Posts by Joanna England
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BFOC Claims Our Neighbors to The West Are More Bike Friendly Than Dallas
The post starts out somewhat provocatively:
Are you paying attention, Dallas City Halll? Ft. Worth is kicking our $%@#%%’s in bicycle infrastructure!
But much of the blog entry quotes a post from FortWorthology, which quotes DFW.com writer Eric Griffey.
How is Fort Worth becoming bike friendly faster than Dallas? From Griffey:
Part of my trepidation about the ride stemmed from my ignorance about the civic efforts that have been made on behalf of cyclists in recent years. The seeds of this bicycle renaissance were, in fact, first sown in 2006, when the Fort Worth City Council began discussing the creation of a progressive bike plan. The next year, Fort Worth South Inc., a nonprofit group created by the city to promote the Near Southside, worked with the city to develop a new zoning code for the area. This code gave the neighborhood an updated look, with widened sidewalks and new streetlights. It also added street markings called “sharrows” — denoting that bicyclists and cars share certain lanes of the road.
The city works with nonprofits to expedite projects. I wonder, though, where the money comes from for them, and how fast thoroughfare amendments can clear their council. That appears to be the problem in our fair burg.
By Joanna England Mar. 29, 2012 | 8:33 am | 1 Comment | Comments RSS -
Gary Buckner is Building His Soap Box Derby Car With a Wheelchair
I love that, in the video, Gary Buckner is a “repurposing genius.” All told, the base for the Buckner/Roberts/Cowan derby car is pretty slick.
By Joanna England Mar. 28, 2012 | 2:50 pm | No Comments | Comments RSS -
Watch Scott and Nicole Horn Tear Down a Scaled Down Version of The High Five
Fascinating work! Scott says the pair spent 100 hours on this floating High Five installation for a show. Watch them disassemble it in reverse in about 4 minutes.
By Joanna England Mar. 27, 2012 | 3:34 pm | No Comments | Comments RSS -
Self-professed Nerd Jason Roberts Builds Street-Level Map of Dist. 33
If you wanted to get a good look at where District 33 begins and ends right down to the block, Jason Roberts has done all of the hard work for you.However, if you want to do this for other districts, or other geographic data altogether, he’s posted a helpful tutorial on his campaign website.
By Joanna England Mar. 26, 2012 | 5:38 pm | 6 Comments | Comments RSS -
What’s Cookin’ in The Cliff
I’m sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t mind having a crazy rainy weekend in exchange for a beautiful couple of days. There’s a ton to do this weekend, but between events, hit the patios of one of your favorite restaurants!If you’ve never been to a burlesque show, tonight’s your night. The Nouvelle Burlesque Revue featuring Evie Louvelle is hitting the Kessler Theater’s stage at 9 p.m. tonight.
Starting at 9:30 p.m., Councilwoman Delia Jasso will lead the community through a “Graffiti Wipeout” workshop at Felix G. Botello Elementary. The workshop, which ends at noon, is part of the city’s graffiti abatement program.
Alternatively, you could head down to the Nasher Sculpture Center at 11 a.m. for La Reunion’s Found Object Art exhibition. The art nonprofit will help show the works of students from seven DISD schools.
On Saturday, head over to the empty lot at the corner of Sylvan and Fort Worth Avenues at 2 p.m., and while imagining what the Sylvan Thirty development will look like, enjoy the delicacies of some of the area’s best mobile kitchens with Truckstock.
Eighth-grade Joanna is pretty thrilled about this event. Paula Cole, singer of “Where have all the Cowboys Gone?” and the theme from “Dawson’s Creek” will hit the Kessler Saturday evening. I don’t want to wait … for this show!
Starting at 9 a.m. Sunday, Cliff Temple is hosting a silent auction followed by a lunch called “Meet me in St. Louis,” to raise money for a youth group trip to — you guessed it — St. Louis.
Did we miss your event? Leave it in the comments!
By Joanna England Mar. 23, 2012 | 1:30 pm | 1 Comment | Comments RSS -
In Battle Over Complete Streets, Pam Conley Prefers Compromise
In this week’s issue you’ll find a story about the Oak Cliff Gateway steering committee’s decision to abandon complete streets as a part of their zoning and thoroughfare recommendations. As always, we try to include the voices of all affected parties. In this case, we wanted to find out how the two neighborhoods surrounding the area, Kidd Springs and East Kessler Park, felt about the lack of buffered bicycle lanes for Colorado Boulevard and Beckley Avenue.
Although Kidd Springs Neighborhood Association president Pam Conley didn’t return our call before deadline, I think her position is still relevant. While Timothy Herfel, president of East Kessler Park Neighborhood Association feels that the Gateway plan is better off with complete streets than without, Conley is open to compromise with Methodist Dallas Medical Center, which is against any reduction in lanes on Colorado and Beckley.
Much of the existing bike lane plans interfere with Methodist’s emergency response routes, Conley said. She objects to the complete streets plan for North Bishop, too. “If they would consider moving the bike lane over to Madison, then everyone would be happy,” she added.
“We can find some other way around the bike lanes,” Conley said.
Read more about this issue, as well as a letter from Bike Friendly Oak Cliff’s board, in this week’s issue of Oak Cliff People.
By Joanna England Mar. 23, 2012 | 12:08 pm | 2 Comments | Comments RSS -
About That Trinity River Park … And The Toll Road, For That Matter
So, after a couple of days of heavy rains, the downtown portion of the Trinity River, which is currently at 37 feet, looks like this.
In 1908, the river swept away much of the city at 52 feet, which looks like this.
Still, the plans for our world-class park and downtown toll road don’t really account for the particularly unpredictable river, or its questionable levees.
With all of the heavy rain, have you been thinking about the river and its future?
By Joanna England Mar. 22, 2012 | 11:06 am | No Comments | Comments RSS -
Delia Jasso Scores New Street Lights For Bishop Arts
Photo: Ten Bells Tavern
Bishop Arts District merchants are singing the praises of Councilwoman Delia Jasso, who they say scored them new street lights. The lamps, which have become something of a trademark for the district, now sit outside Indie Genius at Zang and Seventh and what will be Ten Bells Tavern at Madison and Seventh.
By Joanna England Mar. 21, 2012 | 4:29 pm | No Comments | Comments RSS -
Want to Buy a Book? You Won’t Have to Wait Too Much Longer
The shelves are going up at Lucky Dog Books at 633 W. Davis St.
Are you anxious for Lucky Dog Books to open? So are we. From the looks of the insides of 633 W. Davis St., the shelves are ready for well-loved books to hit them.By Joanna England Mar. 21, 2012 | 1:03 pm | No Comments | Comments RSS -
Help Stevens Park Estates Clean Up Stevens Park
It’s spring, and already the brush and weeds are growing out of control. As the weather improves, more people use parks, which, sadly, means more littering.
So Stevens Park Estates Neighborhood Association is organizing a spring cleaning of a different sort. To help keep Annie L. Stevens Park in tip-top shape, the group will meet for a cleanup on March 31. All you need are gloves, the kids, and a good attitude. Find out more on the Stevens Park Estates Facebook page.
By Joanna England Mar. 21, 2012 | 12:19 pm | No Comments | Comments RSS
