as far as the parking lot holding their personal smogmobile. Carrboro, like the rest of suburban America, still obeys Kinsella's law of land use: "if you provide parking, they will drive." We seem to be caught in that old vicious circle: we provide parking, which reduces density (since parking actively competes with other uses) and discourages transit (by enabling driving, and most Americans will drive when given the option), which encourages driving, which "requires" more parking. So it was rather discouraging to see the discussion in Kirk Ross' piece in the Carrboro Citizen.
Speaker: Sarah Bruce, from
The Village Project and Executive Director of the Upper Neuse River
Basin Association (other speakers TBD). Light
refreshments will be served.
Date:
Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Location:
Lake Hogan Farms Clubhouse, 101 Commons Way in Chapel Hill (from Homestead Rd., turn north onto Lake Hogan Farms Rd. and take the second right).
The input session will begin with a formal time for citizens to speak at a podium about what they would like to see in the plan.
Afterward, County staff will be stationed throughout the room, each representing one of the seven plan elements: Economic Development, Housing, Land Use, Natural and Cultural Systems, Recreation and Parks, Services/Utilities and Community Facilities, and Transportation. During this period, staff will be in a listening mode giving County residents a chance to talk about important goals they desire to see included within each of the elements.
Date:
Monday, January 28, 2008 - 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Location:
Southern Human Services Building
Apparently some Hillsborough residents are working to restore train service to their town. It sounds encouraging, although I'm confused that they didn't mention TTA or plans for regional rail connections.
The potential of commuter rail service returning
to Hillsborough is part of a study being conducted by engineering firm
HNTB, which was presented last week to town officials and residents.
Jim Kessler, an HNTB representative,
explained the scope of the study that explores the possibility of
passenger trains stopping through Hillsborough. The study, which began
in October and will conclude in June 2008, will explore how well-suited
the current rail system is to passenger service, Kessler said. It is
not, he added, a feasibility study that would lead directly into
restoring those services.
[...]
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