Sprawled Out: The Search for Community in the American Suburb

Placeless places: More on "The Shoppes at Wyndham Ghost Town"

A follow-up to my post about contrasting sunny Sunday afternoons at Ferch's Malt Shoppe locations in two quite different environments. A comment was left by "Anon":

I was there on 8/3 with my family at 8 PM at night. Target looked like they were ready to close then, the Starbucks and Food Court were already closed, and it seemed like a ghost town in there. We went to Ferch's, and there was like 10 people in there when we started, and another 10 people came in while we were having our desserts.

I think you have to give it time. There's nothing there to attract people to that location yet. Huntington Learning Center's looked like they were finished with drywall, and Cousins and the haircut place were closed.

I remember when the Target in New Berlin was like a ghost town the first year or so as well. The same with the Target in Oak Creek. I'm happy that it's a Target, and not a Wal-Mart.

It might have been interesting to see the Greendale Ferch's at the time "Anon" describes above; Monday evening, still light out, perfect temperature -- the park right next door, a neighborhood in safe walking distance, etc. I don't imagine a "ghost town," do you?

And, yes, we can be relieved that Wal-Mart -- whose location on 27th Street is shabbily maintained at best -- is not there.

The point is, the interlocking conditions I described in my previous post contribute to a vibrant public space that is not subject to "spurts" of 10 people or so who arrive for a single purpose and then get back in their car and leave. There is nothing of use anywhere near the Shoppes at Wyndham Village's Ferch's; it's an imitation of a replica -- where the Greendale Ferch's is explicitly designed to evoke long-departed downtown "malt shops," it works because it is part of a network of pre-planned civic and commercial amenities that rise above the level of a single developer's desire to "do a deal." The Franklin Ferch's duplicates the decor, the menu, the signage, but ignores everything else that makes for a regular flow of people in and around their site.

It's a poor site plan, driven, evidently, by the rigid requirements of Target. That vast frontage of asphalt parking is nonnegotiable for a reason; Target (and most big boxes) manipulate their site plans to discourage relationships with other commercial buildings in proximity.

So, while the Shoppes at Wyndham Village's (apparently abandoned) website claims...

The layout has been thoughtfully planned to include outdoor seating areas featuring decorative benches, lighting and abundant pedestrian paths offering connections for ideal access to the stores. Imagine carrying out your shopping errands at your favorite retailers and being able to meet friends for coffee and lunch at Franklin’s finest shopping experience – The Shoppes at Wyndham Village.

... it is abundantly clear by a cursory glance at the site plan above that this is little more than a standard Target big box location with out-buildings; nothing will cross that red border up there, even though extending structures along Lover's Lane to nearly meet Target would have created a much more useful, interconnected space. 

Go there while the weather is perfect and sit on a "decorative bench" in the treeless, open expanse and see if you don't feel like asking yourself, as I did, "what am I doing here?" It's practically hostile space.

"Thoughtfully planned"? No, this is the sort of character-free development that used to pop up near highway interchanges and still do as part of "Edge City" developments, which are "placeless" concentrations of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a traditional urban area in what had recently been a residential suburb or semi-rural community. Think Bluemound Road in Brookfield.

But this is right in the middle of Franklin, across the street from a subdivision full of McMansions. Wholly inappropriate to its surroundings because it was designed as though situated right off I-94.

I should also point out that when I looked in the windows of the outbuilding where the Sport Clipz "haircut place" sign is (see below), I saw an empty shell; there aren't even partitions delineating interior spaces. We're talking about frameworks and facades over dirt and gravel, not commercial spaces ready for occupancy.

Target will do just fine. But how do you generate more commercial growth when little or no care appears to be taken in creating a physical environment that is conducive to commerce and integrated into its surrounding community?

But we lose much more than commercial opportunities when we allow -- and even encourage -- development that is so ludicrously out of human scale. As Stacy Mitchell writes in her book, Big Box Swindle:

In the suburbs, life takes place in a series of fragmented, single-purpose zones -- home, office, shopping -- that stretch indefinitely toward the horizon, with no obvious geographic center or outer boundaries. This lack of well-defined community has a powerful negative influence on civic participation, according to Bowling Alone author Robert Putnam, as does the amount of time one spends in the car each day.

UPDATE: Greg Kowalski at Franklintoday.com speculates on possible new Shoppes at Wyndham Village tenants based on MidAmerica Real Estate's web site.They've updated their Wyndham Hills listing and PDF flier to replace Sendik's with Pick n' Save - could the other notations indicate actual pending tenant announcements?

