NC Voices: Growth & Transportation — North Carolina Public Radio WUNC

This series has a lot to say about the future of transportatin in Chapelboro.

Buckhorn Road project

This is the subject of a hearing in Hillsborough this evening.

Two questions:

How much will this project be integrated into the surrounding area by new sidewalks, bike lanes, and other connections that make it more than an Interstate exit stop?

What is the possibility that approval of this project could be tied to some investment in train service for Hillsborough, perhaps an obligation to build a light rail connection from the Buckhorn project to the Hillsborough train station?

"Retail spaces stay empty" - Newsobsever.com

How does this look in Chapelboro specifically?

"Hillsborough weighs limits on pine straw" - Newsobserver.com

What are the rules in the rest of Chapelboro?

Downtown Chapel Hill

Above is a map of what the Downtown Chapel Hill business organization says is "downtown".

"Where trains can take us" - Newsobserver.com

Chapelboro could figure very prominently in this with the right planning.

"Your Daily Commute" - OrangePolitics

Shouldn't we be thinking about pedestrian safety and convenience at least as much as we do for automobiles? This video raises some important questions about how good or bad a job that Chapel Hill - and all of Chapelboro - is doing to create a smooth pedestrian network alongside our automobile network.

The ArtsCenter - Always Inspiring

The Carrboro Arts Center continues to book outstanding performances. One of the reasons they are able to do this is because "we" all buy tickets. If you take a look at the website, it's nice to see a number of the upcoming programs showing either 2 tickets short of a sell-out or relatively few places remaining.

Townside Terrace, Chapel Hill

The first newspaper ad that I have seen appeared today. The site says that they have sold one unit out of 14, with construction to start in "Early Spring 2008". Here is the location.

"Suburbia’s March to Oblivion" - New York Times

What does this mean for Chapelboro?

Chapel Hill NC Wedding and Party Band Franklin Street North Carolina

The Carolina Inn has booked this group for tomorrow night. The Inn sends out an e-mail with virtually no informatin about the band in the e-mail, but with a link to the front page of the Inn's website where there is no additional information. Honestly, does no one look at these things from the perspective of a recipient? How hard would it have been to include a link to the band's website?

"Think far outside the bun" - Newsobserver.com

Johnny's sounds like a good place to visit, especially on Saturday!

Buckhorn development

Linked to this post is the full agenda item for the meeting of the Orange County Commissioners next week at which the Buckhorn project will be considered. This is such a large project with so many implications for all of Chapelboro that many people may choose to read it and to offer their views. This is far too important a move for it pass through the review process unstudied by us as citizens.

North Carolina Money Map Breakdown

This map and chart provide good insight into where Chapelboro people stand in NC compared to other areas. The state is surprisingly evenly divided when you look at the color coding. For Chapelboro, Orange County is strongly Democratic and Durham and Chatham are leaning Democratic in contributions to federal races this cycle.

With so much information available on the web, I look forward to following my friends and neighbors over the course of the campaign. It is important that we all have the ability - whether we exercise it or not - to know from whom the money is coming to fuel much of these campaigns.

Southern States Cooperative

I had missed the news that the Southern States in Carrboro was about to reopen in its renovated state. They have a full page ad in the Chapel Hill Herald today announcing this and various events associated with the reopening.

"Condo market goes sour" - Newsobserver.com

How about in Chapelboro?

"Recycling gets easy, and the bins fill up" - Newsobserver.com

How are we doing in Chapelboro?

Guns in Chapelboro

This is a useful guide from AG Roy COOPER. What it does not appear to answer, however, is whether we citizens can learn who in our community has a gun. I'd like to know that about my neighbors.

"Road to Iron Mountain: The railroad comes to Chapel Hill" - OrangePolitics

It sure would be nice to get something with people in it rolling on those same tracks....

"Commissioners address Chatham growth" - Daily Tar Heel

Do developments like the Buckhorn project in Mebane help address any of these issues? I don't think so. How to keep all of this in better balance as what happens in Chatham does not stay in Chatham when it comes to the Chapelboro region.

The Fresh Market, A Fine Neighborhood Specialty Grocer

It says here that the Glen Lennox store is still scheduled to open in Summer, 2008. From the street, there is little activity.

Very latest from OWASA on drought

This outlines how OWASA may move to Stage Three water rules on 1 March if we do not get a lot of rain between now and then.

"Wildfire Cause Probed in Va., Carolinas" - The New York Times

It is possible, of course, that we could find a "forest" fire in Chapelboro that was started by humans. Regardless of the cause, how prepared are we to deal with it?

"Forest" fires in Chapelboro?

How well prepared are we individually - and in terms of both communication and fire fighting if a significant "forest" fire were to break out in the Chapelboro geography?

Imagine this or this happening here.

"Chew On This!" - News & Observer

Every business - every structure - in every community has a rich story to tell, and the rest of us have much to learn from each. How do we better organize all of that history?

"Interactive Graphic: Water Use" - News & Observer

This is an excellent interactive graphic allowing for comparisons of total water consumed and then reductions in water consumption since 1 Oct 2007. The comparison includes OWASA and other area water services.

Sidewalks

Why don't we approach sidewalks in the same way we approach roads? Shouldn't we expect the same consistency of walking surfaces that our automobiles enjoy? In other words, should we have to walk in the grass, in the mud, on unstable and uneven surfaces in order to WALK around Chapelboro? I have taked several long walks in recent days and find the situation really disappointing. Can't we - together - change this?

Motivated by a Tax, Irish Spurn Plastic Bags - New York Times

Why not in Chapelboro?