Roadtrip (8)! Univ. of Buffalo Arch/Planning Lecture Series - 2011

I really enjoyed visiting Univ. of Buffalo for lectures. The students were really pleasant and obviously excited about their curriculum, which was really refreshing. They are gonna be my first lecture series posting (lets say because I am starting alphabetically.

Lectures

All Lectures begin at 5:30 pm in Crosby 301 unless otherwise noted in the credits at the bottom of the page.

• 09.14.11 Philip Beesley

  09.21.11 Michael Conrad

  10.05.11 John Peterson

10.12.11 Philippe Rahm, Martell/McHale Lecture

11.02.11 Annie Han

11.16.11 Mabel Wilson

View selected lectures



Lectures @ 5.30 pm, 301 Crosby Hall, UB South Campus, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14214, at 5 p.m.

Peter Q. Bohlin Lecture - KSU CAED Toguchi Lecture Series

Peter Q. Bohlin [FAIA, Bohlin Cywinski, Jackson Architects]
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
Cartwright Hall Auditorium - Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
7.15pm

Kent State University is launching their fall lecture series (list and poster coming soon, I swear it) but I wanted to get the first one online so everyone knows. Knowledge is power and all that.

2011 Cleveland Design Competition Awards Reception and Exhibition

2011 Cleveland Design Competition Awards Reception & Exhibition
	On Friday August 19th, 2011, you are invited to attend the 2011 Cleveland Design Competition Awards Reception and Exhibition to view all of the submissions from the 2011 Cleveland Design Competition: A NEW School Vision and celebrate this years' winning proposals! The evening will include light Hors d'oeuvres, beverages, conversation, and the announcement of the winners of the 2011 Cleveland Design Competition by Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Chairwoman of the Board, Kathryn Lincoln. The program for the evening (which may be slightly altered over the course of the next couple weeks) is as follows:
	What: 2011 Cleveland Design Competition Awards Reception & Exhibition Where: Cleveland State University Student Center, 2121 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115 When: Friday, August 19th, 2011 6:00pm-7:00pm - Hors d'oeuvres and Open Exhibit 7:00pm - Welcome & Announcement of Competition Winners Announcement of the Awards by Kathryn Lincoln, Chair of the Board of Directors, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy 7:30pm-8:30pm - Open Exhibition 9:00pm - Awards Reception & Exhibition Conclusion When: Free and Open to the Public

Re-Imagining Cleveland's Transportation Future - Film Fest you probably missed

Last week the 2019 Sustainable Transportation and Action Team [STAT2019] held a small film fest at the Capitol Theater in Detroit Shoreway to bring together a plethora of professionals involved with transit with a couple of goals in mind. Firstly, to expose the various professional groups to each other and give them a forum to get acquainted, secondly, to offer a way to see what other communities are successfully achieving in order to understand how similar techniques could work locally.

I wanted to offer the list of films here for those that would be interested, you can watch them, and others, online for free.

• Journey to Pittsburgh to Walk and Bike
• Gary Toth: Reinventing Transportation Planning as Community Development
• Indianapolis Cultural Trail
• Chicago's Bus Tracker - Taking the Guesswork Out of Waiting for the Bus
• Major Bike Mojo in Minneapolis
• The Case for Open Data in Transit
• Making Streets Safer for Seniors
• Portland Bicycle Boulevards
• NACTO's Cities for Cycling
• Portland (Green) Bike Box!
• Snowy Neckdowns - Winter Traffic Calming
• MBA Traffic Calming

The event was sponsored by SC2019, NOACA, Access for All and the Cleveland Earthday Coalition. Flyer by TOIstudio.

The complications with walking: Part One - Standing Up

By now anyone with access to a television, internet or newspaper has heard the story of Raquel Nelson, an Atlanta mother recently convicted of vehicular manslaughter owed to the death of her son at the hands of an "imparied" driver while the Nelson family was crossing the street. You see, in Georgia, crossing a street not at a marked pedestrian way places the fault upon the pedestrian, even though the driver was currently under the influence of "drugs and alcohol" (according to early releases) and had been previously convicted of hit and run, once on the exact same stretch of road, that had little import on allocation of charges.

