OrangePolitics turns four on Thursday! Yes, we are walking, talking, and getting ready for pre-school. We're even potty-trained - quite proud of it too.
To celebrate, let's check out the brand-new Southern Rail, the bar/restaurant/beer garden housed at the old train station in downtown Carrboro. We'll meet at 5:30 on Friday (9/28) and stay for at least 2 hours. Candidates are especially welcome.
Also for our birthday, we're kicking off our first-ever fundraising drive!
Our last update was 3 years ago, and OP is seriously needing better identity management and improved community tools. I think drupal will be a good solution for us, and I hope to work with the good folks at Advantage Labs to make OP more useful and (and more stable) than ever.
Tomorrow September 22, 2007, around 10:10 A.M., Amtrak's Train number 80, the Carolinian, will run through Hillsborough. The train won't stop, but Orange County residents will be there encouraging local and state governments to add an Amtrak stop in Hillsborough in celebration of international Car Free Day.
Members of The Village Project and the Walkable Hillsborough Coalition will hold an event beginning around 9:50 A.M. on Saturday the 22nd to highlight the need for Amtrak service for Hillsborough and Orange County. The event will be held at the corner of Eno and South Nash Streets in Hillsborough, in view of the railroad tracks (opposite the former Flynt Mill). A rail stop in Hillsborough would help reduce traffic, global warming, and air pollution as well as provide County residents with more mobility options for work-related and recreational travel.
Good day orangepolitics.org'ians!
I wanted to let you all know that The Peoples Channel has invited everyone in Orange County currently running for office to appear on our weekly flagship program, "TPC Weekly" hosted by myself. Each candidate is allotted 15 minutes to introduce themselves, talk about why they are interested in running and what they think the major issues are that OC community members face.
This is a great opportunity for the community to get to know the candidate outside of a forum or debate. The program airs 6 times over the weekend (see schedule) and is also posted to our web site at www.thepeopleschannel.org/candidates.htm
I understand that some candidates reading this may not have gotten my e-mails… and I can't explain that one. I wrote to everyone that had an e-mail address filed with the County, and then made follow up phone calls. I'm pretty much a one man outreach operation here, so if I've missed anyone, don't hesitate to contact me. We still have slots open!
Ever since I was appointed to the neighborhood committee for the proposed Innovation Center last spring, I have been looking forward to learning more about this building that would be located near the intersection of Estes Drive and MLK Boulevard (about a mile from my home). However, I remain in the dark about this project as the committee was apparently never convened!
Tonight a concept plan for the Innovation Center is being presented to Chapel Hill's Community Design Commission, which gives feedback on developments early in the review process. At some point this summer, the location of this project moved from the Airport Drive area which is currently used by UNC for facilities services to what is proposed to be the main entranceway for the future Carolina North campus. This is a pretty big shock to those of us who understood that Carolina North would be planned carefully before it begins a 50-year development process.
I am attending the CDC meeting tonight and will report here what I learn.
Guest Post by Ian McDonald
Last week, USA Today published a report with this headline: "Income gap closes in rural suburbs, Census says." The data comes from the Census's American Community Survey for 2006, and ranks all 783 US counties with 65,000 people or more.
The article lists counties with the greatest and least income inequality, based on the Gini Index. Despite the headline and the trend it describes, Orange County NC ranks fifth-highest in the U.S. in this measure of income inequality. Only Manhattan NY, Orleans Parish LA, Fairfield County CT, and the District of Columbia surpass NC's Orange County.
Maybe the result is a statistical artifact of OC's college age population, but other counties dominated by big universities (e.g., Dane County, Wisconsin and Washtenaw County, Michigan) are far down the list. The data are available for public download from the Census web site.
Is OC's high national ranking for income inequality surprising? Is it troubling?
Pages
About Us
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.
Zircon - This is a contributing Drupal Theme
Design by
WeebPal.
