City's Sidewalk Policy

News & Record's Allen Johnson had this to say about getting out and walking. It mentions the progress the City is making towards making the area more friendly for pedestrians and bicycles and I think he is correct that I have seen an increased focus on inclusion of these amenities in the City's planning. As always, though, there is more the City can do.

1. It can follow the state's lead which in July, 2009 adopted a Complete Streets policy. Charlotte is the only city to incorporate this into urban street design guidelines.

2. It can revise its sidewalk policy to facilitate sidewalk completion.. In the last two years budget meetings, I consistently hear people talk about completing sidewalks. It was one of the most common suggestions at the District 1 hearing held on Feb. 27. What can be fixed? Currently the City requires a petition from homeowners requesting a sidewalk be installed. In neighborhoods such as Glenwood, this is a disproportionate burden that has only 25% of its homes owner-occupied. As a result, we currently have sidewalks on both sides of Steelman Park (Gregory and Highland) but no sidewalk extensions linking the park to any other walking paths.

So, sure, we can all applaud the idea of getting out and walking more to assist with fitness and health, but the fact remains this will remain more feasible in some parts of the city than others unless there is some change in policy and focus at City Hall.

Confused about Opposition to 1-Tree Rule

I have to admit that the apparent opposition from members of City Council on the adoption of the portion of the revised Land Development Ordinance requiring that developers of affordable housing plant one tree and keep it alive for one year. The primary concerns I have heard relate to the cost of the tree and the ability of the City to police this portion of the ordinance.

City staff did research at the request of Council on the cost issue and found that it would add $1 to the mortgage. ONE DOLLAR! Mind you that there are numerous other ways in which a developer could save this dollar in other ways. At the public hearing on Tuesday, former Council member Goldie Wells stated the obvious reasons for including this portion of the ordinance: shade, air quality, aesthetics, etc.

I fail to see how this is a burden on anyone, let alone the developer. If the developer wants to compensate for the cost of planting the tree, they could plant less grass. Grass is much more expensive to maintain than a tree. It takes a lawnmower, gas, and fertilizer to maintain a lawn. A tree requires water and some occasional pruning. Many of our affordable home developments already suffer from a lack of trees. Glenwood is affordable housing (homes here sell in the neighborhood of $50k at the low end to $90k at the high end - much less than the median for the City), but what Glenwood does have is large, shade bearing trees. Imagining this neighborhood without these trees is ridiculous.

I would remind City Council that we have many ordinances on the books that are only policed by virtue of engaged citizens. If cost and cost alone is the issue, and not some underlying prejudice (I shudder at the potential of this explanation), then lets look at a partnership between the developer and the residents or the developer and a non-profit organization (a la Greensboro Beautiful) to make the one-tree rule work. Let's figure out a way that the citizens can reap the benefits of having trees. Right now the unfortunate message I'm hearing from City Council is that people who live in affordable housing are less deserving of trees than those people with more means and that is unacceptable.

Housing Summit, Feb. 23

Forwarded from the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress....

Housing Matters for a Sustainable Greensboro, the theme of the 2010 Housing Summit, will build partnerships and inspire action for great neighborhoods. Greensboro Neighborhood Congress is a partner in the Summit and Guilford Nonprofit Consortium is helping to make this huge event successful.

Washington is now focusing on sustainable housing and communities: investment in affordable homes, energy-efficiency, transportation, job creation, and safe neighborhoods. Since Greensboro is ahead of most cities in this, HUD is sending its TOP sustainability advisor, Shelly Poticha, to be the keynote speaker at the Summit. YOUR voice is needed in the Summit table discussions as the City of Greensboro writes our five year plan for sustainable housing and communities.

Hear from state and local experts on energy, homeless prevention, foreclosures, and fair housing; see Greensboro's latest healthy homes video; look at ways that we can connect neighborhoods to opportunities. Celebrate outstanding accomplishments as three individuals/groups receive awards.

The Summit will be Tuesday, February 23, 8:30-1:30, at the Greensboro Coliseum. Registration is required by February 16. You can register online at www.guilfordnonprofits.org/calendar/index.php through the Guilford Nonprofit Consortium. To assure that EVERYONE can attend, scholarships are available thanks to the City of Greensboro and Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro; call 373-2723 for scholarship information.

Please invite your neighbors to attend the Summit with you--for communities to be sustainable, all of our ideas and efforts are needed. And we want to show Shelly and the state leaders that Greensboro is the place that everyone can look to for the best ways to reach our goals. For more information, call Greensboro Housing Coalition 691-9521.

