Eleven Atlanta Area Residents Die in Pre-Fourth of July Crashes, Four Others Injured

Our hearts and prayers go out to those mentioned in the articles below and their families.  Eight of the nine headlines are on AJC.com right now.  These aren’t archived, they are headlines for their respective counties. 

• Motorcyclist Dies After Crash
• 2 Killed in Fiery Gwinnett Crash
• Teen Killed in Crash Remembered as ‘Outgoing,’ ‘Sweet’
• Police ID Two Killed in Lawrenceville Head-on Collision
• Douglasville Man Dies in Head-on Crash
• Ackworth Man Killed Crossing Cherokee Road
• 3 Injured After Car Goes Down Embankment
• Storms Overturn 8 Tractor Trailers in Henry County
• Lawrenceville Family Members Killed in Miami Identified
• Lawrenceville Girl Struck by Van in Miami Stable

There have been eight traffic related deaths in the metro area in the past few days.  Another three people were injured after a car went down an embankment and just today, powerful storms blew over eight tractor trailers in Henry County.  In a particularly gruesome story that didn’t occur in the metro area but involved a family from Lawrenceville, a mini-van in Miami ran off the road and on to a sidewalk killing three members of the Lawrenceville family as they were leaving a Florida Marlins game.  The fourth member, a ten year-old girl is in stable condition.

If there were any other reason for these deaths, they would be combined into a major news story.  Something like; ‘Eleven Atlanta Area Residents Die in Pre-Fourth of July Crashes, Four Others Injured’  There is a possibility that this will be picked up as a news story sometime this week.  However, that possibility only exists because it is a holiday week that is notoriously dangerous.  Any other week, and there is no way these accidents would be grouped into a larger story about a trend in traffic related deaths.  These types of accidents are so commonplace in our society that we barely blink when we see the headline and often times the story includes details about how long a road or intersection was closed after the crash as if we should be concerned with commute times.

Every time I see a headline like the ones above, I wonder if it might have been prevented had the victim(s) been able to walk, bike or take transit to their destination?  What if we had truly complete neighborhoods where people could choose to walk to to their jobs, bars, stores and parks?  Could we reduce the number of deaths on our roads?  The single most deadly thing we do every day is get behind the wheel of our cars.  Think about it... and be careful out there.

Weekly Top 5: HBR400, Agenda 21, Health Risks, Privatization, Cities of the Future

Here's the weekly recap of all of my readings last week.  Enjoy...

What’s up in Roswell

Holcomb Bridge - Georgia 400 Plans Unveiled - NorthFulton.com -  The long term plan for the HBR-400 interchange was released this week.  It looks like a great plan to improve virtually all aspects of the intersection; traffic flow, pedestrian and bike paths and aesthetics.  The project would take about 20 years to be complete and, oh yeah, almost $100M.  If you like it, there is a sizable portion of that money allocated to the project in the TIA2012 penny sales tax.  BTW.. I’m voting yes.  

July 4th Celebration at Roswell High School - That’s pretty much the biggest thing going on this week in Roswell.  It’s not urbanism related but I figured it was worth noting.  

Pure Taqueria Making Progress - The building frame is going up right now.  Can’t wait for some tasty Mexican food later this summer!

Ryan Pernice of Table in Main on Using Twitter - Ryan is quoted in this Restaurant Management Magazine article about how T&M uses Twitter to entice his followers.  They send out a number of pictures of their specials.  I’m a follower and am often left with my mouth watering.  Follow them on twitter  @TableAndMain for some great pics.. You’ll get hungry.

Economic Development Meeting Scheduled - There will be a public meeting at City Hall (room 220) on 7/12 from 7-830pm to present the new Strategic Economic Development Plan to the public.

Top 5 Articles of the Week 

Georgia and the UN: Why Walking Leads to One-World Government - The Economist

...a former candidate for governor now running for commissioner of Cobb County, just north of Atlanta, condemned plans to build a jogging and biking trail alongside a highway because, "That's Agenda 21. Bicycles and pedestrian traffic as an alternative form of transportation to the automobile."

You want more?  You’ll have to read the article.  This one will make your head spin. 

The Grave Health Risks of Unwalkable Communities - The Atlantic Cities

With an obesity epidemic, weight-related childhood issues and soaring healthcare costs, the point of this article should resonate with all of us.  

Safe, walkable neighborhoods are not just an amenity, they're a matter of life or death. They create environments where we can live active, engaged lives. And more walking brings more social interaction, more time outdoors, more recreation, more smiles and more "life" in every sense. 

A Georgia Town Takes the Peoples Business Private - NY Times

Sandy Springs (aka “the model”) is highlighted for it’s almost complete privatization of local government in this article. I liked this quote:

Drive around and you’ll see a nondescript upscale suburb, where the most notable features are traffic lights that seem to take five minutes to turn green. There is no downtown, or at least anything that looks like a main street. Instead, there are strip malls with plenty of usual-suspect franchises — although one strip mall, oddly enough, includes a small museum that tells the story of Anne Frank. 

