Via Kaid Benfield's blog. By Dhiru Thadani.
"Cars are often useful and sometimes essential, even in semi-urban places like parts of Athens. The problem in Five Points is not so much cars themselves and not even parking as such. Rather, it’s the failure of the private market in parking that has locked the neighborhood in a senseless state of restrictions destructive of its potential and antithetical to its basic character.
I’ll write now specifically about Five Points, but this very casual case study quite obviously bears similarities to many other places. Each business in Five Points owns its own parking spaces and prohibits their use by patrons of other businesses. Some proprietors more aggressively police their lots than others. And some, like Earth Fare (our local grocery store) have a greater need to reserve for customer use the closest places to park.
There used to be a row of public parking in front of an apartment building with ground-level retail. But the proprietor has engaged in lengthy and wasteful litigation and so far “won” the right to privatize these spaces. He is the most active enforcer of his parking, charging money to park unless one is visiting one of the few stores that still remain in his building. While he has unwisely made himself the subject of active dislike by many locals, I don’t blame him for fighting for spaces in a neighborhood in which all the other businesses have exclusive parking. Not smart business, but understandable.
What we have is a tragedy of the anti-commons, a situation in which excessive private ownership actually makes everyone, including the property owners themselves worse off. If parking were shared among businesses, open to all but perhaps metered or otherwised priced to reduce demand, then the spaces could be used more beneficially. "
And, relatedly, check out this student paper about the Five Points parking situation.
Via Kaid Benfield's blog. By Dhiru Thadani.
Downtown Mount Morris, N.Y. Photo by Rigoberto Perdomo for the NY Times
Imagine what could happen in small- and medium-sized towns and cities in Georgia if, say, just ten developers who take their time, aim at creating lively streets and make a point of preserving economic diversity started working here. Or to put it another way, imagine what a small army of developers like Greg O'Connell, profiled here in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, could do. And what if they coordinated their actions?
Out walking in Berlin--the eastern part, near the Fernsehturm (the big TV tower of the defunct DDR) just southwest of Alexanderplatz--I spotted this poster.
For a few months last year, I helped write the Athens Rising column--an opinion column about local development, planning and architecture issues--for Flagpole Magazine, the weekly alternative newspaper here in Athens, Ga.
The column's main writer--Kevan Williams--had asked me to write the column every other week while he traveled out West to places like Portland, Ore. And that's what I did--having fun, mostly--from August through December 2010.
Kevan's back in town now, and I'm off traveling abroad and happy--for now at least--to be free of deadlines.
Here are the columns I wrote:
1. The Classic Center expansion will boost convention business, and thus bring more visitors to town to pay sales taxes, generate more profits for local business and create jobs.Both claims can--and should be--closely questioned.
2. The expansion is a better return on investment for our tax dollars than investing in maintaining our parks infrastructure, greenways or transit stops.
Well, actually, lowering bus fares is not a bad idea. If you want to give low-income people a break and attract increased ridership, this is a reasonable suggestion.
But there's a better idea: expand service and make it free.
Doing this will save poor folks more money, will likely prove more effective at attracting new riders--and will benefit the community in other ways as well.
This idea is not as crazy or as fiscally irresponsible as it sounds. Read on!Lower Fares Effort
According to this Athens Banner-Herald article, the Athens Bus Campaign, an effort led by anti-poverty activist Michael Smith, proposes cutting bus fares by 25 cents (from $1.50 to $1.25 for an adult fare). Smith says the fare reductions would not only cut expenses for low-income people who ride the bus everyday but would also attract more ridership and thus fill the budget gap created by the reduced fares.
Not bad logic.
But like some other folks, I'm not convinced that lowering the fares by 25 cents will--by itself--do much to attract new riders. I think Athens Transit Director Butch McDuffie is right when he says the most effective way to boost ridership is "to make your service more frequent and available."
Shaving off 25 cents for two rides a day, five days a week, most weeks of the year (25 cents x 2 rides x 5 days x 48 weeks) cuts transit costs by $120 a year--which is a modest, but real savings for low-income folks. This is a viable way for a local government to actually do something to help low income folks directly. Free, however, is an even better deal (surprise!). Compared to today's today's current $1.50 fare, paying nothing would save riders $720 annually.
