Roswell's First Food Truck Rodeo (technically)

Roswell passed its first Food Truck ordinance earlier this week opening the city up for business to Food Trucks. So, this seems like as good of a way to introduce Food Trucks to Roswell as any to introduce them to Roswell but it's at Harry's Farmer's Market Alpharetta with a Roswell address.  So, technically it's in Roswell but by address only?  Anyway, we can ponder that another time.

This weekend's Food Truck Rodeo (much tastier than a goat rodeo) will be held in their parking lot this Saturday, March 17th to celebrate Thompson Farms receiving the first ever 5+ rating on the Global Animal Partnership Animal Welfare Rating System.  Each truck will be featuring a menu item cooked with food from Thompson Farms.   This should be tasty.

ht: Lee @ RootsInAlpharetta

Quote of the Week: Strong Towns on Hidden Costs

When I bought my computer, it came with a printer costing me no more than $20. At the time I thought “Sweet, free printer!” But since using the printer, I’ve had to frequently purchase ink costing $60 a pop. Over the life-cycle of the printer, I’ve realized I’ve spent more in the printer and ink combined than had I purchased a laser printer costing $250. The upfront costs of a more expensive printer are significant, as is the toner, but I would end up paying less than the subsidized printer in the long run. In other words, I was seduced by the free machine that ended up costing me a lot of money.

Here is the connection to Strong Towns. Federal and State subsidized projects are like the $20 printer. Initially communities think “Sweet, free bridge.” But, once you figure the cost of keeping the bridge in working order, it turns out to be a major expense for communities. This is an expense that if a community couldn’t fund the bridge to begin with, likely wouldn’t have the wherewithal to maintain.

Solution: Purchase the bridge (printer) at full cost, without a subsidy. If you can do that, then you can likely afford the cost of maintenance (ink).

This is another great metaphor that the Strong Towns organization has passed along.  It reminds me of the Johns Creek roads dilemma that the AJC recently wrote about here.

Transit Stations May Reduce Crime?

With the kickoff of the MARTA Connect 400 initiative tomorrow night (link), I thought it would be interesting to toss this out there.  This article from The Atlantic Cities, Transit Stations May Actually Cut Down Crime, compares crime surrounding the LYNX Blue Line light rail system in Charlotte and finds that there was actually a decrease in crime after the stations opened.

An additional study to check out which points to a reduction in crime around suburban transit stations following their opening is Rail Transit and Neighborhood Crime: The Case of Atlanta, Georgia, Southern Economic Journal.

So, if you're going to the meeting on Thursday, be sure to remember that Transit Staitons and Increased Crime are NOT always synonomous with eachother.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

I would like to take the time to thank the City of Roswell for two utterly pointless signs in the Mill Village neighborhood of Historic Roswell.  I believe they were just installed this week but I could be wrong.

These signs are on Vickery Street which is a very picturesque little street in the historic district with the Bricks and Sloan Street Park on the north side of the road and some very nice houses on the south side of the street.  A couple of the houses have been turned into small businesses such as an attorneys office.  There are a total of 11 houses on the south side of the street and the Bricks has 9 units on the north side.  So, there are a total of about 17-18 dwelling units on the road (several of which don't use the road for their driving needs as they use Sloan St) and a few very low trafficked businesses.

My question is, did we really need these signs?  See the diagram below:

The two signs that I'm talking about are the one way sign at the end of the small cul-de-sac and the wrong way sign warning the handful of people who failed to see the one way sign that they are going the wrong way.  Now, I'm no traffic engineer but I'd have to guess that this is a pretty low volume street compared to others in the area.  I can't imagine more than a couple hundred car trips per day max and I'd wager that 95% of those trips are made by people familiar with the road.  

The number of people who could conceivably take a left turn out of that cul-de-sac is so few that this sign is utterly pointless.  So, the liability experts have decided to protect the residents from hypothetical head on collisions that wouldn't occur anyway as this is a low speed street that is wide enough to accommodate two way traffic anyway (and it probably should).

Here are the two shiny signs unnecessarily polluting our historic district protecting ourselves from ourselves.  Thank you Roswell.  I'm sure we created some jobs and boosted our economy.  Stop putting up unnecessary signs!

I feel safer

No way anyone can sue us now

#11... The Roundabout

Why We Love It..

We've written on the roundabout at Grimes Bridge and Warsaw Rd previously and you could probably tell from that post that we are fans.  Now, it is not technically in the historic district but it has really been a game changer in the way many people in Roswell think and feel about roundabouts.  Given its success, better safety and traffic flow, the city is now considering a number of other roundabout solutions and there are talks of some on hwy 9 in the historic district. It is a transformative project that will impact Roswell for years to come.  All in all, there's not much not to like about this project.  

What We Would Change..

We'd build more of them.. they make total sense from a traffic flow, safety and environmental standpoint.  We would also ensure that either public art or large native trees are requirements for the center of roundabouts.  That would serve to increase the number of terminating vistas in the city with very little effort. 

#19... Our Wayfinding and Lights

Why We Love It...

Wayfinding systems are a critical element to any town or city that has frequent visitors, for obvious reasons.  The city has really added to the legitimacy of Historic Roswell as a regional destination by adding these signs.  It even adds a little fun to the experience for residents.  We all know where our landmarks are but the signs serve as a constant reminder that we live in a unique place.  

The lighting just adds to the charm.  The fact that the two complement eachother is a critical element to their design.  There are even wayfinding posts that are combined with a light post.  I'm sure you've seen them.  How efficient is that!  