What happens when you build to serve vehicles exclusively? The Shoppes at Wyndham Ghost Town

Yesterday, a beautiful Sunday (low humidity, mid-seventies), I traveled to Franklin's Shoppes at Wyndham Village to see how this relatively new component of the local "social ecosystem" was being utilized on such a perfect day.

The answer? Let's just say that all that were missing were tumbleweeds.

ABOVE: Ferch's in Franklin.

Blame the economy? The fact is, at that very hour (about 5pm), while the Shoppes at Wyndham Village version of Ferch's Malt Shoppe was completely customer-free, the original Ferch's in Greendale (see photo below, taken 45 minutes later) was bustling with people - as is typical - inside and out.

Two Ferch's on the same sunny afternoon. What's the difference?

I saw vehicles come and go from Target at the Franklin Shoppes complex on a fairly regular basis. From the looks of it, these were all fairly joyless excursions; single-purpose errands for practical necessities (though one guy came out with a flat-screen TV and a huge smile). Everyone took straight-line courses from their vehicle to the Target entrance and back again. Occasionally you would see someone emerge with a coffee cup, having stopped at Target's in-store Starbucks.

ABOVE: Ferch's in Greendale.

A different story at the original Greendale Ferch's. There is a shaded, building-enveloped courtyard; on this afternoon, every table save one or two were occupied. Young families, elderly couples, groups of teens, etc., all shared this comfortable space and casually interacted. People walked between the courtyard tables and the adjacent park and coffee shop (the small neighboring stores were mostly closed for the day), stopping periodically to greet neighbors and acquaintances. And almost everyone I passed said hi to me as well.

An adjacent park, welcoming "outdoor room" courtyard environment, pedestrian- and bike-friendly local streets, and attached neighborhood make Ferch's of Greendale a vibrant public space. And commercially lucrative.

Back at Wyndham Village, I noticed a couple of random benches on islands in the asphalt sea. I sat on one for a while -- long enough to contemplate exactly where I was. Why would anyone want to sit right here, in the middle of... nothing? What would bring a person to this particular bench in a strip mall like this, so obscenely out of synch with any sense of human scale?

Benches?

Judging by the quizzical looks emanating from the windows of vehicles whizzing past me, I was not the only one wondering what I was doing there.

 

ABOVE: Ghost town.

I walked the entire Shoppes complex via the exposed strip of sidewalk; no enclosing "street wall" of mature trees and/or buildings to create a comfortable walking environment. I was the lone person on foot in the entire area for the entire period of my visit; again, cars passed me and looked me over as though I was dressed at the lead guitarist for KISS (which I was not). Needless to say, no one said "hi." After all, what the heck was I doing there?!?!

No, the people of Greendale are not inherently friendlier than the people in Franklin. This is an example of how our built environment creates us as much as we create it. Build formless, uninspiring, unwelcoming commercial spaces and you create single-purpose destinations that discourage the sorts of interaction and "lingering" that is crucial to the success of local (i.e. non-big box) businesses -- and, by extension, you strangle local economic livelihood. Who's in a hurry to lease space here as opposed to any other anonymous strip mall?

By contrast, Greendale offers a superior physical environment that attracts people whether or not they need to shop. The small, locally-owned businesses benefit, and a real community is maintained. 

More on this later ...

More photos at: Shoppes at Wyndham Ghosttown - a set on Flickr:

Beware the cul-de-sac nightmare....

A long journey begins: The project is now official

Click on picture to embiggen

At last night's Common Council meeting I presented  a short description of my coffeeshop/co-working plan for the city civic center, and the council voted unanimously to allow myself and fellow Economic Development Commissioners to make queries in the city's name. It's a tiny step, but a vote of confidence for exploring this sort of nonstandard approach to encouraging economic development and active community space.

It was not without potholes. Not even an hour before the meeting, the mayor emailed me to note that he now recalled that the fire chief did indeed have possible plans to expand the fire department building and may desire the plot of land under discussion. Also, alderman Tim Solomon made it known at a meeting the night before that he was 100% against non-park, non-fire department usage of the land. Fortunately, there is quite a bit of open space in the area pictured above in which the concept could work; the building doesn't have to sit exactly where I initially planned. I was gratified by the unanimous affirmative vote and the supportive comments made from the council dais.

So, at this stage we question and query the "tentpoles"; MATC, Franklin High School, the Library (I met and enjoyed a long conversation with a library trustee last night; I'll speak at their next meeting), fire department, etc.

