More on NOLA potentially removing I-10 through the City, this time by former Milwaukee mayor John Norquist (who removed a freeway himself) and New Orleans architect Clifton James:
Despite protests from predominately African-American neighborhood residents and business owners, construction of Interstate 10 erased the oak-lined avenue that had been a strolling route for Louis Armstrong and other famed New Orleanians. The 132 businesses the street supported in 1960 shrank to 35 by 2000. Restoring the boulevard offers an opportunity to fix an oppressive mistake and create rich soil for growing diverse, locally owned businesses, as well as creating jobs for people native to this community. It is the best way to make the corridor a prized asset that brings hope to Tremé and lower Mid-City and works for all of New Orleans.
Enough press and these things become runaway trains and that is a good thing.
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Take this for what it is worth, but a new Gallup poll shows that the longer your commute is, the lower your physical and mental well-being:
The results imply that many employers may need to reevaluate their options for helping workers manage those effects, particularly in light of the costs associated with low wellbeing. Those who are hesitant to allow telecommuting, for example, may need to consider balancing the physical and emotional toll of long commutes against the social benefits of having employees together in the workplace. Employers should also recognize that it’s not just the time lost in commuting that may have adverse effects. Particularly in tough economic times, commuting expenses — whether they go to gas and parking or mass transit fees — may contribute to elevated worry levels. Helping defray those costs may help employees make the long trek to and from work with greater peace of mind.
I tend to ignore polls like these, and prefer reality based statistics such as measurable incidents. When people are polled and know they are being polled, their answers are often consciously adjusted to what they think the inquisitor wants to hear.
With that said, I do generally agree with their conclusions. Although with very little housing supply in and around downtown areas, lack of supply inflates housing price. Of course, if we were to individually measure Housing + Transportation costs accurately and consciously, we would probably see smarter decisions on where to live.
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Yours truly gets reviewed by a local blogger Metroplexian in a post called Loser Cruiser. I’m not sure if I’m the loser:
My only real criticism of Mr. Kennedy’s blog is that he lives in downtown. He works in downtown…Most of us can’t swing living and working in downtown Dallas. We have to live where most of the Metroplex lives, in the goddamn suburbs!
The rest of the blog gets into a personal account of the travails riding DART and its many limitations. It is worth the read.