Neighborhood Walk to the Civil Rights Museum Opening

On Monday, February 1st at 8am, after 50 years, the site of the Sit-ins at the old Woolworths building will officially be opened as the International Civil Rights Museum. As a sign of support from our own diverse neighborhood, I'm proposing that we walk to the museum as a neighborhood.

We will meet at 6:30am at the Community Garden at Steelman Park and walk up Gregory Street, down Haywood/W. Wittington St., through the J.C. Price School campus to the newly constructed portion of the Downtown Greenway, across Eugene st. to Bragg St, and then up S. Elm St. This total distance is slightly more than 1 mile.

It is likely to be cold, so please bundle up....and spread the word to neighbors.

Daytime Knockers

Today, a person knocked on my front door at 12:30pm. When I looked through the window it was not someone I recognized and I asked them what they wanted. They replied that "someone told me to ask you about your wood." Seeing as how the City has threatened to come haul it away and charge me with the hauling fee for apparent violation of the City's nuisance ordinance (see previous posts), it sounded like a potentially legitimate reason. Upon opening the door, the person simply said he was driving by and asked if I was going to use the wood in the backyard, to which I replied that we were.

He walked down the steps and got in his 1980's era blue mini-van parked across the street and drove away. The suspicion is warranted as Glenwood, as other neighborhoods, have seen a rash of daytime burglaries, where a simple unanswered knock at the front door is an invitation to break in. I got his license plate number, just in case.

Foreclosure Prevention Assistance from GHC

This Saturday (Dec 12) Greensboro Housing Coalition is offering a foreclosure prevention workshop at Glenwood Library from 3:00-6:00 pm. In a time when circumstances beyond our control shakeup everyone's budgets, it helps to know how to handle the ups and downs. Please pass the word to neighbors and friends!

Greensboro Housing Coalition 691-9521

Case Dismissed

On October 2, 2009 I was arrested by the Greensboro Police Department and charged with 2nd degree trespassing. I was in the midst of a hastily arranged one-person protest of the City's short-sighted decision to remove the Five Points Bench public art installation located on the Downtown Greenway in the Warnersville section. This part of the Downtown Greenway is located within an easement the City holds on Greensboro College property.

At 7:30 am that morning, I read that in the News & Record that the Public Art was to be removed that day. When I arrived at the site at 8:30 a.m., the only piece of the installation remaining was a single boulder that was part of the backdrop of the Five Points Bench. Parks & Recreation crews were getting ready to remove the last boulder and the mulch surrounding it when I decided to take a seat on the boulder.

Why did I bother? Three reasons - covering, the social, cultural, and political spectrum.

1) As David Noer pointed out in his article this past weekend, removing the Public Art did nothing to address the root causes of the problems identified - alleged prostitution, alleged drug use, public intoxication, and loitering. Worse was that almost no one agreed that this was the right course of action.

2) It showed complete disregard for the extensive process the artist, Gary Gresko, Action Greensboro, the City, and the Warnersville neighborhood went through to plan for an art installation that was befitting of the history of that place. Critics can disagree about the final piece as people often do when it comes to art, but it was a piece of Public Art in a part of the City that was without. In time, this Public Art piece could have become a wonderful place for people from throughout the city to stop, rest, and ponder the significance of the Warnersville community to the development of the City.

3) The removal of the benches demonstrated the ugliest side of local politics. Local leaders, up and down the ranks, missed out on an opportunity to actually lead and stand up for what was right. I'll leave it to others to speculate about all of the political machinations and vendettas that were at play here, but suffice it to say, not a single person, other than Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small stood up for the community, the Greenway, or for Public Art.

It's been difficult to not want to spend my energy to try and hold someone accountable...to bite my tongue and to not rail against the injustice. While I was disappointed in the City's leadership, I was not disappointed by the outpouring of support for my act of civil disobedience. Calls and emails came from within the Warnersville community, from the arts community, from my neighborhood, and from several non-elected civic leaders. Thank you.

These sorts of events have a way of shaping people, and I must say that even as I write this I wonder what the long-term effect this will have on me. For the record, didn't go there on October 2 with the intent to get arrested. In fact, the quickness of the cuffs on me was very surprising. So, I was very glad to get the official news today that my case has been dismissed.

Now, with my ban on being on the Greenway lifted, I look forward to getting out there and smelling the thousand or so roses that were recently planted. With the election over, and with the passage of a bit of time, I do hope the City will do the right thing and place the benches back in the Warnersville community as soon as possible. And, when people raise the same issues that got them removed in the first place, I hope City leaders will stand their ground and say that the Five Points bench needs to be there, deserves to be there, and that future generations will be glad that they are there.

[I know, this is not a Glenwood topic, but I expect I will veer from Glenwood from time to time.]