Mr Moore is correct in several aspects and I’m glad to read his willingness to include rail in a package of solutions. He’s also right that we don’t want to like Atlanta — everyone says that— but then his major priority on big roads guarantees that we will.
A “roads-first” strategy has to move away from simply widening and widening and widening ad infinitum and focus more on building a network of local connectors (like the new E-W connector proposed in Mooresville). Years ago (1990s) when I was engaged in a lot of planning work in N Meck, every time I laid out a growth strategy for the three towns ( H’sville, Cornelius and Davidson ) I included three things: 1. reserved rights of way for e-w and n-s LOCAL connectors (traffic-calmed boulevards not 4-lane highways) so local traffic had several choices of how to move around, and 2. Corridors of preserved and connected open spaces for wildlife and recreation.( and visual beauty), and 3. Focal “urban villages” of mixed uses to provide options of biking or walking to shops etc.
I worked with town staff, elected officials and citizens from 1994 though the early 2000s but coordination of all these efforts was hampered by changes of elected officials with newcomers from other localities unfamiliar with advance planning ideas and who were more interested in the conventional (outdated) ideas they were familiar with. So the coordinated vision withered in the vine….
That sad tale shows just how hard it is in this state to do any kind of the coordinated planning needed to solve some of our problems. Someone once said that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is one definition of insanity……Could he/she be talking about us?
(Typed with 1 finger on my I-Phone. Sorry for typos and some clumsy grammar!)
My problem with this guy is he’s making major decisions based on cutesy anecdotes and supposed conversations. He says we don’t want to be Atlanta (amen!) but he wants to just keep building roads like <checks notes> Atlanta did. These decisions MUST be more informed than whims and pithy slogans. Balanced approach
Mr Moore is correct in several aspects and I’m glad to read his willingness to include rail in a package of solutions. He’s also right that we don’t want to like Atlanta — everyone says that— but then his major priority on big roads guarantees that we will.
A “roads-first” strategy has to move away from simply widening and widening and widening ad infinitum and focus more on building a network of local connectors (like the new E-W connector proposed in Mooresville). Years ago (1990s) when I was engaged in a lot of planning work in N Meck, every time I laid out a growth strategy for the three towns ( H’sville, Cornelius and Davidson ) I included three things: 1. reserved rights of way for e-w and n-s LOCAL connectors (traffic-calmed boulevards not 4-lane highways) so local traffic had several choices of how to move around, and 2. Corridors of preserved and connected open spaces for wildlife and recreation.( and visual beauty), and 3. Focal “urban villages” of mixed uses to provide options of biking or walking to shops etc.
I worked with town staff, elected officials and citizens from 1994 though the early 2000s but coordination of all these efforts was hampered by changes of elected officials with newcomers from other localities unfamiliar with advance planning ideas and who were more interested in the conventional (outdated) ideas they were familiar with. So the coordinated vision withered in the vine….
That sad tale shows just how hard it is in this state to do any kind of the coordinated planning needed to solve some of our problems. Someone once said that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is one definition of insanity……Could he/she be talking about us?
(Typed with 1 finger on my I-Phone. Sorry for typos and some clumsy grammar!)
David Walters
Retired architect and town planner
Tim Moore has refreshing common sense.
My problem with this guy is he’s making major decisions based on cutesy anecdotes and supposed conversations. He says we don’t want to be Atlanta (amen!) but he wants to just keep building roads like <checks notes> Atlanta did. These decisions MUST be more informed than whims and pithy slogans. Balanced approach