Join the Central Indiana Transit Movement
Posted by Curt Ailes in Transit on Jun 24th, 2011 | 2 comments
Last week, CIRTA went public with it’s message focused on building a coalition of transit supporters. The effort includes a spot on their website to sign your name to a petition as well as a means of organizations crafting a resolution of support for dedicated transit funding in the upcoming 2012 Legislative Session. As I posted about a couple weeks back, Urban Indy passed the resolution on April 12th, far ahead of the public roll-out of the current effort.
What does this all mean? It means that we are all banding together with a common message to our state legislators: Give us the means to pass...
Myrtle Beach & its focus on Walkability
Posted by Curt Ailes in Pedestrian on Jun 23rd, 2011 | 6 comments
When one mentions that they went on vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC, visions of complete streets and urban design do not spring to mind. For years, I remember friends who’s parents took them to Myrtle Beach on summer vacation. I had never attended until recently, when my wife proposed that we take a summer trip there. I am a major lover of the beach, and sunburns, so it did not take any amount of arm twisting.
We spent 5 nights just south of the major N/S split along Ocean Blvd, so we were front and center for what I observed to be the changing of a familiar built form; that being one that gives...
DC’s Bike Share
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Bicycling on Jun 22nd, 2011 | 6 comments
Photo Credit: Eric Gilliland via Flickr
Last week I traveled to Washington DC with my wife and daughter. While my wife was in conference, and our baby was with family, I had the opportunity to try out DC’s Bike Share program. I was completely impressed at how tourist friendly this service is compared to traditional stand-alone bike rental facilities, which is what I utilized on my last DC trip. A rundown of the positives of this program:
Cost. Â With a mere $5 for a 24 hour membership, I was able to hop on a total of 4 different bikes on 2 separate days, and I believe that I only...
A ride on Charlotte’s Lynx Blue Line
Posted by Curt Ailes in Transit on Jun 21st, 2011 | 3 comments
My recent summer vacation took my family to Myrtle Beach, SC. By virtue of good fortune, and a wife who is accepting of my psychotic civic activism, we were able to spend a morning in Charlotte, NC to take a ride on the Lynx light rail line. The Lynx (or Blue Line) is a modern light rail system that opened in 2007 and operates daily on low overheads.
At this point in my advocacy, I consider it a treat to be able to ride a light rail train. So when we arrived, I was very excited to be able to experience the service. I had my camera at the ready! As we were approaching the elevator to get from ground...
Indianapolis Sidewalks 101
Posted by Curt Ailes in Neighborhoods on Jun 9th, 2011 | 18 comments
Sidewalks are a contentious topic around these parts. We here at Urban Indy like to advocate for more of them. Wider ones than currently exist and even go as far as to say, “Why don’t you add a grass strip between the street and the sidewalk for an extra measure of safety.” It is easy to talk about these types of improvements. It is NOT however, easy to get them implemented. Figuring out how to make suggestions to the city conjures images of scaling fences topped with barbed wire. It’s tough to figure out how to make progress, be heard, and ultimately to enjoy the success of...
