Saturday, February 23, 2013

Six Lanes of Bullshit

I've been driving my car too much lately.

I perform in theater here and there, and need to travel between my centrally-located home east to Cleveland Hts and/or west to Lakewood, often within a half hour as my schedule dictates.

On my recent east-bound trips I travel the Carnegie gauntlet, which along with Chester, is the street everybody uses to hurtle through the decimated east side of Cleveland up to the Heights communities.

One of my contentions is that you don't need to accomodate high flow-rate automobile access for a healthy retail economy.

The high volume of traffic on these streets doesn't seem to be doing any businesses there any good. In fact, any businesses that do thrive, such as my optometrist have long since sealed off their street-side doors in favor of a rear parking lot.

Walking along these streets is quite unpleasant and unsafe since they've been widened as much as possible for automobile traffic at the expense of the sidewalk.

These streets have become the de-facto freeways ever since the Heights communities bravely stopped the extension of I-490 in the 1960s, which would have torn Shaker Heights in half.

A good history of the battle is documented here:
Bad Freeways

They're at it again, promoting the "Opportunity Corridor" as some sort of high traffic rate economic engine:
Six lanes of "Economic Opportunity"

How can they not see the affect high traffic rates have had on Carnegie and Chester Avenues?

Chester Ave is a particular disaster: a wide R.O.W. in a residential area, yet no consideration of Bicycles or pedestrians whatsoever.

Between Chester and Carnegie sits Euclid Ave.

This road was recently redesigned, in my opinion, brilliantly. It's 25 MPH, with one lane for automobiles, one lane for buses, and a consistent bike lane.

The bike lane had to be fought for of course, and ends too soon, before it reaches downtown from the east at around E 22.

Guess which road is experiencing commercial re-birth?

The 25 MPH, restricted flow one: Euclid Ave.


An acceptable exchange regarding the Opportunity Corridor is if they henceforth reduce speeds on Carnegie and Chester and build Chester Avenue into the marvelous boulevard it should be.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Speeders Hate Being Caught!

Yes that's about all you can conclude about our city's speed camera program.

That and how poorly it's run: like many other things in the city.

This piece of video 'journalism' is all over the map, primarily using tried and true sensationalism to enflame drivers' expected anti-camera rage.

(Having repeat offender Zack Reed as the Council spokesman is a bizzare joke.)

Cleveland Councilman Zack Reed arrested this morning in DUI traffic stop:

http://bit.ly/XTPfeY

Speed Cameras Suck!

If you actually listen to the report you discover that the problem isn't with speed cameras, it's with the administration of the program. And yes, Xerox is ripping us off horribly.

Here's the facts folks:

Cameras don't speed, they don't even drive. Stop blaming a camera for your transgression.

Cameras also don't issue tickets. Police officers and Police department staff does, (or doesn't as the case seems to be.)

Cameras don't make streets safer. Enforcement of driving rules makes streets safer. Cameras can help.

Cameras are giving the police department more work. Nobody likes more work.

Speeding is against the law and kills people and other living things. Don't do it.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Dead Squirrel, Dead Inside and Out

On my ride home in a brisk Cleveland winter morn, I bore witness as a car nailed a squirrel.

This particular car, probably rocking some tunes, texting, or finishing some bathroom touchups didn't even slow down and (I assume) wasn't even aware.

"Sad, but it happens all the time," you may say. Dumb squirrel. I'm quite fond of critters, not insane or anything but the issue's more than just one more rodent pizza.

So, well, now the bold print:

Our culture, in its relentless drive for comfort and convenience has lost a necessary connection to the outside as a matter of daily routine.

Ditching the car for a bicycle or hoofing it on foot can invigorate us with the reality that is weather, (woah...) and the sights and sounds of the outside: the squirrels, the cats, dogs, deer, other human beings, ya know? (You'll also discover the sounds of the automobile to be the most unpleasant ones of all.)