The idea is to gather the needed elements and put a "situation" in place so a Kinkos/FedEx or local-owned/franchise coffee shop can come in and feel comfortable with a nonstandard setup; one that enlivens community life, has an excellent educational and vocational training component, engages the "creative class," and stirs further walkable "commercial amenity" development in the area.

And off we go ...

Baby steps: Request for Council Action

 
ABOVE: A rather ambitious vision of co-working space

To move mountains, start with a scoopful of sand.

Here is the admittedly low-ball request for council action (hard to say "no" to something that costs nothing and obligates no one) related to my community co-venture coffee shop/co-working space scheme:

_______

At their regular meeting on 4/26/09, the Economic Development Commission discussed an item that proposes the City encourage a community-based development on the site of the former Schleutter residence adjacent to Fire Station 1, the Library and Lions Legend Park. The discussion centered around development of a coffee shop with facilities for “co-working” space, with a patio area. The presentation suggested that the development act as a community incubator and involve various educational and private commercial entities—including possible philanthropic grants—to co-fund and operate the facilities; thus, it is an economic development project with educational and community-building elements.
 
The Commission now requests that the Common Council permit members of the EDC to enter into discussions with numerous groups regarding the concept and development of such a project, and hold these discussions as representatives of the city.
 
It is important to remember that the idea is at the conceptual level and many issues must be dealt with prior to returning to the Common Council for formal approval of a plan and commitments being made.
 
 
Council Action:
 
Motion to authorize various members of the Economic Development Commission to discuss the possibility of a mixed-use community-based “coffee shop/co-working space” with interested parties and develop a plan for possible implementations.

Franklin EDC meeting notes, Part 3: Get creative

I promised part 3 would end my report on Monday night’s Economic Development meeting on a high note. Frankly, I had no where to go but up (see part 1 and part 2).

My last item on the agenda was titled simply: “Discussion Relating to City-Owned Land Between Fire Station and Public Library - Member Michlig.”

Call it a challenge. Call it a symbol. Call it tilting at windmills.

Some background:

Franklin has never had any sort of “downtown”; in fact, city leaders have long disagreed on where the “city center” is. The strip mall intersection at Rawson and 76th? The new Shoppes at Wyndham Village? Sendik’s and long-languishing Fountains of Franklin at Rawson and 51st?

In truth, the only real -- and well-used, by the way -- public space in Franklin is the Public Library. It’s next to a public park, which in turn is next to a subdivision that has paths connecting it to the large play areas, tennis courts and shelters. Rental housing and apartment buildings stand on the other park border, and City Hall is in the same area. Senior apartments are only a few yards south. It’s a unique multi-purpose area in town. I’ve blogged before about the incredible amount of available space in this area -- the library is surrounded by a huge lawn, for instance.

So what’s missing? Despite the presence of residential (owners and renters, young and old), municipal (library, city hall, police station) and park zones, a piece is badly needed.

As it happens, the city recently bought a house that sits between the library and the firehouse. The property is on a corner, separated from the library by a street and the residential areas by the park. Because of asbestos contamination, the whole structure will be removed, leaving an empty parcel of land.

Click to embiggen

Here is a short sketch of the proposal/challenge/Quixotic quest I described to the EDC:

The city of Franklin, along with partners that will become apparent, builds on the site where the residence once was a COFFEE SHOP and CO-WORKING SPACE. Two stories, built right up to the sidewalk (no setback) on two sides (no drive-thru), with a courtyard in back that segues into the park - a beautiful public space that sits at the intersection of the library and the park that residential neighborhoods can easily access on foot.

The missing piece!

Following a model established at the Blatz building in Milwaukee, where Milwaukee School of Engineering students run the building’s cafe, the city partners with Milwaukee Area Technical College; the students, as part of MATC curriculum, run the coffee shop, handling everything from accounting to grinding beans. Franklin High School can also be involved, as students can work there for credit.

Want to learn business? Run a business!

Want to encourage wonderful public space around a commercial amenity? Build an example for others to follow!

Corporate sponsorship is not at all out of the question: OfficeMax, FedEx/Kinkos, Starbucks, Dunn Bros., Starbucks, Northwestern Mutual Foundation, etc. A community/educational/economic development effort like this is something great to be associated with.