The conviction resulted in 12 months probation, community service and court costs. The possible maximum conviction was 36 months in jail. There has been little word on sentence of the driver as he had pleaded guilty.

The event occurred as Raquel was crossing the street from a bus stop to her apartment. A full recount of the story can be found here (thanks to the AP). The question isn't whether the action of crossing the street violated the law but whether the law itself and the planning that resulted in this occurrence should itself be held up to question. From my point of view there are many additional guilty parties; the traffic engineers who allowed for such a high speed thoroughfare in such close proximity to residences, the public transit organization that located the bus stop away from legal crossings, the legislative body that makes pedestrians second class citizens to automobiles, the law enforcement agencies that allowed someone twice convicted of hit and run to stay behind the wheel and the urban planners, that allowed this sort of development (hub and highway spoke) to itself occur.

Ms. Raquel Nelson has the option of a retrial, however nothing can be done now for her son. The legacy of his death should require us all to rethink our actions, as drivers, planners, voters and pedestrians and vehemently demand that our communities be safer for ourselves and our children.

An online petition can be found on the Transportation for America website demanding a full pardon for Raquel Nelson. The next question is how to halt the potentially fatal pattern of poor planning and rectify our already dangerous systems and neighborhoods.

PBS has also posted a very interesting video on pedestrian v. vehicular transit in Georgia.

The trouble with "alternative transportation"

The trouble with "alternative transportation" is that the nom de plume indicates that any transportation mode, alternative to automotive, is secondary and not considered mainstream, or is less important. I have been hearing this term used to describe cycling, taking public transit and even walking as public dollars are being allocated to infrastructure projects. It never sounded right to me, and I had quite a hard time discerning just why that was until I had proper time to ponder (and a few beers).

Let's jump in the way back machine. The year was 1977. A younger George Lucas was about to legitimize cheesy poofs as a diet for basement dwellers, Elvis was faking his death and a bouncing baby boy had just emerged into this cruel dark world. He was limited in his mobility. Eventually he was able to roll over, crawl and dance. Years later his father built him his first bicycle, a very heavy cumbersome device that resulted in various bruises and skinned limbs but no major damage. At the tender age of 9 the young boy was moved to the suburbs and enrolled at a public school that had large yellow lumbering noisy buses, filled with larger, lumberinger and meaner kids, and so the young man got his first taste of regular public transit (to be fair, he grew up taking the bus, but these timelines are important!). At 13 he learned how to drive a car but couldn't do so legally until he turned 16 years of age, 15 years after becoming mobile on his own two feet. Let me create a list for you.

Birth

Age 0 - not mobile, mostly cold, doesn't really do much

Age 1 - walking (sans skipping or hopping but mobile)

Age 5ish - riding a bike, probably in the street

Age 9 - regular bus rider (10 times a week, 45 weeks a year)

Age 16 - auto operator

Age ? - Cruise Ship Captain

Age ? - Spaceship Pilot

Age ? - Jet Pack owner

Age ? - FTL?

As the above list illustrates, I, and most likely the vast majority of people, begin our evolution of transportation via being a pedestrian, evolving into cyclists, maybe dabbling (those primary educator years are our dabbling years) in public transit and then eventually, possibly, becoming auto drivers. So why is walking, cycling and taking the bus considered "alternative"? Alternative to what? Driving from my bedroom to the kitchen for a snack? Driving from my desk at work to the restroom to tweet? How did our infatuation with the auto come at the expense of logic and our love for freedom? On foot I can walk just about anywhere, when I am in a car I am limited to following expensive vast roads at certain speeds and I have to follow the logic of seemingly random traffic signals (same as on a bike mind you), however I have to pay for all that GAS, those poor dead dinosaurs and ferns that have undergone so many centuries of crushing and pressure and decomp just to be converted into heat and mechanical energy. Pumped from their slumber in the ground and transported across the globe (some hyperbole, I think we get most of our gas from Canada) just for little ol' me? How am I that important?