Three Atlanta Schools to Watch - Grading Atlanta

This post has some excellent analysis that is probably much more predictive than most people realize.  In it, blogger Jarod Apperson takes a look at the demographic shifts going on within the Atlanta Public School system.  Some of the data is telling and goes with my thinking that the schools that are great now... might not be so great in 15 years.  A long time ago, the in-town schools were the best schools in the Region.  Will that be the case in the future?  Here’s an excerpt:

Toomer (Elementary) underwent the most dramatic shift with the percent of white students rising from 0% to 23%.  Bolton Academy was not far behind with the percent of white students rising from 5% to 19%.

The 15 Hottest US Cities of the Future - Business Insider

This list was actually not that surprising to me.  First, Atlanta is not in it. No surprise there.  The two southeastern cities that were on the list were Nashville and Raleigh which seem to be becoming more desirable than our region.  Look at the list and think about the implications of the TIA2012 referendum.  I’d say that Atlanta might be able to budge its way back into a list like this if the Beltline becomes a reality.

Other Stuff

Bike Sharing Coming to Charlotte

Crabapple Plan Taking Shape

Group Fights Continuation of GA400 Toll 

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TIA2012 and the Beltline

The Beltline is perhaps the most transformational project our region has ever seen. Granted, the direct beneficiaries will be in the city of Atlanta. However, our region as a whole will benefit greatly from this development. Check out this video on TIA2012's impact on the Beltline.

Weekly Top 5 - Cars, Conservatives, Alpharetta, Congestion, Innovation

Each week, New Urban Roswell brings you our Top 5 most interesting and thought provoking articles about urbanism and neighborhoods.  We sifted through about 100 articles this week to find the top 5.  We hope you enjoy.

Beware the 18% - New Urbanism Blog

Embedded in this article is a very interesting statistic that goes beyond the headline.  That statistic is that the average annual cost for owning a mid-size car in the US  is $9,519 when you factor in all pertinent costs and assume annual mileage of 15,000.  That’s almost 65 cents a mile!  It’s a statistic that’s just crying out for some common sense. Much of the current debate in Atlanta is about the Transportation Investment Act and the fact that 48% of the money is allocated to roads... this statistic tells me that we might want to consider lowering that.  Assuming that you have a 10 mile commute, your round trip is costing you about $13!!!  WOW!  Bet you didn’t think about that.  We need to start building walkable places where people aren’t forced to use their car and can even consider reducing their car ownership.  The automobile is a drag on our national wealth. 

Smart Growth for Conservatives - Bacon’s Rebellion

This is a highly interesting read if you are at all concerned about he politicization of common sense.  In the preface to this post, Bacon comments that “efficiency is efficiency... cost effectiveness is cost effectiveness.”  The current dichotomy is Sprawl (Conservative) vs Smart Growth (Liberal) and that isn’t going to cut it as reality begins to smack us in the face more and more frequently.  The argument in this post is whether the top-down liberal solution or the bottom-up conservative solution is best.  As a staunch independent, I think a little of both is needed.  An additional excerpt from the preface:

The logical, if somewhat extreme, outcome of the conservative dismissal of Smart Growth is the anti-Agenda 21 movement, which connects non-existing dots between the United Nation’s Agenda 21 sustainability agenda, President Obama’s green policies and efforts in Virginia’s cities and counties to implement Smart Growth. Thus, in this conspiratorial mindset, anything resembling Smart Growth is seen as part of a larger movement to undermine American freedoms and liberties. Frighteningly, this movement has gained momentum in a number of Virginia counties and created a distraction from the real issues.

If you really have some time and are interested, you can listen to a panel that Mr. Bacon was on at CNU 20 here.

Three Simple Ideas for Cities - Strong Towns Blog

This is a great posts that throws some ideas and thoughts out on how some small, experimental ideas could improve the overall development picture of towns and cities.  The three ideas that are thrown out for consideration are building a local building bank, moving to land value taxation rather than building value taxation and encouraging/allowing code free zones where a city can experiment with what an area with no zoning would develop like.  I feel that experimentation of this nature is not only a good idea but necessary to move into the next generation of development in this country.  The systems we have now are dysfunctional at best and toxic at worst.  

Alpharetta City Center Plan Stirs Concerns About Green Space - Live in Alpharetta

All I can really say on the newly revised plans for Alpharetta’s city center are WOW!  The plan as it is would create an incredible mixed-use destination that is quaint, people focused and inherently local.  This plan is about a mile away from Avalon but it is extremely different in the way it will interact with people.  I think once both are done, there will be no question that this project will win the ‘lovability’ contest. Great work Alpharetta!  I’m more than a little bit jealous that Roswell’s neighbor city seems to be a step ahead of us in redeveloping it’s urban core.