You really come to appreciate a good hat, scarf, gloves, stuff a friend may knit or sell in a local craft market. Like Mom said, dress appropriate and you can stay outside all day, almost a kid again!

Food tastes better after being outside, rather than stuffing it in your face one hand on the wheel.

Try it sometime, while coincidentally saving some gas money.

Get Weatherenergized!

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Induced Demand

The concept of "Induced Demand" is often described in physical, mathematical terms, for example: a wider highway rapidly fills to an extent that it needs to be widened again.

While this is true, I also believe the the more psychological characteristics of "fulfilling capacity" and related pressures of social acceptance are the greatest drivers of MVH.

In our world, we are expected to be able to travel ever greater distances in a short period of time simply because the technology exists to do so, and to do it in style.

This is conformist pressure just as powerful as pop culture and mass marketing. Not only how quickly we get from here to there, but also how impressively we travel that distance is one of a few, top ranked ways society has come to judge us and classify our status.

I'm reminded of a bar conversation I had with a 'dating expert' who related a date she had with a mutual acquaintance of ours, (oh so gossipy!)

She took great pleasure in describing the "piece of shit" that the person drove up to her home and how ridiculous it was that she should get in such a vehicle.
It wasn't a mean-spirited jibe, but more a way to present this assumed universally agreed principle for the purpose of a humorous conversation: which makes it even more relevant to my point!

I wonder what a date would say to me if I suggested we meet at the Rapid station downtown?

Directions and Parking Lot Assholes

One of my 'favorite' things regarding MVH is when I'm walking my dog and a car stops to ask me directions in my somewhat confusing neighborhood.

As I'm describing the way to the Christmas Story House or the Steelyard shopping development, anybody stopped in a car behind that person becomes enraged within several seconds.

They invariably lay on the horn or go squealing around the stopped driver, which makes me want to take even more time to help my fellow citizen.

I almost got in a fight with some asshole in a shopping center parking lot in the burbs over this once.

Somebody wanted directions and it took about 15 seconds to explain them, keeping an asshole behind the person I was helping from exiting the funneled design of the parking lot.

I informed the asshole after he issued some unintelligible aggro that indeed life was short and I was (not) sorry that I kept him immobile for a short moment of it.

Asshole made a move to get out and engage me and I welcomed it. Didn't happen.

Yet another incident occurred once when, years ago, I was driving to a restaurant and a friend was coming from her home in her vehicle.

I found a spot and saw her approaching where I was walking towards our destination. There were a fair amount of parking spaces available, by no means was it full.

As she approached I stood in one spot waving her over when, from behind me some asshole in a BMW comes careening into the same space stopping just short of hitting me.

From the asshole's car, the asshole screams, believe it or not, "Get The Fuck Out Of My Way," as if the asshole had a constitutional right to a share of lined asphalt.

Shamefully, I stepped aside and glared through the window. Asshole jumped on the horn. I walked away laughing.


MVH does horrible things to people, (and the environment and the economy, etc.)


Monday, February 4, 2013

Options

It's true enough that most people need to be within 10 miles round trip of 80% of the places they go to make alternatives to the car work for them.


My daily commute is 6 miles round trip.

Assuming light traffic, round trip times:


By car:  30 minutes + 5-10  minutes to park and walk to office

$5-10 to park per day + gas and proportionate maintenance, fees, and insurance



By bus:  60 minutes + 10-15  minutes walking to office

$4.50 per day



By bicycle:  40 minutes + 10 minutes changing clothes, prepping saddle bags, walk to office

No daily fees. $10-20 a month bike maintenance?



By walking:  90 - 100 minutes

Free all round!



Curiously, increasing my distance to 10 miles round trip would only slightly increase my walking time.

The other times wouldn't change much.