Going Free
So, if we really want to boost ridership and also cut costs for low-income riders, here's what we need to do as I suggested in an earlier post: increase the frequency of service, add more routes, extend hours of operation--and offer free rides for everyone, all the time.
"Hold on," you may say. "First of all, even if we could afford to do this, not everyone rides the bus. So why isn't it fair to charge actual users for their use?"
Well, to paraphrase Aaron Renn, who runs Urbanophile, a blog about cities, no one is charged to check out library books or to take a walk in county park even though not all of us take advantage of these services. Police officers and fire department workers don't ask for tickets or fares when they respond to emergencies. And, there are plenty of other public services that aren't used by everyone but are paid for by us all: schools, is just one example.
"OK, then sure," you may continue, "free is great in principle but we simply can't afford to give out free bus rides in this fiscal climate. Free buses are a pipe dream!"
Affordability
We might not be able to afford it. That's true.
But consider this: the bus is already roughly 64 percent "free." Which is to say that only 36 percent of revenues for the bus come from passenger fares (which includes UGA's payments)--the rest is government subsidy (20 percent fed, 44 percent local).
In 2000, the bus system cost about $2.3 million to operate. (These decade old numbers are the only ones I could find on the Athens Transit web site.) If current costs are comparable, that means we'd only need to kick in another $840,000 or so to fund the system at its current capacity. But we want more buses and more bus stops and shelters--so let's say we'll need three times that amount or $2.53 million every year.That's a big number for a smallish city in a bad recession--and there's no chance that Athens taxpayers will support that increase.
So, is that it? The smoke has cleared; the dream has died?
No, because while $2.53 million looks big from a local perspective, it's not so big if we can boost federal, and--potentially--state contributions.
Of course, getting these extra funds won't be easy. We may, in fact, have to help create the federal and state programs we'll need. So, this is probably a good juncture for me to confess that my proposal for a free and expanded bus system is--unlike Michael Smith's more modest, more locally-focused and easy-to-implement fare reduction proposal--a multi-year project.
Scaling Up
But I think the downside of the longer time horizon could be compensated for by the upside that an ambitious, creative campaign for a free and expanded bus system would generate. Done right, such a campaign would capture lots of positive attention for Athens--and might just put us in a position to actually receive and spend new federal and state funds to build a truly outstanding local transit system.
And remember: we're not starting from scratch here. Athens Transit is already progressive, creative and well-run. College students and faculty already ride for free. We've got some nationally recognized bus shelter designs. There's a relatively new, really nice Multi-Modal Transit Center.
What's needed is an ambitious and detailed plan to scale up. Let's deploy enough buses to dramatically reduce wait times and expand hours of service. Let's plan very simple direct routes, and have many of them converge downtown to create a very frequent "circulator" route. Let's put up more really cool bus shelters. Let's scrap the tacky advertising. And let's work with other small cities in Georgia and across the country to build a coalition to advocate for federal and state funding of free bus systems.
By the way, it's possible that a well-designed free bus system will do a lot more than cut transportation costs for citizens, reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality. Such systems may prove attractive to employers. Potential employees may find free bus service very appealing, and--by and large--employers locate where they can most easily find employees.
Importance of Being Ambitious
Now, before one's natural pessimism kicks-in again, please note that there are reasons to be hopeful about the prospects for increased federal and state funding for local transit programs--at least post-recession.
On the federal front, federal transportation spending priorities are changing at least a little in favor of mass transit. For example, as part of stimulus spending, the Federal Department of Transportation in February awarded $1.5 billion in Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants. More than half of that money went directly to local jurisdictions for a range of projects, including streetcars to link working class neighborhoods to downtown areas and to fund local multi-modal transit centers.
National transportation advocates are lobbying for billions in additional funding for bike lanes, buses, light rail and sidewalks--and, for the first time in recent memory, aren't being dismissed as quacks by politicians.
