Well Done Jackson, WY

Traverse City had the "Your Bay, Your Say" sessions in 2005 and we're still waiting for implementation of a bayfront park.

The Teton Boulder Park was conceived in 2009 and opened before the end of 2010.



[Via Adventure Journal: Teton Boulder Project Comes to Life in the Heart of Jackson Hole]

Love it. A great idea and a great looking park and it went from idea to implementation quickly because the City and Businesses all got behind it.

Another reminder of how slow things are here in Traverse City is the Hotel Indigo. News of a hotel in the warehouse district came in 2008, today's update at MWaT: The Hotel Indigo Tunnel Returns indicates the hotel may not happen at all.

Safety And Liability

Safety isn't a political issue. I have family in the reddest part of the reddest state.. They live in a county the size of Connecticut without any traffic stop lights. They do have signs and laws that traffic has to yield to pedestrians, and this is on US Hwy 191. Still, when I was there this summer they were installing new pedestrian crossing lights.

See PinedaleOnline: Pedestrian ‘Hybrid’ beacons to be installed in Pinedale

I'm all for Traverse City requiring traffic to yield to pedestrians.

Wonder if this will mean that the Spirit Of Traverse City will have to yield to pedestrians too?

Today The Ticker reported on the little train's unsettled fate: Will TC Blow the Whistle on the Train (Again)?

My kids love riding the train. But if they were on it and it derailed again I'd be tempted to sue the City for negligence. Because it has happened before. See the Record-Eagle: No injuries after mini train derails


This summer a teenager was tragically electrocuted and drowned in the marina. The City is going to get sued for negligence. See IPR: Lawsuit Expected Next Week in TC Marina Drowning

Because back in June there was this posting at ThirdCoastSurfShop.com: Take Caution which warned other paddlers that there were electrical problems in the Traverse City marina.

I see parallels between these events. Known dangerous circumstances on City property. Luckily no one has been injured on The Spirit yet but if the derailment cause was never determined then it could happen again. It isn't hard to envision the next derailment injuring a small child.

Though perhaps the nostalgia is worth it? I don't know the answer.

Just as I don't have the answers to the technical questions that need answered today and years from now too:

-Who fixes the train when it breaks down?
-Are spare parts available?
-Will technicians be available to maintain it?
-Will fuel be too expensive some day?
-Who will push the train up the final stretch when it gets bogged down?

And I have to think the City's insurance to cover the train will probably go way up after the marina lawsuit. The City may be forced to give it up due to liability worries. That's one way to settle a debate.

Academic Papers Of Interest Regarding Sprawl And Regulation

These are by Michael E Lewyn of the Florida Coastal School of Law.

"How Government Regulation Forces Americans Into Their Cars: A Case Study" Widener Law Journal 16.Symposium (2007): 839-852.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/lewyn/39

"YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL: LESS SPRAWL AND PROPERTY RIGHTS TOO" Temple Law Review 80 (2007): 1093-1134.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/lewyn/41

And if academic papers are your thing, then you may want to read what Bryan Pijanowski and his team have published as part of the Human-Environment Modeling and Analysis lab at Purdue. [disclosure - many years ago Pijanowski was on my thesis committee]

Articles Of Interest For People Who Care About Michigan's Future

MLive is hosting a series of essays under the name Rebooting Michigan and it is an exploration of ideas for balancing Michigan's rich natural features and resources with job creation and sustainability.

I consider it must reading.

And I am not endorsing anyone for governor but in reading these articles I was reminded of candidate Rick Snyder's 10 Point Plan for reinventing Michigan.

How A Colorado County Does Road Planning

Routt County, Colorado, where Steamboat Springs (an amenity town like Traverse City) is located, is planning for future road projects and is taking the right approach.

See the SteamboatPilot: Commissioners signaling new road policies

Commission Chairman Doug Monger said before an audience of more than 50 people Monday night. “From now on, whenever we fix a road, we need to fix it to certain standards so that it will include the things all of us need on those roads.”

Monday night’s meeting was billed as an open discussion on the shared uses of county roads, one that would take into account the needs of pedestrians, people who move livestock on county roads, bicyclists, and to a limited degree, snowmobiles.

Not everyone in the audience was a cyclist, but virtually everyone who stood up to address the commissioners closely identified with a perceived need to make Routt County’s roads more bicycle friendly.

Contrast this with what Grand Traverse County Commissioners are best known for - asinine statements. See: Commissioners slam global warming

How Lazy?

Via Leelanau.com: National Park Proposes Tunnel to the Lake Michigan Overlook

A tunnel through the sand dune so people can drive to the view on the other side? Unbelievable. I was recently in Boulder, CO and hiked a trail that was crowded with kids, dogs, and senior citizens; and it was a strenuous hike. No one there was asking for a tunnel through the mountain for a better view.

The document and commenting options are here: Lake Michigan Overlooks Environmental Assessment

I'm surprised to read that the NPS favors Option D, the tunnel, and rejected the idea to close the Outlooks completely.

Cities Are For People

Yet another argument for why Traverse City does not need more roads.

Wired: It's Time for Cities to Favor People, Not Cars

"There's this cycle of automobile dependency," he said. "You have to have a place to park at home, a place to park at work, and a place to park at retail establishments." In an absurd "market distortion," cities have become places where "cars have a right to housing and people don't."

Boardman River Dams Get Media Attention

Via The Environment Report: To Dam Or Not To Dam

Urban Parking

Via MSNBC - Cities rethinking '50s-era parking standards

D.C. is now considering scrapping those [parking space] requirements — part of a growing national trend. Officials hope that offering the freedom to forgo parking will lead to denser, more walkable, transit-friendly development...

Parking requirements — known to planners as "parking minimums" — have been around since the 1950s. The theory is that if buildings don't provide their own parking, too many drivers will try to park on neighborhood streets.

In practice, critics say, the requirements create an excess supply of parking, making it artificially cheap. That, the argument goes, encourages unnecessary driving and makes congestion worse. The standards also encourage people to build unsightly surface lots and garages instead of inviting storefronts and residential facades, they say. Walkers must dodge cars pulling in and out of driveways, and curb cuts eat up space that could otherwise be used for trees.

Reading this article reminded me of a study by my old grad school committee member Bryan Pijanowski that found communities had more parking spaces than vehicles.

See:
Parking Spaces Outnumber Drivers 3 To 1, Drive Pollution And Warming

The hidden costs of free parking – one space at a time