The Cost of Sprawl: An Ongoing Tragedy

Just got some fee costs for installing water and sewer service in an exurb that shouldn't even be developed:

$13,118 for sewer
$4,534 for water

Grand total of $17,652 (+ $2,453 if your sewer is tributary to another exurb)

This is before you pay the contractor to lay the pipe. (Gotta be another 20k, I imagine.)

Connection is required BTW.

All that for the privilege of driving your gas hog over 50 miles a day and destroying forestland.

All these amenities and more already exist in the city.

There are probably 100s of entire, quality houses available in the city for less than $10,000.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

RTA Commuter Lines: A Proposal

No doubt many proposals are submitted to Cleveland's Regional Transit Authority.
Many people care about the state of transportation, and particularly public transportation in our region.

This is mine.

I've created a Google map:

Commuter Line Map

with a set of proposed stops to be served by dedicated commuter vehicles to pick up passengers at one and only one stop, to be transported downtown to the brand spanking new Stephanie Tubbs Jones Transit Center:

STJ Transit Center

The idea of this proposal is for these commuter vehicles to run AROUND THE CLOCK

Blue Markers (Stops) every 30 Minutes

Red Markers (Stops) every 60 Minutes.
Also, one vehicle to run between each Red Stop East and one vehicle between Red Stops West.

Late night transit in Cleveland is extremely sparse, like in many cities.

Several Years ago RTA abandoned their 'Circulator' routes for a variety of mysterious reasons, some of which may be here:

Circulator Woes

These were smaller vehicles that served shorter routes and were very popular, but VERY poorly thought out.
I believe the idea was to use them merely to get customers to other Bus routes or the Rapid Train.


It's time to bring these back as actual dedicated commuter vehicles!



Back To The City: Part 1

Any decrease in car dependency will require re-establishing dense population patterns: it's simple geography.

I started out to write about the current state of the 'inner city,' schools, race, crime, etc., but this contribution from Meagen Farrell on +Rust Wire , an important blog by +Angie Schmitt  once again knocked me on my ass:

Living in Hough

You absolutely must read not only that contribution, but the 4 preceding ones, to which links are provided at the top.

I live in a Cleveland neighborhood known as Tremont, (or The Southside if you're a traditionalist,) in which I was lucky enough to purchase a house in 1993, just as the area was beginning to grow in popularity.
First, the usual suspects, The Artists began purchasing crappy homes from slumlords and the children of older ethnic families in the 1980s. Then the Bars and Restaurants moved in. (Michael Symon's first big hit "Lola" started here.)
It is now too expensive for most young people to acquire a house despite the poor quality of the late 1800s (worse) to early 1900s (better) construction.
There are many expensive rehabs and expensive modern construction homes in the last 2-10 years as well.
All well and good. I expect, and have personally benefitted from this kind of change, well aware of the anger, unfairness, and controversy it can cause among the dispossessed and/or early 'pioneers' not as lucky as myself. I am willing to move again however, as the disparity on display here has begun to bother me.

Point is, most people are wondering where the next neighborhood is going to be.

Freshwater Cleveland is publishing a series on that very topic, such as this one on the North Collinwood effort:

Next Neighborhood

Distressingly, I see most people forced out of Tremont heading West in a pattern eerily similar to that of my parents, who ended up far East in Mentor, Ohio where I went to school, and learned nothing. (So much for good school systems.)
Mentor was once a tiny, quaint village now turned into a hellhole of strip mall sprawl by the federally supported mandate to clear the cities, provided by the gazillions of dollars invested in the highway system.
The way the Feds still pour money into these systems, you would think the mandate were still in place.

Why are my friends trickling West, (even those who started East as I did?)

I am a white guy.

My father, (born in Hough) is a frightening spectre on the beach. That side of my family is as white as Obama's maternal grandfather:

Chris Rock

This is where black people live in Cuyahoga County:

Nodis GIS

None of my friends are racist. They are all good-hearted and right-minded people. We are all deeply affected by racism.

This is a conversation avoided for over 50 years.

It may finally be happening.