• The project acts as a "development laboratory," wherein the city can show by example what sort of development we'd like to see. Along the way, we'll also learn a lot about flaws in the developer-city process and relationship that we can address as they appear.
• In tough economic times, planning and building a community asset like this acts as a potent symbol of our confidence in Franklin. Why should we expect business to take root here if we're not willing to do it ourselves as well?
• At long last, a vibrant,  multi-use city center will begin to emerge.
• The facility is an educational asset to MATC and Franklin High School.
• The project will bring together the talents and passions of the community: local craftsmen and contractors pitching in; creative minds devising site plans and architecture; business leaders donating assets and money; etc.
• Open space adjacent to the cafe can be used for, among other events, monthly or bi-monthly Farmers' Markets coordinated with market events held in St. Martins.
• Franklin will at last have a "third place" for people to lounge, work, surf the net, read and meet. No more driving to Borders and Barnes & Noble in Greenfield.
• The co-working facilities -- both paid-by-the-month space and free work areas -- will be desirable to the growing corps of "free agents," newly freelance, and mobile workers.
• It'll be a great stop for residents of Waterford and Burlington on their way to and from the freeway.

As they advise in vaudeville, go out on a high note.

After facing blank stares (and worse) earlier in meeting while talking about complete streets, smart growth, and preparing for transit (see part 1 and part 2), this idea seemed to resonate with everyone in the room.

So it's off to the Common Council to get authorization for a subcommittee to pursue the idea.

I'll call it a happy ending. For now.

"And now we'd like to walk to your local coffee shop for further discussion. Surely you have a coffee shop in walking distance of your public library, right?"

Nope.

Feingold, Ryan unveil line item veto plan at Franklin Library - JSOnline.

Common Council tonight: Slouch toward mediocrity or reach for excellence?

"That ribbon of highway..." In a residential area.

The Common Council meets tonight at 6:30 at the monumental Franklin Law Enforcement Center.

Some background:

On February 27th, the Wisconsin DOT sent a memo to Franklin outlining new deadlines for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus fund applications.

There were no emergency meetings of committees and boards of which I'm aware. (The Economic Development Commission, in fact, canceled our 2/23/09 meeting for reasons to which I'm not privy).

On March 2nd, one of the city's construction consultants, R.A. Smith, sent an email to Franklin's city engineers:

John & Ron,

On behalf of the Village of Greendale, we would like to know if the City of Franklin has interest in pursuing Round 2 stimulus funding for the S. 51st St. project both municipalities discussed last year?

We have attached a map of the segment and the WDOT round 2 stimulus letter for your review.

Please let us know your thoughts on the project very soon due to the tight funding application timeframes.

That was all we needed, apparently. On March 10th the Board of Public Works recommended pursuing the project. It does not specify a four-lane urban highway, but that is the only cross-section available at this point - - reason enough to be concerned.

So the list of possible stimulus funded projects now reads like this:

a) W. Puetz Road (S. Street to St. Martins Road)
b) S.  Street (Puetz Road to Drexel Avenue)
c) S. 51st Street (North of Rawson Avenue to College Avenue in Greendale)
d) Additional Project

That's it.

Did I miss the brainstorming session that came up with these projects? Or, do we determine projects based on the recommendation of contractors who can bill us for the project they suggest?

We are on the cusp of another missed opportunity to rise above mediocrity and more "entropy made visible."

Franklin's streets and roads  - both the pavement AND the network - are in desperate need of rehabilitation

Excellent planning?

The city of Franklin almost flamboyantly thumbs its nose at the idea of traveling from place to place without a vehicle. Residential roads are built wide and curvilinear for maximum speed - kids and bikes be damned.

Nearby is still far away.

There are neighborhoods close enough to Franklin High School to be illuminated by the sports field's lights - yet the residents of those houses have no way to walk or bike to the high school! Is it any wonder that so many vehicles are on the road at the beginning and end of school days? That's an embarrassment.

When did this become acceptable?

Pleasant View Elementary remains accessible by a single thin road with not so much as a shoulder to retreat to if you should attempt to walk or bike to the school. Another embarrassment.

In fact, the County Sheriff has determined that all of Franklin School District is in an unusually hazardous transportation area. Therefor, all students in the district are entitled to bus transportation.

Subdivisions that get to hear the trucks loading and unloading at the Sendik's on 51st and Rawson have no access to it via foot or bicycle, which would make their proximity a pretty spectacular amenity.

And that's all right with us? We're not going to bother to address any of that with stimulus funds?