Even on the state front here in Georgia, there seems to be increasing recognition of the need to--maybe--do something about reducing traffic congestion other than building more roads and freeway lanes.
Plus it's likely that gas prices will start climbing a bit more aggressively--on average--as the years pass and generate more support for mass transit.
Here's the deal, though: unless there's ambition there's no plan; and unless there's a plan, there's little chance of getting funded. Because Georgia had no plans and had demonstrated very little interest over the years, the state got passed over for high speed rail funds. Let's avoid that mistake locally. Let's get ambitious and start planning now.
Free the Bus!
Go Free and Multiply!Buses Unleashed!
Fare is Free, Free is Fair!
Buses Should be Free Like the Country and Flagpole!
(Clearly, a good slogan is needed. Any suggestions?)
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APPENDIX: Advantages of Going Free (adapted from a post by Aaron Renn)
1. No fares = no expensive fare collection equipment, and no cash box related accounting, security, etc.
2. No fares = quicker bus boarding, less bus idling time.3. No fares = really good way to boost ridership.
4. No fares = great city marketing asset.
By Daniel Yang, 4th grade
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Birds-Eye View of Chase St. School
By Marisela Mondragon, 4th grade
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By August Robbins, 4th grade
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March 20, 2010 is Obscura Day.
The idea is that on Obscura Day people everywhere in the world will visit and explore the strange places, the back rooms, the obscure alleys, the hidden treasures of their hometowns.
Obscura Day is the invention of the people who run Atlas Obscura, a web site that bills itself as "compendium of the world's wonders, curiosities and esoterica." (Yes, The Tree that Owns Itself is included in the site's catalog.)
It's not too late for Athens to have it's own Obscura Day events, and I think the folks over at Flagpole Magazine would be naturals for organizing this.
What, in addition to that self-owning tree, should be included in an Athens, Ga. Obscura Day?
Urban Sketchers is a blog and Flickr file-sharing group devoted to promoting the practice of drawing what you see in cities and then sharing those drawings.
Contributors are asked to follow a few fairly elastic rules including:
The blog features lots of great sketches, and links to hundreds of urban-related online drawing groups from all over the world. Don't neglect to check out the Urban Sketchers Flickr group. It's a lot of fun to browse through. Doesn't look like Athens has its own group--yet.
On June 30, 2009, I posted this shot of Fantasy World's marquee. About a week earlier, Philip Markoff, the so-called "Craiglist Killer," had pleaded not guilty to murdering a women in Massachusetts he had arranged to meet after responding to her ad in Craigslist's erotic services category. The Markoff story and the related controversy about whether Craigslist, the free online classified ad web site, should allow people to advertise prostitution was very much in the news.
Seems like Fantasy World was not so subtly signaling what was for sale inside. That brazenness, especially given it's proximity to the police substation--about a block and a half away--struck me at the time.
Exhibit 1: Northwest corner of Prince Ave. and Barber St.
Before:
After:
Exhibit 2: Southwest corner of Prince Ave. and Barber St.
Before:
After:
In an earlier post, I suggested that Athens-Clarke Co. government set up its own version of SeeClickFix to allow citizens to publicly report city infrastructure problems like crumbling sidewalks or uncollected trash and to have the county's response to those reports publicly tracked.
Suggestion for the Athens Banner-Herald
Now, I think it might be a good idea if the Athens Banner-Herald hosted and bird-dogged such a site as part of its on-line package. According to this New York Times article, there's a local daily in Connecticut that's using SeeClickFix to boost its internet traffic and interactivity with readers. (The article includes a link to the newspaper's online site and the SeeClickFix page it maintains there. And, FYI, there's already a nascent SeeClickFix page for Athens--it just needs some high-profile care and attention.)
It seems like a similar effort here in Athens could produce lots of benefits: citizens might feel a little more empowered; public servants might feel a little more useful and loved; the Athens Banner-Herald might get a positive jolt from the new social media, and the city's infrastructure might improve.
Noticings describes itself as "the game of noticing the world around you."
You play Noticings by uploading to Flickr geo-tagged photos of interesting things (not including people or other very transient things) you've noticed when you're out and about.