I'll stick with walking and riding for now, the most that I can. I won't give up my car or motorcycle, but I won't refer to them as my primary mode of transportation and I will continue to fight against neighborhoods and communities designed solely around the auto in lieu of the actual people that live there. It's crazy, I know, but I like myself mostly, and I want to keep it that way.

Veteran's Memorial Bridge & Subway Tour July 2nd, 2011

Veteran's Memorial Bridge & Subway Tour

When: Saturday, July 2, 2011

Times: Open from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.Location: Northeast Corner of W. 25th Street & Detroit Avenue, at the west end of the bridge. Free parking is available at the Department of Public Works Bridge Garage, which is located at the tour’s entrance.Cost: FREE

The Cuyahoga County Engineers will be re-opening the Subway Level of the Veteran's Memorial Bridge [Detroit/Superior Avenue Bridge] this Saturday to pedestrians.

The tour is self guided and offers some fantastic views of the city of Cleveland. It also exposes a rather interesting view into the evolution of how the city was stitched together in an age before the auto was king. Currently the CUDC (and other fine folks) have spearheaded a campaign to turn the subway level into a public pedestrian and cycling access path across the Cuyahoga River. The ability to help them receive funding via the National Historic Trust has recently closed, however there are other ways to offer support, such as telling your friends and visiting the bridge when it is open.

So come down, bring a camera and plan on grabbing a quick lunch as some local bistro. You can park on the West Side and walk over to have lunch on the East, or vice versa. Whatever. I'm not going to tell you how to live your life.

Cleveland's big Saturday, 2011.06.25: CMA Solstice Party, GardenWalk Cleveland, Waterloo Arts Fest

There is almost too much happening this Saturday, I am already feeling flustered as Lakewood is also have having their giant Yard Sale week end then. So instead of 3 posts and all that, I am combining information into one super post.

Gardenwalk Cleveland 2011

11am - 7pm

A self guided (you get a map) tour of urban farms and gardens in the following selected neighborhoods of Cleveland, Ohio.

-Detroit Shoreway

-Harvard/Lee/Miles

-Hough

-Tremont

Waterloo Arts Fest 2011

12-7pm

9th annual art centric street fair on Waterloo Ave in North Collinwood, host to storytelling, performances, arts and arts-stuffs for sale.

Cleveland Museum of Art Solstice Party

6pm-2am

Massive party at the Cleveland Museum of Art with music and whatnot and of course art. There is a pretty varied venue of music and it is THE party of the year in Cleveland. For sure.

Cleveland Bridge Project - Vote to open up the lower level of the Detroit Superior Bridge for year round use

Cleveland, a city of rich history based upon an old river, suffers an identity based upon the conflict of the two banks which were at first inflamed by and pacified by the construction of bridges spanning the mighty river.

Currently there is a community driven effort to develop the currently shuttered lower level of the Veteran's Memorial Bridge (which once allowed rail service along Detroit Avenue to reach Public Square) and turn it into a public thorough way, allowing a cycling and pedestrian connection while granting a year-round use for public performances.

You can show your support by casting an online vote for the Detroit Superior Bridge in the This Place Matters Community Challenge hosted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation which may help secure the funds necessary for this endeavor.

Go to bridgevote.com right now to cast your vote. Just follow these steps:

1. In the blue box, click "register"

2. Enter your email address and zip code (your information will not be shared and you can opt out of receiving any future email messages)

3. On the list of sites, scroll down to "Cleveland Bridge Project" and click on it.

4. In the blue box, click "Vote Now!"

Blue Pike Farm 2011 Season begins this week

Blue Pike Farm

Thursday, June 16, 2011

4-7pm

900 East 72nd St. (1/2 mi. South of I-90 @ the E. 72nd exit) Cleveland, Ohio

via the email (which I will copy and paste so as not to lose anything in the translation).

