Urban Hayride

Roseland --- See de 'ypocrites, them a-galang deh!, Part II

In light of Michael Paul Williams recent column, I thought I would flashback to my past comments from March on the recently approved Roseland development in Chesterfield. 

MPW echoes those same sentiments,

Chesterfield has embraced the new urbanism. A welcome next step would be for the county to gain greater empathy for real, job-seeking urban dwellers by opening its borders to meaningful mass transit. Who knows where we could go from there?

VCU professor John Accordino, a professor of mine, comments in the article,

I think a number of factors have brought us to a point where people are saying the suburban model of the immediate postwar period of the '50s, '60s and '70s has run its course,

Article is here

Warning for Short Pump

Jim Bacon's recent comments on the clusterfuck that is Tyson's Corner says a lot about what may be the future for Richmond's Short Pump area.

Regarding Tyson's:

...The task force is saying all the right things. Development needs to be more compact. It needs to allow mixed uses. It needs to create gridded, pedestrian-friendly streetscapes. It needs to allow for non-automotive transportation options, from bicycles to mass transit.

From my vantage point, it looks like Tysons Corner is locked into its dysfunctional human settlement patterns. The cost to transform the district into something more inviting and sustainable is so high that it cannot be economically justified. If Tysons cannot be transformed, it will enter into a long, slow decline relative to other business districts with better urban design.

It puzzles me how Henrico County can continue to develop the area as they have been while a clear illustration of the potential problems of the same development patterns exists at Tyson's Corner.  West Broad Village is not the solution for Short Pump - more than likely it will add to the problem rather than help it as developers and marketers are screaming.

A Week at Camp Sunrise - You're my Bestfriend!!

During the past 10 days, I was in Maryland attending Camp Sunrise - a camp for pediatric cancer patients and survivors - acting as a counselor.  This was my first year as a counselor and it won't be my last.   What an incredible week.  The staff at Camp Sunrise is full of former campers and survivors including my self. 

I want to share a clip from WJZ's coverage of the camp here

Protests at Downtown BofA

All I wanted was a Diet Coke and I stumbled upon an interesting cast of characters apparently protesting Bank of America's funding of coal projects. 

Protesters carried signs demanding no new coal or nuclear projects as well as a bullhorn and a snare drum...

Two girls are currently locked at the neck to an ATM sign by bicycle locks.