Franklin seems content to ignore opportunities to increase connectivity. I have a list of almost 600 Wisconsin bicycle and pedestrian projects funded or co-funded by the federal government from 1993 to 2007. FRANKLIN DOES NOT APPEAR ON THE LIST AT ALL.

Not. Even. Once.

What happened to Complete Streets?

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding should not be used to expand a system of roads that do not provide safe travel for people who are walking or bicycling. Too many Franklin streets are designed to be wide and fast, without sufficient sidewalks, crosswalks or bicycle lanes. We, in fact, CREATE traffic with huge roads and no alternative.

Little or no consideration has been given for the safety of older people, children, or people with disabilities. These incomplete streets are dangerous and create barriers for people to get to jobs, school, the doctor, and fully participate in civic life.

Basically, Franklin's system of ever-widening collector streets without regard to interior grid roads - a blatant concession to subdivision developers - does nothing but concentrate and increase traffic, create noise, and make it impossible to travel from place to place without firing up an internal combustion engine.

This is not an environment that encourages businesses to move in and take root. It is not an environment friendly to commercial enterprises that benefit from the ability to linger (book store, coffee shops, etc.).

So, tonight, the Common Council will vote on a hastily thrown-together package of road projects - - unless they dare to rise above and call for further discussion IMMEDIATELY to better maximize the opportunity presented by stimulus funds.

And I mean meetings that start TOMORROW and incorporate input from various interested parties and persons who have expertise beyond TRAFFIC ENGINEERING.

Ah, "traffic engineering." Evidently, the pure basis for all growth in Franklin.

Keep the following excerpt from the book SUBURBAN NATION in mind at tonight's meeting when engineers cite "traffic analysis" and "throughput forecasting":

Those who are skeptical of the need for a fundamental reconsideration of transportation planning should take note of something we experienced a few years ago. In a large working session on the design of Playa Vista, an urban infill project in Los Angeles, the traffic engineer was presenting a report of current and projected congestion around the development. From our seat by the window, we had an unobstructed rush-hour view of a street he had diagnosed as highly congested and in need of widening. Why, then, was traffic flowing smoothly, with hardly any stacking at the traffic light? When we asked, the traffic engineer offered an answer that should be recorded permanently in the annals of the profession: "The computer model that we use does not necessarily bear any relationship to reality."

So, let us hope they spare us their "projected traffic" studies. (More on concepts like INDUCED TRAFFIC and LATENT DEMAND in later postings.)

More to come ...

See also: 7 Most Ridiculous New Roads Being Built with Stimulus Funds

UPDATED - Franklin's default setting: Bikes and pedestrians be damned - Go big, go wide, go fast

(UPDATE at bottom of post)

What I'm about to describe here sounds almost like a parody of suburb street-development-by-plumbers, but this is what's on the table tonight at the Board of Public Works Meeting:

*LETTER FOR GREENDALE RELATIVE TO A JOINT APPLICATION FOR S. 51ST STREET – RAWSON AVENUE TO COLLEGE AVENUE FOR STIMULUS PROGRAM

In its convoluted way, I'm told that this item refers to the desire of Franklin and Greendale to use stimulus funds to widen the section of 51st street between Rawson and College (straddling Franklin and Greendale) to FOUR LANES.

Yes, you read that right.

Once again, the "answer" for a poorly street-planned community is to take another of the plat-level streets to gargantuan, pedestrian-killing width; a residential area roadway designed to freeway standards. Another place-killing notch in the Franklin landscape that will make this community that much more vehicle-centric - a drive-thru non-place with no appeal.

But. gosh, you can sure whiz right through.

Just what local business needs, huh? Cars WHIZZING by rather than a walkable environment that encourages lingering - and spending, and returning.

51st street badly needs shoulders and a walking/bike lane - that will require widening as well, but nothing so extreme as the four-lane variety and a much better, forward-looking use for stimulus funds. 51st does not need more vehicle lanes, and it does not need a faster speed limit.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

51st Street has always been a mess. Every morning I see an older gentleman struggling to walk his small dog on the shoulder of the road, and another more elderly gentleman has to cross the road to get his mail and seems enormously grateful (and a bit surprised) when I stop and wave him across.

Many years ago, the operators of the quarry vowed to build a walking path around the quarry itself (creating a pedestrian/bike path that could get you from Drexel to Rawson), which would provide a logical connection between subdivisions south of Rawson and emerging businesses there (now including Sendik's, CVS, Andy's, and, someday, Fountains of Franklin). Instead, the city agreed to let them augment the already-funded Oak Leaf Trail, which is wonderful for persons who use it to bike or walk for the sake of biking and walking - - but the trail doesn't go anywhere! Pretty trail, no utility.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

If it seems like we just worked on the Rawson-51st street area, it's because we did; the picture above was taken not even two years ago. That smooth, just-poured pavement, one supposes, will be torn up.