The new information kiosks at that Square and Park on Canton Street are going to further add to the experience.  Six months ago on a trip to Seaside, I commented to my wife that Roswell needed to have kiosks and within weeks, they had magically appeared in Historic Roswell.  That was a truly welcome surprise.  Now, we just need to put something up on them as empty information kiosks don't add much value.

What We Would Change...

Not much.  The design matches the neighborhood well.  However, some of the signs don't have everything they should... as you can probably see in the first picture.  Only three of the four panels are being used.  However, if you continue up the road about 100 yards past the Bricks on the right, Sloan Street Park is on the right.  It might not be historic but it is a nice neighborhood amenity that is worthy of recognition by our wayfinding signs.  As mentioned above, we could also put a rush on getting something on the information kiosks.

#26... The Midtown Streetscape Project

Why We Love It...

The project extended/improved sidewalks, historic lighting and a textured brick median almost all the way up to Holcomb Bridge.  This really helped create more of a historic feel on one of the main gateways into the historic district.  The city had the right intentions when they approved this project.  Not only does it immediately improve the functionality, safety and aesthetics of the corridor but it also will, over time, encourage better development.  

The current mish-mash of strip centers, muffler shops and closed fast food joints is unsightly at best and blight at worst.  The good thing is that we are heading in the right direction.  Some good new businesses have opened up in the last couple of years and the streetscape will gradually improve.

What We Would Change...

In a perfect world, there are several things we would do differently on this one.  First and foremost, the power lines and 1960's style highway lighting should have come down.  It's hideous and the improvements are almost overwhelmed by the power lines and lights.  Unfortunately, the budget just wasn't there to do it.

We would have done the median differently by putting in brick pavers in the median rather than the stamped asphalt and there would have been more median islands to both act as pedestrian refuge areas and to create friction with the auto flow to naturally slow the traffic down.  

There are no bike lanes and that's a shame but it makes sense because the traffic is still too fast along the corridor.  The aforementioned median modifications would have helped slow down the traffic a bit and 5-10mph is really all that's needed to make bike lanes a logical and usable option.  

Right now, we are still left with what our friends at Strong Towns call a STROAD.  A street/road hybrid that moves traffic too slow to be efficient and too fast to provide a platform for value.  If you want to create a great street for people, the speeds need to come down to the 30-35 mph range.  If you want to create an efficient road for traffic flow, they need to go up to the 55 mph range and eliminate a lot of the curb-cuts that are there now.

So, all in all, we've made huge progress but there's still a lot of work to be done in many areas along Alpharetta Hwy.

image: City of Roswell

Friday Factiod: Atlanta's Driving Costs

AAA’s “Crashes vs. Congestion – What’s the Cost to Society?” reported metro Atlanta’s car crashes cost the area $10.8 billion, or $1.979 per person, in 2009. The report also noted 498 deaths and 62,263 injuries related to car crashes in metro Atlanta.

Almost 500 deaths a year on our roads.  We just accept it and move on.  Driving is the most dangerous thing that the average Atlantan does and we continue to want to widen roads, drive faster and live in an environment where the car dictates our lives.  We should be building places that don't require us to get into a car for every trip.

Atlanta Business Chronicle via ATLUrbanist

Update from The Cone Zone

I check the Cone Zone update on the Roswell city website at least once a month to get an update on what is going on with transportation projects around town.  I was really excited to see an update to the upcoming project list this month that gives more detail on the sidewalk improvements that are on tap for the area around the square.  Here's what the site says...

SR 9/Atlanta Street at SR 120/Marietta Highway - This project, slated to begin in January 2012, will make several improvements at the intersection of SR 9 and SR 120 at the Historic Square:  1.  the project will modify the turning radius from SR 9 southbound to SR 120 westbound to prevent large trucks from hitting and damaging the wall at the Historic Square; 2.  the outside receiving lane on SR 120 westbound will be turned into a truck apron to give drivers passive guidance to turn deeper and avoid striking the wall.  In addition, this improvement will force turning traffic to yield rather than allowing unsafe free-flow turning movements; 3.  brick paver sidewalks will be added along the Barrington Hall wall along SR 120 and SR 9 and along the north side of SR 120 to Bulloch Hall connecting to existing sidewalks; 4.  the crosswalks at the intersection will be upgraded to improve pedestrian connectivity in and around the Historic Square; and, 5.  the traffic signals will be placed on mast arm poles (similar to SR 9/Sloan Street) to improve the aesthetics in the Historic Square area.

The addition of sidewalks along 120 down to Bulloch Hall will be excellent along with the sidewalks around Barrington Hall.  The mast arm poles replacing the wired traffic lights should be nice as well.

Now, let's hope that we can encourage some more viable businesses to locate around the square.  

Quote of the Week: Walkability

Walkability is a magnet that attracts and retains highly educated and skilled people and the innovative businesses that employ them. Much more than a faddish amenity, walkability is an ecological imperative, and to an increasing extent, as fuel and time costs continue to climb, a financial one as well.

All of this is leading to something of a convergence across America’s best neighborhoods, a morphing of what we used to think of as suburban versus city life. More and more of our most desirable suburban communities look more like cities, with bustling town centers alive with pedestrian life, while our best city neighborhoods have taken on many of the characteristics we used to see as the province of suburbs: good schools, green spaces, safe streets, and family life.

Richard Florida, excerpted from The Atlantic Cities