It's the opening of the Blue Pike Farm Market this week. The market opens from 4 - 7 P.M. every Thursday until the end of October.

Joining us again this summer is Kevin Kelly of Kevin's Creative Cuisine with his selection of specialty baked goods and weekly cooking demonstrations (5-6 P.M). He'll be cooking up samples of the week's freshest seasonal veggies and offering his culinary tips and insights into cooking seasonally. This week he'll be cooking with garlic scapes. Haven't used scapes before in your kitchen? It's a 2 week season for these hard to find specialty items. We'll have them for you this week.

Judi Strauss, who writes a food blog at www.TheCharmedKitchen.com will be offering great information and specialty items each week. She teaches cooking classes and works as a teacher/caterer. She offers a series of workshops teaching about edible wild plants.

Veronica Walton and her husband Michael from NEO Restoration Alliance's League Park Market Garden will be offering their take on urban farm vegetables this summer. Look for greatselections each week from their market gardens.

And every week look for Seasonal fruit from Woolf Family Farms, honey and honey comb from e.pluribus Apiary here at Blue Pike Farm and more.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention our newest producers, the flock of hens that have taken up residence here at BPF and gift us with fresh, NO GMO feed, free range eggs.

What's up with the pink Rhino?

All part of the upcoming Discover Gordon Square Arts District

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Detroit Avenue Cleveland, Ohio

W54th through W69th (and extending down to W74th actually, where the rhino resides)

Most likely something will also be happening at the W78th studios

HOWEVER

for the past, (I dunno, it feels like years actually) couple of months(?) TOIstudio has been collaborating with f i e l d s on a couple of installations in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. The first one is pictured on the attached flyer, named Binoceros, consists of attempting to create a functional and playful construction barricade. It is still in process as we hope to play with lighting and interactivity in the upcoming months. The interior piece is quite large, I would say more but I don't want to give it away.

As you can see from the flyer, we have a cornucopia of of installers, from traditional art on canvas to performance art, music, furniture and some sort of something coming from the Digital Operations Lab of KSU CAED (I like to call it "nerd club"). Best of all there is gonna be food.

So, as you wander the Gordon Square area, looking at stuff (as most like to do on a fine Saturday) feel free to drop in and see what is cooking at the Cheerio Building on the corner of W74th and Detroit Ave (installations will be viewable from 7pm-10pm).

I am probably much more fun when completely sleep depraved anyway.

Kamm's Corners Farmer Market opens - June 5th

Kamm's Corners Farmers Market season opening

Sunday, June 5th

10am - 2pm

@ the Municipal Parking Lot at W. 168th St. and Lorain Ave.

Kamm’s Corners Farmers Market - Growing Healthy Produce, Healthy People and Healthy Connections in the West Park Community and beyond.

The popular neighborhood market kicks off its fifth season on June 5^th. The thirty market members grow or produce their offerings so the food is as fresh as it comes - from Ohio raised meat to produce picked the morning its sold. Also featuring live music, local artists and healthy living education; the Kamm’s Corners Farmers Market serves up much more than food.

“Local food” has become somewhat of a buzzword in recent years, but there are a number of reasons behind the buzz. Locally grown food and farmer’s markets not only benefit farmers, but are also good for consumers, the environment, the local economy, and the community.

Healthy Produce - Eating local food is healthier for our environment because it requires less fossil fuel to transport and little, if any chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

Healthy People - Locally grown food is healthier than food imported or transported over long distances - it is both fresher and less susceptible to contamination because of its short journey from farm to plate.

Healthy Connections - Food grown and sold locally is also healthier for the regional economy because it lends support to local farmers and cottage industries as well as increases pedestrian traffic to traditional mom and pop storefronts. Local food deemphasizes big box stores, chain restaurants and fast food and re-introduces aspects of community long forgotten. It is healthier for our relationships, helping to bridge the gap between people of different ages, races, religions, and income levels. While food is essential to our survival, local food also reconnects us to a larger essential, community.

