Share the Road . . . With Sharrows!

I've been giving some thought to bicycling in urban traffic. I just completed the excellent StreetSmarts Road One course offered by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB), and it gave me a different perspective on the various options being discussed in urban planning and bicycling circles. In addition to expanding the terrific web of recreational trails we have in this area, there is serious discussion about adding bike lanes downtown as well as considering the installation of "Complete Streets" throughout the urban core. It's good that this discussion is finally taking place in earnest, but we need to be careful what we wish for. Bike lanes, for example, if not properly engineered could be more dangerous than not having them at all. Complete Streets can be expensive and may not be appropriate in all circumstances. Another alternative, less costly and more in tune with treating bikers as vehicle drivers and not as pedestrians, is the concept of "sharrows."

15-Storey Condo Height Variance Approved

The height variance for the 15-storey condominiums at 15 Central Avenue overlooking the Great Miami and downtown was approved by the Dayton Board of Zoning Appeals on December 11. The hearing was on November 27, but the meeting minutes didn't come online until either yesterday or today. I wonder when we'll hear more about this project?

Miami Valley Planning & Zoning Workshop

The Ohio Planning Conference (a chapter of the American Planning Association) is hosting the 21st Annual Miami Valley Planning & Zoning Workshop on December 7th, 2007 8am at Sinclair Community College.  Among the many speakers will be keynote speaker Mayor Jay Williams from Youngstown, OH.  As you've read previously on DMM, Youngstown is a national leader in Smart Decline strategies, and Dayton leaders recently visited Youngstown to determine if some of those same strategies will work in Dayton. 

Also, ironicallly timed with our previous post about Flint, MI's ideas to demolish abandoned/obsolete houses and sell the properties to adjacent homeowners for $1, the folks from the Genesee County Land Bank Authority will be discussing this land bank strategy that includes different strategies for dealing with foreclosed properties.

Additional discussions will include:

• Bike-friendly Strategies
• LEED/Sustainable Housing and Development
• Religious Land Use
• Economic Development around Riverfronts (ie Ballpark Village)
• Senior Citizens and Transportation
• And others

For a complete agenda and other info, visit the event website.  And afterwards if you participate in the event, please let us know what you thought about the workshop.

Correction: I had previously posted that this event was being hosted by the City of Dayton, but it is in fact being hosted by the Ohio Planning Conference.

MVRPC & Dayton City Leadership - please take notes...

As a follow-up to a previous post about what Dayton can do to improve our urban landscape and attract more people to visit and live here, this is a perfect example of a city doing it right...

Indianapolis - known more to be auto-oriented (think Indy 500) than pedestrian or bicycle-oriented - is undergoing a huge downtown street project that will actually REMOVE automobile lanes and replace them with what is called the Indianapolis Cultural Trail - "a world-class urban bike and pedestrian path that connects neighborhoods, Cultural Districts and entertainment amenities, and serves as the downtown hub for the entire central Indiana greenway system."

According to the website, this fantastic project is made possible by a large public and private collaboration led by Central Indiana Community Foundation, the City of Indianapolis and several not-for-profit organizations devoted to building a better city.

Here are some pre-construction and mid-construction photos - as well as post-construction renderings of what it will look like when completed.

Complete the Streets

From this . . .

To this . . .

What's wrong with this picture?  No people . . . no alternative forms of transportation . . . just cars and concrete. I'm not saying we should go back to the horse and buggy, but it's time the people of Dayton reclaim their city streets and their community. How can we do that? Kirkland, Washington seems to have the right idea, as described by the following AARP article.

UPDATE SEP 25: See Richard Florida's post showing how complete streets are to be instituted in NYC. It's just not for the burbs. Imagine the same thing happening in Dayton!

Our fountains are back!!!

Last weekend while walking the dog on our daily trek down Canal Walk, I saw in the distance a familiar sight that I hadn't seen in over a year - the Five Rivers Fountain was on!  I assumed they were just testing it since I hadn't heard anything in the news, but nonetheless it was nice to see.  Then in this morning's DDN, I read some good news that the fountain may be back on for good very soon.

 

Dayton Daily News
Link: Riverscape fountains may finally work as planned. 

