Side Streets ~ Neighborhood people and issues

Archive for the 'New York City' Tag

APPARENTLY, COLORADO SPRINGS IS NO OAKLAND!

September 21st, 2011, 1:09 pm by

I was having a tough time with this one . . . New York City and even Oakland rank higher than Colorado Springs in walkability.

Oakland? Really?

A recent ranking placed Colorado Springs just 34th among large U.S. communities in walkability.

Whoa! This is where you can get on a trail in Palmer Lake and walk, run or bike 35 miles all the way to Fountain!

 How can we rank behind top-rated New York City in walkability?  New York scores an 85 and the Springs gets a measly 45?

The Springs has 102-miles of urban trails — and 100 more under development. Are they comparing the Midland Trail to some alley in Queens?

 Even worse, the  top 10 “walkable” cities includes Oakland? Ever try walking around Oakland?

OMG

Heck, we have trails that snake from downtown through our neighborhoods to our sprawling suburbs, which cover 200 square miles.

 Bingo!

 As usual, I had stumbled onto the exact point of the walkability ranking by Seattle-based Walk Score without realizing it.

 The ranking is not about places to stroll or bike along scenic streams or through pine-scented forests.

 It scores residents’ ability to do basic errands on foot or bike. The Springs fell in the “car dependent” category. New York, Oakland and the others are in “walker’s paradise.”

Oakland? Really?

I guess Oaklanders can easily walk (I’d suggest briskly walking) to the grocery store, pharmacy or, I’m just guessing here, to their self-defense classes.

The website rewards places where folks can leave their cars parked and get to work and school. Places where you can bank, find day care, get a good meal, exercise or catch a movie.

Let’s face it, it’s tough to leave your car at home here.

Walk Score’s Josh Herst encouraged cities to improve their scores.

In a news release, he said houses in walkable neighborhoods have higher value because of their proximity to amenities.

Plus, they generate less pollution and boast healthier residents, he said. Folks living in walkable neighborhoods typically weigh eight pounds less than residents of a sprawling suburb, according to his research.

I checked out Walk Score’s website, www.WalkScore.com. It’s very cool and include rankings of individual neighborhoods.

Old Colorado City came in first with a 59! Downtown scored a 58. Both are pedestrian-friendly and have lots of public gathering places. They are mixed-use and blend retail, commercial and residential as well as all income levels.

Falcon ranked last with a score of 5 while upscale Flying Horse scored a 6.

There’s other good stuff on the site. For example, it has calculators that will show you the mileage and elevation gain on any route you choose. Here’s a look at my bicycle commute from Rockrimmon to downtown.

But there’s hope for Colorado Springs and its walkability score.

 Ryan Tefertiller, a senior city planner, said recent changes to the downtown zoning encourages “walkability.” And the city would help developers apply walkable concepts in all new neighborhoods.

“I think the zones make sense in certain areas,” he said. “In theory, I could see one in Old Colorado City, or North Nevada Avenue or South Academy Boulevard. It would make sense.”

Sounds great. As long as we improve our score without turning us into another Oakland!

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USOC TRYING TO BE GOOD NEIGHBOR, MEND FENCES

June 23rd, 2010, 1:05 pm by

Folks in Colorado Springs have been mad lately at the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Their anger stems from a feeling of rejection after the USOC talked about leaving due to crowded and antiquated facilities.

The U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Many also are upset that Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera and the City Council gave the USOC a package of incentives worth $42.3 million to convince the organization to keeps its national headquarters here another 30 years.

The U.S. Olympic Training Center is located on the former Ent Air Force Base. The first athletes moved into the 34-acre campus east of downtown in 1977.

The U.S. Olympic Committee moved its headquarters, Olympic House, to the complex on Aug. 1, 1978 after leaving New York City.

The new headquarters of the U.S. Olympic Committee in downtown Colorado Springs

 

The USOC is trying to mend fences with its neighbors in the community.

It started by giving the city a $250,000 grant to fund youth sports programs at struggling community centers.

On Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the USOC is throwing  a party at the training center, on Boulder Street at Union Boulevard. It’s called the Community Appreciation Day Celebration.

There will be autograph sessions with Olympic athletes. Resident Olympic and Paralymic athletes will demonstrate 11 sports including BMX, freestyle skiing aerialists, gymnastics and volleyball.

There will be food, music, prizes and other fun.

Here’s a video the Gazette’s Brian Gomez shot at the new headquarters building on May 2, 2010, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony:

Here’s a brief story about the move to the new building in April.

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SIGNS, SIGNS, EVERYWHERE SIGNS . . .

March 17th, 2010, 1:52 pm by

And now, more and more of those signs are using Light-Emitting Diodes or LEDs.

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LEDs are super-bright electronic lights.

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 Imagine thousands of the brilliant little suckers flashing messages on a 30-foot-tall billboard outside your bedroom window.

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That’s happening all around the Colorado Springs region: in Security; on Austin Bluffs Parkway near Barnes Road; along U.S. Highway 24 near Petersen Road; and on Powers Boulevard near Galley Road.

All five signs are owned by Lamar Outdoor Advertising, which spent upwards of $250,000 apiece for the boards.

Here’s a photo of a two-sided board on Austin Bluffs, towering over the Fabulous TNT’s strip club:

Neighbors are divided over the LED boards. Some hate the blinking every six seconds as the message changes. Others accept them, grudgingly, as a fact of life.

Here’s a look at one that stands along South Academy Boulevard, in near Bradley Road, in Security. Folks living in modest houses amid the trees behind the storage warehouses are not thrilled with the sign.

 Lamar  owns an estimated 150,000 billboards in 44 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Of its inventory, about 250 are LEDs.

Advertisers love them because motorists can’t ignore them. They can be networked nationwide. The message can be changed instantly for a single-day promotion. All with just a computer keystroke.

But more cities are banning them because they pose a danger to motorists, who can’t ignore them. And folks living near them object to the bright, blinking signs.

Critics include Scenic Colorado and the Council of Neighbors & Associations.

Denver and Colorado Springs don’t allow them. But they were permitted in El Paso County last year after a staff review.

Here’s a link to the 68-page report prepared for the El Paso County Commission on billboards in the county.

Screen Magazine  describes LEDS as an efficient, effective and ultrabright alternative to incandescent light bulbs.

A light emitting diode (LED) is an electronic light source. The first LED was built in the 1920s by a radio technician who noticed that diodes used in radio receivers emitted light when current was passed through them.

 The LED was introduced as a practical electronic component in 1962 (See Wikipedia). LEDs are considered more energy efficient and require less maintenance than traditional lighting. They also boast a life of about 50,000 hours–more than five years!

If you’ve been to Freemont Street, seen below, in Las Vegas or Times Square in New York City, you’ve seen LEDs in all their glory.

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These new billboards are light-years away the original billboards in the 1830s which advertised: “The circus is coming to town,” according to a history written by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America Inc.

Electronic digital billboards go back about 10 years, again according to OAAA.

Of the 450,000 billboards nationwide, about 2,000 are LEDs but the inventory is growing by the hundreds every year.

The signs cost upwards of $250,000 or more, compared to $5,000 to $50,000 for a traditional billboard.

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