Rethinking the Economics of Traffic Congestion - The Atlantic Cities

Is traffic congestion really a drag on economies and productivity?  This article looks at areas with low congestion and compares them to areas of high congestion and asserts that congestion is a byproduct of a healthy economy.  You can’t get around it.  They found that when traffic delays went up, GDP also increased and that the correlation was statistically significant. Here’s an excerpt that helps make sense of it:

How could being stuck in traffic lead people to be more productive? The relationship is almost certainly not causal. Instead, regional GDP and traffic congestion are tied to a common moderating variable - the presence of a vibrant, economically-productive city. And as city economies grow, so too does the demand for travel. People travel for work and meetings, for shopping and recreation. They produce and demand goods and services, which further increases travel demand. And when the streets become congested and driving inconvenient, people move to more accessible areas, rebuild at higher densities, travel shorter distances, and shift travel modes.

TIA/TSPLOST and Historic Gateway Planning Meetings

This week, there are two important meetings going on at City Hall that I encourage everyone to attend.  I may not depending on when the stork arrives at my house. 

On Monday, 5/21, starting at 5:30pm in the rotunda at City Hall, there will be a discussion of the upcoming TSPLOST Transportation Tax vote.  Attendees will hear from representatives from all sides of the spectrum.  Here is the list: Roswell Department of Transportation (RDOT), the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), the Council for Quality Growth (CQG), the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce (NFCOC), Metro Atlanta Voter Education Network (MAVEN), Citizens for Transportation Mobility (CTM), the local grassroots Tea Party, and the Transportation Leadership Coalition (TLC).  Roswell has several horses in this race and residents should get informed asap.  That leads us to the next meeting.

On Wednesday, 5/23, starting at 6:00pm in council chambers at City Hall, Scott Ball, Senior Project Manager with from DPZ, will be presenting DPZ's completed work.  Attendees will see the Cultural Resources Study, Summary Report, Detailed Special Projects, and Design Standards.  The Historic Gateway Master Plan is intended to work in conjunction with the Historic Gateway Transportation Plan which is one of the projects that could be funded if the TSPLOST passes in July.

Please consider attending these meetings, educate yourself and voice your opinion.

Atlanta's New Rail Map?

This is what the rail map in Atlanta could look like in 10 years if the region votes yes to fund transportation with a 1 cent sales tax in July.  It doesn't make it up to Roswell but it's a big step in the right direction for the region.  

Additionally, the Historic Gateway Transportation project is on the list.  We'll have some real money to get rid of the reversible lanes on 9 from the river to the square.

ht: TheMidtownArchive

Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd on the Transit Vote

Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd makes an interesting point in the video below when he says;

The key to it is to let people understand what's at stake here. I heard someone say this last week: Who do you think is gonna be cheering when this doesn't pass on Aug. 1? Is it gonna be the tea party people? Is it gonna be those in South DeKalb? Is it gonna be those who think we're paying a penny and we don't want to pay any more? It's gonna be Charlotte, it's gonna be Dallas, it's gonna be Phoenix. It's gonna be everybody we compete with for jobs on a daily basis. They will know we've stepped back from the plate. They will know we are not willing to take the steps here to move this region forward.

Check out the whole clip below:

Andres Duany Presents His Vision for Historic Roswell

Last night, Andres Duany of DPZ, presented three amazing neighborhood village concepts for Historic Roswell along with a quick fix for Barrington Hall to increase its visibility. These concepts have been refined over the past two weeks to incorporate community input that came from two days of public workshops last month. The ideas enhanced by visuals are absolutely incredible. He reviews all of them in this video. I will be posting images from the slideshow over the next several days and will continue to post new images as the planning process progresses. There was a lot of positive energy in the crowd and I believe these visions will leave a realistic and lasting impression on what Historic Roswell can become. Please share this with anyone who is interested in making Roswell a better place!

Over half the total funding, $3.2 billion, is going to a mode of transportation that less than 5 percent of commuters choose to use — mass transit.

I'm having fun reading through all of the misguided anti-transit editorials being slung around these days.  This thought of the week is from Steve Brown a Fayette County Commissioner.  He's trying to make the case that spending money on transit is a waste because only 5% of the metro area uses transit and that it is subsidized.  However, what he doesn't address is that virtually everyone in the metro area benefits from the transit system.  It takes over 400,000 trips off the roads each day.  That's 146,000,000 trips a year that would most likely be made by car on our roads.  So, the next time you hear someone say MARTA or transit is worthless, think about adding all of those cars to the roads... where does that get us?  STUCK IN TRAFFIC.  

I'd also like to point out that MARTA ridership would be much, much higher if for commuters could "choose" to ride.  That's the objective with the TIA2012.  Give Atlanta more choices.  

Thought of the Week: On Car Ownership

The smarter companies are jumping feet-first into this brave new world where people don’t measure their worth by the amount of chrome they haul around. By 2026, a recent survey of global auto execs estimates that a quarter or more of urban inhabitants in some parts of the world will spurn personal cars in favor of “mobility services” such as car sharing. “The world is moving from car ownership to car usership,” the study says.

When I look at how much I pay each month for my car, I really start to wonder if this type of arrangement wouldn't be that bad.  Unfortunately, car sharing in the burbs would be a bit difficult and MARTA service keeps getting cut further.  

Check out the full article on Grist.