You get points for spotting the first instance of something in a neighborhood or by a sustained noticing of some particular spot or thing over time.
You can find rules of the game, how-to instructions and lots of photos of odd things here.
As of this writing, no one in Athens, Georgia was playing Noticings.
Via Digital Urban.
Image credit: Screen shot of Noticings banner.
Sherry Jackson ran for the 46th Senate district in 2008.
# # #
This interview was conducted via email. The text published here is an ever so slightly edited version of the actual exchange.
Image credit: from the Sherry Jackson 2008 State Senate campaign web site
Here is what I got. The asterisked ones are the ideas of ACC policymakers. The rest are mine. If you’ve got a suggestion for an app that would be useful to local policymakers, email me.
CrystalBall***Commissioner Kelly Girtz suggested these, but noted: “I think I was the very last of my friends to move up to the cell phone from smoke signals. The iPhone or equivalent is still way over the horizon.”
Robert Goodspeed writes about—in a nonfictional way—the intersection of local government and new social media/technologies. Read this and this.
[Correction: As originally published, this post incorrectly attributed Commissioner Kinman's app suggestions to Commissioner Girtz, and vice versa. Sorry! This has been corrected.]
Image by Dan Lorentz
So, to help turn local bus service into a power tool for economic development--and this is not counting its anti-pollution and traffic safety improving effects--subsidize it even more.
In fact, drop the whole (rather expensive) exercise of collecting fares. Instead: increase the frequency of service, add more routes, extend hours of operation--and offer free rides for everyone, all the time.
It might work, at least according to this article which notes what a "distinct chorus" of transit advocates are suggesting.
Of course, we'd probably need to get the state to start chipping in on the subsidy front, push for some rejiggering of federal transportation aid, and start considering local subsidies as investments in economic development...but all this might be doable if cities--including small ones like Athens--started pushing more aggressively and intelligently for their interests.
(Via Planetizen.)Set up a war room in downtown Athens for fighting local poverty.
In military terms, the war room is the place that coordinates military activities. Situation reports come in. Progress is gauged. Tactics discussed. Orders issued. The resources and authority for decision-making are concentrated under one roof.
Under the one roof of the local anti-poverty war room, you’d find more than a one-stop shop for low-income people seeking help from existing programs.
What you’d find is the community’s best anti-poverty fighters working closely together to help individual low-income people solve problems and then using that day-to-day experience to build better local systems of help.
And you’d feel the urgency, the intensity in the room.
Less abstractly, here’s what you’d encounter if you walked into that war room downtown:
Think locally, act state-ly. It's all fine and dandy to get hot and bothered by who's going to be mayor and who's going to be on the commission, says Johnathan McGinty, but unless more progressives are sent to the State House which exercises lots of control over local governments, lots of important local changes simply won't happen. Want to provide property tax relief to low-income homeowners? Want the state DOT to start practicing a "complete streets" policy? Want the blue laws changed so we can get a full-service grocery store downtown? Help progressives get elected to the State House not just from Athens, but from districts throughout the state. It's a good suggestion. I'll be keeping it in mind as I decide where to make my political contributions next campaign season. (Don't blame Johnathan for the "act state-ly" abomination--he refrained.)
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"Worse than I remembered." That's how Pete McCommons summed up his recent trip down memory lane to the tense times preceding the admission of African-American students Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes to the University of Georgia. His memory was refreshed after reading We Shall Not Be Moved: The Desegregation of the University of Georgia by Robert Pratt. It's a book McCommons recommends, and one I'll be reading soon.* * *
How about something even better? In his most recent Athens Rising column in Flagpole, Kevan Williams highlights positive developments in Athens, but he pushes a little--asking for more. About the new river overlook, he asks: why not a full pedestrian bridge? About a new effort to convert blighted apartment complexes into affordable housing, he asks if the new low-income residents will have to drive or take long bus rides to get to grocery stores. These are good questions--questions that seek to enhance the connectivity and day-to-day practicality of the city we live in. Does it connect? Does it help with daily life? We should always ask these questions, even if we can't always realize them as fully as we'd like to.