Also in line to be torn up: St. Paul's Church, bringing nearly to completion the stage-by-stage character-stripping of Franklin, Wisconsin. The web-captured photo below doesn't do the structure justice, of course; it's especially beautiful when you walk by on a summer night when the front doors are open, showing a peek of the candle-lit grandeur inside.

Say goodbye.

More to come. Because, while this ridiculous freeway through town may be a fait accompli, I'm not nearly done.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

UPDATE: A bit of good news, perhaps: A conversation with Franklin's Mayor Thomas Taylor reveals that he personally in not in favor of a four-lane widening.

It appears that one of the city of Franklin's consultants, R.A. Smith National, Inc., initiated the conversation regarding application for stimulus funds via email (Download R.A. Smith RE- Stimulus 51st street). And, as luck would have it, GREENDALE is also a client of R.A. Smith; no sin in drumming up some work, and I think we'll see this pattern across the country.

A call to R.A. Smith reveals that, as far as they know, there is no plan currently drawn up - -  save for a four-lane plan submitted some time ago by Franklin, most likely as an "ultimate expression" of the road as monster urban street. This is the "default" measure that must be avoided.

Do I believe the 4-lane option would/will be the only plan forwarded if not for some timely intercession? ABSOLUTELY.

A memo from Wisconsin State Department of Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi (Download Wis DOT Stimulus Memo) regarding "Second Stage Solicitation for Local Transportation Recovery Projects" indicates that plans submitted by Dec. 1st of this year are now considered "shovel-ready"; the previous short time-envelope proved too daunting for most local projects.

From the memo:

In this first stage of the application process, the department received many local project applications. These were reviewed to determine whether they met the federal eligibility standards - but remember; we were working with eligibility standards established before the Recovery Act was final. Project eligibility was limited to the extent that the projects could be ready for bidding and construction in the very short timeframe initially set. Unfortunately, a very limited number of the project applications qualified. Local governments that submitted projects that did meet eligibility requirements will be notified shortly.

Fortunately, the final version of the Recovery Act set more reasonable timelines for local transportation projects and there is an additional opportunity for local governments to seek federal funding for local projects that meet all eligibility criteria. am writing today to lay out the process and the schedule local governments can use to submit transportation projects in the next application stage. We are committed to working closely with local governments to identify federally eligible projects and maximize the use of Recovery Act funds in Wisconsin.

In total, the Recovery Act will provide about $529 million to Wisconsin for state and local highway and bridge projects. We have determined that about 30% of this total, or about $158 million, could be made available for local roads and bridges, if sufficient eligible projects are identified and can be ready for construction. Of this total, the legislation specifies that about $38.7 million be used within the Milwaukee urbanized area and about $9.7 million be used within the Madison urbanized area. Virtually all of the remainder, or about million, is available for use throughout the rest of the state.

So now the challenge is clear: In order to pursue the forward-thinking and economically-rewarding plan of utilizing stimulus funds for creating pedestrian and bike utility and safety rather than "business as usual" rote street-widening, it's vital to get involved in the process early, as I plan to do.

On a purely economic level, we need streets that feed our businesses while making “park once, multiple stops” possible (a virtual unknown concept here). That’s what attracts investment and creates local character; that's why I will introduce an agenda item for the next Economic Development Commission meeting that seeks to make clear that "go big, go wide, go fast" is not the answer on 51st Street.

There's a better way, and we have time to explore alternatives that will serve both communities much more effectively than another four-lane monster street.

Twitter / Sendiks

This could be useful in a thousand ways. I wonder if they'll Twitter me when they get my favorite cookies back in stock?

UPDATE: Yes, they will and did. I will know when Kashi™ TLC® Chewy Cookies in Oatmeal Dark Chocolate and Happy Trail Mix finally return from their voluntary recall.

Sendik's Twitters

Twitter / Sendiks

This could be useful in a thousand ways. I wonder if they'll Twitter me when they get my favorite cookies back in stock?

UPDATE: Yes, they will and did. I will know when Kashi™ TLC® Chewy Cookies in Oatmeal Dark Chocolate and Happy Trail Mix finally return from their voluntary recall.