Chapel Hill Transit blog

How about we create one? I am in France and our local bus here in Nice has its own blog; why not Chapel Hill Transit?

How long?

How long would it take to drive from Southern Village in Chapel Hill to Pittsboro and then to Carrboro and then Hillsborough and then Durham and then Chapel Hill .... back to Southern Village? I suppose Mapquest would give us an estimate.

Whatever that is, imagine a bus traveling that route and making key stops along the way at places ranging from train and bus stations to shopping centers and developments, possibly including places like Meadowmont. Imagine buses circulating in opposite directions on the same route all day and into the evening?

Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission

I wonder if there is any plan to this project. How will all of the stories be presented? Or is this just a chance for those who want to tell their "stories" to do so?

If I were doing this, I would look for specific stories, prime the pump, and then welcome additions. By starting off is such an apparently diffused manner, I wonder if any coherent "picture" will emerge. But then this is an art project, not a journalism undertaking so I guess those who like that sort of thing will be very happy.

"Fatal Blast Wounds a Montana City to Its Core" - NYTimes.com

More discouragning news about another downtown.

What exactly is our vision for Chapel Hill as a community? Do we have one?

I don't mean 30,ooo feet ideas like "density"; I mean what do we want a day in the life of Chapel Hill to be in a year, 10 years? Where is that laid out today?

The PLENTY

I sure don't see any mention here of the Plenty. See the sidebar in this story for possible update.

"Interactive Map Showing Immigration Data Since 1890 - Interactive Graphic" - NYTimes.com

What a superb graphic - showing that in 1880, just for example, out of about 24,000 people living in Orange County, 40 were foreign born. In 2000, the foreign born population rose to nearly 11,000 out of a total poplulatoin of about 118,000.

What a city in France is doing - why not here?

I live in two worlds, one here in Chapelborham and the other in the southeast corner of France, in Nice.

Our local chamber of commerce there has launched a huge campaign to promote business among local merchants - stickers, posters, activities, etc.

Where is that taking place in Chapelboroham? I have not seen it.

Where are the pictures of community leaders of all kinds shopping at local businesses and talking about it, just for example? I don't see them anywhere.

Showdown of Two Political Adversaries, Each With a Knack for Theatrics - NYTimes.com

Why don't we see some events like this in Chapelboroham? Debates between key people taking different positions.

Smith Level Road project

I drove over to Carrboro yesterday to learn more about the plans for Smith Level Road improvements around the Carrboro High School and Culbreth Road intersection, down to the bottom of the hill by the elemenatary school.

It looks like this will begin in Jan 2011, all other things being equal, and may take 2 years to complete!

There will be sidewalks added all along the work route, and I urged them to coordinate with Chapel Hill and Carrboro on filling any resulting gaps.

The NC Department of Transportation people, who were very helpful and very well-informed, said that they expected the South Columbia St project to be completed before Smith Level begins. That's relevant to our link in Southern Village with downtown Chapel Hill - if both wind up under construction at the same time. They assured me that this would be coordinated to avoid that happening.

"Share My Ride" - NYTimes.com

Could we not combine the power of the internet with the good will of our neighbors and come up with a huge number of new pooling possibilities? Combined with Chapel Hill Transit and Durham Area Transit Authority, there surely are a lot of errands and trips where we could all do one another and the environment - not to mention our pocketbooks - a big favor. Surely the technology cannot be that tought to do that would allow each of us to say - I'm headed off to COSTCO on Tuesday, can I get something for you or would you like to come with me? Or wherever one might be headed?

Meanwhile, don't forget that we have Zipcar in Chapel Hill.

"DSI Comedy Theater"

They just started following me on Twitter.... Probably very good marketing!

CBS Nears Sell Out for NCAA March Madness Online

This is relevant to Chapelboroham because March Madness is a big local industry here! Note the plans of University Mall to project games on big screens and the many other food and related offers that I am seeing advertised locally.

Alas, there is no mention of the University Mall program on its website, but I followed the link to their Facebook page and found it here.

"Whole Planet Foundation - Get Involved - Whole Foods Market Annual Campaign 2009"

This appears to have started a week ago. Note how low the number is for Chapel Hill compared to Durham. Go Durham! Another month to go.....

"Triangle leaders explore region's future" - News & Observer

As interesting as this sounds, it sure would be helpful to see the results of all the different table efforts mentioned here. Is that not going to get shared with the rest of us?

"Partnership, town to fund new art business" - Daily Tar Heel

I think there are far more productive ways in which to utilize these resources, as much as I believe in art. This is responding to the demands of a small niche that may or may not make a significant contribution to the longterm economic sustainability of downtown.

For example, how about a website that shows all of the businesses along the route of each bus line so that someone living near a bus stop is fully apprised of all of the commercial acitivities easily accessible by bus from that location....and reminding those who do not take a bus regularly how well the Chapel Hill Transit program - for example - works in telling us when the next bus will arrive before we leave our home or office...or, with the right equipment, wherever we may be.

I think that should be a far higher priority, just for example.....

"UNC working to focus on new environmental research" - Daily Tar Heel

How about a community-wide briefing on these projects?

"Retired faculty offer to teach for free next year" - Daily Tar Heel

Are there other versions of this covering people willing to contribute in specific areas? I think there is an Orange County program and there is the new site of the Triangle Community Foundation, but I don't see any requests coming from the Town of Chapel Hill, for example, for volunteers to contribute time based on their professional capabilities.

"Rethinking alerts" - Daily Tar Heel

Why is this not generally available to anyone who lives here?

Pedestrian injuries

We should have a Chapelboroham map like this one, constantly updated and available for all of us to see online. Why don't we have it?

"Project gives Town Council pause" - chapelhillnews.com

What concerns me most about this project is the realization of how noisy the traffic is on 54. If one stands on any of the sidewalks, or in the parking lot at Glen Lennox, for example, it is a near constant roar.

Meadowmont is set back far enough to keep this to a minimum, but from a sheer livability standpoint, this is like living next to an Interstate highway unless one wants to live in a sound-insulated cubicle in one of those large buildings.

Surely, a smart designer could have made much better use of the land, but it probably would not have generated the return that this project may return, if ultimately successful.

They claim more than 50% of their units have been sold? I find it curious that they have run full page ads, as I recall, promoting their "success" and yet this number is not included in the story.

"Listening to History" - WUNC

More of what could be in a writing program in Chapelboroham.....along the lines of the one done back in the 30s.

"Writers' Project Searched For American Stories" - NPR

Why don't we launch something like this in Chapelboroham with local funds?

Imagine all of the fascinating stories we could collect and share, offering anyone who chooses to accept payment, say, $50/contribution?

All fed into a giant wiki for Chapelboroham.....

"The Carrboro Citizen wins six NC press awards"

The Chapel Hill News won 5. The Independent won 8. The Daily Tar Heel won 2. The Herald-Sun won 1. The News & Observer won 15.

"Valentine's Cupcakes From Nigella Lawson" - NPR

We certainly seem to be in serious cup cake expansion here in Chapelboroham!

How networked are we?

At a time when networks of people we know or to whom we can reach become more and more important, here's a simple question.....how well networked are we in Chapelboroham? Sure, we can reach the people we know or use Facebook et al to reach somewhat beyond that. But suppose you just want to reach out to someone you see in a shop, or even down the street, or in the news. How easy is it to find and attempt to connect with that person? Pretty hard, from my experience.

What if we created a directory of masked (to avoid spam) e-mail addresses for the whole area so anyone could send a note to anyone else? Real names but no e-mail addresses visible - it really works!