Collaborative efforts to increase access to and availability of fresh, local food and produce have resulted in educational programs, subsidized produce vendor incubator space, joint marketing campaigns as well as the $5 EBT incentive program offered at the Kamm’s Corners and six other Cleveland area farmers markets. More information about the Growhio / ODA programs can be found atwww.growhio.org

LEAF Night Spring Fest 2011

LEAF Night begins June 1st with

SPRING FEST 2011!

Come kick off the growing season with Lakewood Earth And Food Community's First Annual Spring Fest on Wednesday, June 1 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm in front of Lakewood Public Library. All are welcome to join in the celebration as LEAF begins our fifth year of providing broad access to fresh, local foods, knowledge and culture to the Lakewood community. Spring Fest will go above and beyond the typical LEAF Night activities, to incorporate more local vendors, a plant swap, hands on activities for the kids, and a sampling of local restaurants.

Details of the evening's activities are listed below:

• Local Vendors - Stroll along Mars Ave and check out nearly a dozen local vendors. From produce to soap to local eggs and honey, there's something for everyone.

• Plant and Seed Swap - Bring your divided perennials, extra seedlings, etc to the LEAF Plant Swap and add some variety to your garden at the same time! Bring a plant, take a plant- plus learn from your fellow gardeners at the same time!

• Food - Get a taste of 56 West, watch as Gatherings Kitchen prepares seasonal fare, and cool off with lemonade from Root Cafe.

• City Fresh Sign Up - It isn't too late to sign up for Lakewood's favorite CSA program. Come on June 1st, sign up and pay for the first City Fresh pick-up on June 8th!

• Kids Activities - Hang out with LEAF to plant seeds, do a craft, or learn more about local food through reading in the Library's Children's section.

• Music - Listen to the musical talents of featured local artists.

• EBT - This year LEAF has applied for and received a grant that will allow us to take EBT payments, not only for City Fresh, but for all of our other (food) vendors and farmers as well. This means that our friends, family and neighbors who receive SNAP benefits can buy healthy local food at LEAF Night! Look for the EBT sign for more information.

LeafCommunity

'Gasland' screening and discussion

'Gasland' screening and discussion

Thursday, May 26th

Lakewood Main Library

15425 Detroit Ave. Lakewood, Ohio 44107

6pm

What is Fracking? How will it affect the health of yourself, your family, and your community? Why does it matter to Ohioans right now?

We will discuss these and other important questions at a special FREE screening of the award winning documentary Gasland (http://youtu.be/dZe1AeH0Qz8), followed by a discussion on Fracking in Ohio featuring Cleveland area State Legislators and Environmental experts.

Hosted by:

State Representative Nickie Antonio, State Senator Mike Skindell, No Frack Ohio Coalition, ProgressOhio.org

High volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as "Fracking", is here in Ohio after drilling its way through the other states. Right now, the House and Senate are considering multiple proposals, including parts of the Budget, to open up State Parks and public lands to oil and gas drilling, including Fracking. The House is even working right now to delete current state level prohibitions against drilling for oil and gas under Lake Eire, one of our most precious resources.

From upstate New York to Arkansas, Fracking has polluted ground water, ruined crops, lowered property values, increased traffic, devastated small communities, and even caused earthquakes. Yet, this technique is exempted from the Superfund Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Clean Air Act (CAA) and many other environmental regulations. Other states are enacting moratoriums to study the detrimental effects of Fracking and ensure that State regulations are up to the task, but Ohio government is moving full speed ahead without taking the time to get the data.

Please come learn the facts about Fracking, the consequences for our communities, and find out how you can get involved in the fight.

More information about Gasland (http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/): "The largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in history has swept across the United States. The Halliburton-developed drilling technology of "fracking" or hydraulic fracturing has unlocked a "Saudia Arabia of natural gas" just beneath us. But is fracking safe? When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination. A recently drilled nearby Pennsylvania town reports that residents are able to light their drinking water on fire. This is just one of the many absurd and astonishing revelations of a new country called GASLAND. Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown."