Walmart in Downtown Athens

Up front, in full disclosure, I'm a Gator and there are a lot of things about Athens that I'm not a fan of ;) However, the downtown is truly one of the incredible spots in Georgia. It is a special place that should be protected. That's why I was disgusted to hear that WalMart is trying to put a 100,000 sq.ft. super center in the historic downtown. That's not a joke. Big box has its place and it's not in a downtown historic district. This video is a well presented argument against the Walmart primarily featuring local business owners who will be significantly impacted. One of the best points is that the Walmart will not really increase tax revenues. Rather, it will shift them from the local businesses to the big box while at the same time increasing infrastructure costs for the city in the form of road widening. I'd love to see Joe Minicozzi do some research on the productivity of the Athens downtown versus that of the proposed development. Check out the video:

For further info on the issue check out the People for a Better Athens website.

Could We Use a Traffic Garden?

I thought this video was really interesting and wondered if something like the traffic garden in the clip could work here in the US. The Netherlands has done an incredible job reducing the death rates on its roads over the past 50 years and I can't help but think that it's ideas like this that help make a difference.

I also thought it was interesting that the speaker used the term 'traffic exam' instead of driving exam when he was referring to the test his daughter had to take before getting on the road. It's definitely a different way of thinking.

Watch & Learn: Built to Last...

I came across this great time lapsed video of Paris through the Urbanophile blog the other day. Paris is an incredible city and is a great example of a city whose 'old urbanism' has shaped the modern smart growth and new urbanist movements. I've only been to Paris twice for very short times but the thing that impressed me the most about it was how at home you feel in the environment even when you don't speak the language. Things just seem to be built at the right scale for human activity. The other thing that always kills me is that these buildings were built 100+ years ago. The people who built them intended for them to be there for centuries. We don't build things like that to frequently anymore. Check out the video

Le Flâneur (music by The XX) from Luke Shepard on Vimeo.

You're getting a 2 for 1 today since I couldn't resist posting this incredible video of Paris shot in 1976 by the driver of a Ferrari racing through the streets at what must be incredible speeds. Illegal.. yes, badass.. yes.. glad no one got hurt... yes. Enjoy!

Watch & Learn: Can Removing Traffic Signs Increase Safety?

Readers, watch out! You might think I'm a little crazy here but at least check out the video. I've been having more and more issues with road signs lately. I think it has to do with my belief that our roads are oversigned. You could spend more time reading the signs on the sides of our roads in some places than you actually spend paying attention to the road you are driving on.

No, you might think this is a safety issue but I'm not sure that it is. There have been numerous studies showing that removing signs altogether may actually increase safety due to drivers becoming more aware of their surroundings. Here's a link.

Now check out the video and see a 'shared space' in action.

Now, do I think we could get away with something like this in Roswell? I'm not sure but I think there may be some areas where it could work like the southern end of Canton Street and the new Round About at Norcross St and Grimes Bridge. I'll leave you with this example of over signing.

The ARC and Innovation

"INNOVATION" from Atlanta Regional Commission on Vimeo.

I thought this was an interesting post on the Atlanta Regional Commission's three pronged Innovation strategy of Economy, Environment and Community. There are two quick overviews of the Beltline and the Lifelong Communities initiatives that I found interesting.

High Speed Bus Plan - The Onion Style

This was too hysterical to resist. Enjoy!

Obama Replaces Costly High-Speed Rail Plan With High-Speed Bus Plan

Watch & Learn: Ellen Dunham-Jones TED Speech on Retrofitting Suburbia

About a year and a half ago, I made a trip down to Decatur for an evening lecture that Ellen Dunham-Jones was giving at a church as part of a community education effort that Decatur was promoting. Her talk was actually a fill in talk after Andres Duany had to cancel his appearance. I decided to still go as I had heard about her book, Retrofitting Suburbia, from a friend and it sounded interesting. Her talk went for a little over an hour and was very informative. It was essentially an overview of the book. This TED talk is about 20 minutes and covers most of the ideas from her book without getting too wonky. Many of the principles discussed are critical to properly redeveloping Roswell. Think about the southern end of Alpharetta Highway and the intersection at Holcomb Bridge. Great things could happen in that area if we have the vision, will and the patience. Enjoy...

Watch & Learn: Buford Highway, A Case Study for Pedestrian Nightmares

The Blueprint America special report from PBS recently featured a video highlighting the issues surrounding pedestrian safety in suburbia. It makes for a very good, quick primer on what our suburban development pattern has done to pedestrian safety. An interesting and very arresting fact is that about 43,000 pedestrians have been killed by cars in the past 10 years. In the piece, they equate that to one jumbo jet airliner crashing every month for the past 10 years. Would we stand for that type of safety record? Why do we stand for this then? Well, the most likely reason is that most of the pedestrians that are killed are low income individuals who don't receive as much attention as those of a more fortunate social class. Watch and Learn...

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

Watch & Learn: The Future of the City - The Atlantic Interviews with Richard Florida

We recently got turned on to the Atlantic's special report The Future of the City. There were so many interesting articles and good comments on the articles that were featured that we can't even begin to explore them all. However, one of the really interesting pieces was an 8 part video/interview with writer and city enthusiast Richard Florida. I have embedded the eight videos below. When you have some time, check them out. There are many points made that can be applied to our city and region. Enjoy..

Watch & Learn: Cycling in Copenhagen

Man.. This made me want to ride my bike to work or at the very least get out and ride somewhere. Too bad work is just a little out of reach. If they could somehow connect the Big Creek Greenway to the historic district, I suppose I could make the 12 mile trek to Alpharetta every once in a while.. wishful thinking.

Copenhagen - City of Cyclists from Copenhagenize on Vimeo.