The six-year saga of the often malfunctioning fountain at the Riverscape MetroPark may finally conclude this summer with a happily-ever-after ending.

The fountain — touted to be one of the largest in the world — was turned off, again, this summer for repair of the starter mechanism, an electronic piece that turns on the fountain motor...

This latest fix comes after a series of problems, but Carrie Scarff, deputy director of Five Rivers MetroParks believes the water feature's boondoggle days are done. "We're getting close to getting them operable," Scarff said. "Our hope is certainly that the fountain runs consistently and reliably."...

Our post back in May discussed how important our city's skyline is, and the fountain (claimed to be one of the biggest in the world?) is a major part of the skyline.  Now if only we can convince the building managers at the Fifth Third building to turn the roof lights back on...

Above Photo by © Andy Snow

 

Our Skyline Is Missing Something - Anybody Notice?

                   

Whenever you go to any large or medium-sized city, you will most likely notice the skyline - it reminds you that you are in an active place full of buildings, offices, people and life.  In other words, it reminds you that you are "in the CITY".  Our neighboring cities of Columbus and Cincinnati have beautiful skylines - especially at night when the lights are turned on to accentuate the almost magical architecture that fills the horizon.  Places like my hometown of Chicago have famous skylines that are the subject of thousands of photographs sold all over the world.  And if tall well-lit buildings represent the city's beauty, things like Buckingham Fountain represent the city's soul.  That fountain has been there since 1927, and every year when it comes on for the first time you can almost hear a million sighs of relief as the Spring/Summer season officially begins.  And if by chance somebody decided that the fountain would not be turned on this year, or the lights on the John Hancock building would not be turned on because the electric bill was just too darn expensive, you better believe that people would notice, firings would occur and politicians would be certain to not get re-elected if they didn't get run out of town.  Yeah, sounds pretty harsh but that is the kind of pride Chicagoans have in their city.

Which brings me to my adopted city of Dayton...

In Praise of Chain Stores

Ok, I know this blog title got your attention. In past blogs I've talked about how important it is to support and embrace our independent businesses that dominate Downtown Dayton as well as many other urban centers across the country. It is the independent restaurant or shop that makes a city unique. If we simply replaced that with Cheesecake Factories, Starbucks and Pottery Barns, then we risk turning our city into a place that is like any other place in America.

As a rule, I try not to ever think or speak in extreme terms and I try to consider both sides of an argument. Perhaps that rule might apply here - maybe there is room for both independent and chain. How I shop and dine would tell you that I have always subscribed to that way of thinking. Though I typically prefer a good independent restaurant (Pacchia, Dublin Pub, Pizza Factory, etc.) over a chain, that does not mean that I will not go to J. Alexanders or Carabas or even T.G.I. Friday's from time to time. And let's face it, though I will not shop at Wal-Mart, I do shop at Target, Kroger and even Meijer. And I can't tell you the last time I went to an independently-owned hardware store - Lowe's and Home Depot are simply king.

So yes, I do shop at chain stores and I do dine at chain restaurants - and I seriously doubt there is anybody out there that can claim that they never do. In fact, I wouldn't mind a couple of chain stores downtown if they were nice places and helped to attract more people downtown. But I do wish that more people would consider trying a locally-owned business from time to time instead of ALWAYS going to their favorite chain. In other words, I advocate a balance between the chain and the independent. And that balance is exactly what you see when you go to successful cities like Chicago or San Francisco. This is something that I hope is considered when it comes time to select businesses to go into the future Ballpark Village.

Link: In Praise of Chain Stores.

Green Design in Dayton

Link: Local Partnership Sponsors "Green" Design Competition

CountyCorp, the Home Builders Association of Dayton, Dayton and Kettering are working together to set up a design competition.  The goal is producing building practices or housing projects that are green or environmentally friendly.  These are going to be at six sites through Montgomery County.  This is the part of a goal to produce good public housing.

“The goal of this project is to encourage interested parties to become innovative leaders in reshaping the vision of affordable housing,” Amy Riegel, Community Development Analyst in the City of Dayton’s Department of Planning and Community Development, said.  “We want participants to explore and implement green building practices as a way of providing residents with unique housing options.”