Report from DC/Railvolution 2011
Posted by Curt Ailes in Bicycling, Pedestrian, Transit on Oct 21st, 2011 | 19 comments
This year, I had the privilege of speaking at Railvolution in Washington DC. I was selected to a panel that included David Alpert & Matt Johnson of Greater Greater Washington and was moderated by Jeff Wood better known on the web & in blogging circles as, The Overhead Wire. For me, it was an honor to be sitting at the same table as these folks considering that they have all been at it longer than me and are generally who I have looked up to when it came to forming my blogging voice.
I was only able to attend the conference the day that I was speaking. The rest of my stay was spent playing...
2011 State of Cycling in Indianapolis Report
Posted by Curt Ailes in Bicycling on Sep 14th, 2011 | 45 comments
2011 has been a busy year in Indianapolis with road repairs, sidewalk fixes and creation and the addition of more cycling infrastructure. Generally, I feel like I should leave coverage of cycling in the city to the folks over at IndyCog. My recent observations however, have spurred me to action.
This year we have seen a lot more construction of the Cultural Trail. I have reported fiercely on this project and given a lot of heated criticism in the area of the Conrad. However, at the core, this project has expanded vastly this year and should be mostly completed by the time the Super Bowl occurs...
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...
Pre-Conflict: An American in Libya
Posted by Greg.Meckstroth in Neighborhoods on Mar 30th, 2011 | 3 comments
Considering the current events surrounding the political instability in Libya, I thought I would repost my piece on Tripoli, Libya, a place I had the opportunity to travel to for business in 2010.
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Tripoli, Libya for a business trip. I went because I am working on a project to build an entirely new city of 120,000 people on the Mediterranean Sea just outside Tripoli. I went into the experience with certain expectations and understandings of urban life in this part of the world but had to see it firsthand if I am going to be designing a new city here. So I...
Comparing the Indy commute to other New Heartland cities
Posted by Curt Ailes in Neighborhoods, Transit on Dec 22nd, 2010 | 9 comments
A recent study by Bundle & The Street, lends some credibility to the notion that purchasing a home in the suburbs based upon the premise that it’s “cheaper” may not really be that true at all. The study focused on a number of major and minor metro regions across the nation and pitted their daily commute times, distances and also added the metric averaging what a household might spend on transportation per month. The numbers paint a striking picture. A couple of infographics were released with the report that displayed some of the maximum and minimum commutes. You can peruse...
