by Dave Alden, May 12th, 2016 Comments are closed
Burdell Building and nearby SMART tracks
Building upon my recent theme that land developers are sometimes pilloried unfairly, with even urbanist icon Jane Jacobs having been splattered by anti-developer sentiment, I’ll write about two proposed projects in my town of Petaluma. From my urbanist perspective, neither project would meet the long-term needs of my […]
by Dave Alden, April 18th, 2016 Comments are closed
Walkable urban setting in Petaluma
The term “cumulative impacts” had an unfortunate effect on my formative years as a water resources engineer. The psychological impacts were painful enough that I still twitch when I hear the phrase. Or even when I only feel it in the air.
Earlier this week, I twitched a lot. […]
by Dave Alden, February 4th, 2016 Comments are closed
Track crossing location
A few days ago, I wrote about an upcoming hearing on a proposed at-grade crossing in Santa Rosa.
The proposed crossing would confirm and reopen an existing pedestrian/bicycle connection between the two halves of Jennings Avenue, passing over railroad tracks that were recently returned to use. It was a crossing that, […]
by Dave Alden, February 2nd, 2016 Comments are closed
Petaluma Transit bus in downtown Petaluma
In a few days, I’ll help introduce some clever and insightful ideas of others, proving one more time that it’s better to be associated with clever people than to be clever oneself.
My opportunity to bask in the reflected glow of others will come when I chair a […]
by Dave Alden, February 1st, 2016 Comments are closed
Typical pedestrian rail crossing
Coming up in days is a public hearing in Santa Rosa on a proposed Jennings Avenue pedestrian crossing of the railroad tracks. The hearing is worth the attention of those who support walkable urbanism. But urbanists should also be concerned about the extended process that led to the hearing, a […]
by Dave Alden, January 27th, 2016 Comments are closed
Water Street
Life has been full over the last few days. Encouraging folks in the North Bay to attend the recent Urban Community Partnership/StrongTowns/Urban3 meetings in Santa Rosa, participating in the meetings myself, and beginning the foundation for next steps, all while feeling a bit under the weather.
There’s a need to begin talking […]
by Dave Alden, January 18th, 2016 Comments are closed
Downtown Petaluma
To recapitulate recent posts, I continue to encourage North Bay readers to attend one or more of upcoming public meetings with StrongTowns and Urban3. The meetings, which will be hosted by the Urban Community Partnership, will be the evenings of January 19, 20, and 21 in Santa Rosa. Signups seem to be […]
by Dave Alden, January 11th, 2016 Comments are closed
Building detail in downtown Petaluma
In my last couple of posts (here and here), I gave a North Bay example of the StrongTowns philosophy on the long-term financial realities of infrastructure. My goal was to encourage North Bay folks, especially those in Petaluma, to attend the upcoming StrongTowns and Urban3 meetings in Santa Rosa. […]
by Dave Alden, January 7th, 2016 Comments are closed
Caltrans project in Petaluma
To recap where I finished my last post, StrongTowns, a land-use planning advocacy group from Minnesota, will visit Santa Rosa in a couple of weeks. I was disappointed that, after banging the StrongTowns drum in the North Bay for three years, the urbanists of Petaluma weren’t included in the planning, […]
by Dave Alden, December 21st, 2015 Comments are closed
I’ve previously written about the Sonoma County community separators, delineated areas between towns in which only limited land use development is allowed, permitting the towns to retain distinct identities. Supporters of the separators, of whom there are many, point to the undifferentiated development of the South Bay and the Los Angeles Basin as the fate […]
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