Park(ing) Day Is Coming Up

This year I am getting ahead of this.  

I have written about this annual event before but always after the fact.

Park(ing) Day is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 16, 2011 and that is just over three weeks away.  Park(ing) Day is when you can take over a parking space for the day and turn it into your idea of useful urban space.  More information is available here as well as a downloadable license (pdf). 

I don't know that Lexington has participated in this annual event before but I cannot think that some of you folks will not try it sometime.  We have some very fine parks here in Lexington and many of you will probably agree that there is a large unused park right in the middle of town, but this is your chance to create your very own park for a day.

I would not go for placing one in the Hamburg Pavilion lot or even along Southland Drive.  Chevy Chase shopping center or Meadowthorpe seem like more appropriate candidates.  Downtown would give you the most exposure, but who wants to set up right on Vine St?

So, who wants to set an urban park in a parking slot for a day?  Let me know where yours is and I will try to get as many photos as I can and will post them here.

Get ready, Park(ing) Day is coming.

Are You Driving Less?

The New York Times is saying that we, as a nation, are driving less than we used to.  Here in Lexington, I am not sure that is the case.

The Times is basing its conclusion on the weekly gasoline report put out by MasterCard in what the call the Spending Pulse.  The gasoline report is one of several reports which look at the transactions gathered from around the country.

Demand for gasoline is down and, according to the report, falling rather steeply.  As of Aug. 19, the weekly demand is off 4.2% compared to a year ago and 0.8% compared to last week.  I don't think that it is due to high prices as the national averages there are declining also.  While up over last year, the prices have fallen 4 cents from the week before and the price for oil itself is falling recently.

America is consuming at least two million barrels of gas per week than we did last year.  Did we just quit taking our Sunday drives or are we driving more fuel efficient autos?  Did we stop driving to work or are we making more efficient trips when we do?  Lexington streets still look like they are clogged with traffic at the same times every day and it still take a while to get across town during rush hour, so are WE driving less or are others doing a better job than we are?

The Times concludes that, as an economic indicator, less gasoline pumped = fewer miles driven and economic activity has declined.I think the we have just decided to quit wasting so much of it and we are better off for it.

What do you say?  Are you driving less these days?

Some Of Today's Gleanings

Just a few things that we picked up this week.

As we all know, the W. Short Street corridor has become the hotbed of activity and dining lately and is the de facto heart of Lexington's entertainment these days.  The Fifth Third Pavilion has been a catalyst as well as the demolition of the CentrePointe block, and things are not done yet.

A new sign went up on the building at the corner of Short and Broadway announcing the anticipated opening of Shakespeare & Co.  While I have heard about this for almost a year, this is a little firmer indication of another fine dining experience in downtown.  Visiting the website menu really makes me wish that it was just a little closer to being open.

Shakespeare & Co. began in the Dubai, United Emirates in 2000 and has grown to nine in Dubai, several in Abu Dhabi as well as Syria, Qatar, Bahrain and other international locations.  On Monday, June 06, 2011, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for SHAKESPEARE AND COMPANY. This trademark is owned by  Edward T. Saad, and a mailing address of Lexington, KY 40507 and remodeling work has been ongoing for longer than that.  This will be another welcome addition to Lexington.

On the other end of the corridor we have the former site of Mia's which has also been undergoing some construction work.  The roll-off dumpster is gone and the facade has been painted, so something is going on.  I recently heard that a former chef from Bakers 360-the casualty of being at the top of a building and alienated from the street- is planning to open sometime this fall.  I am continuing to gather information.

Mia's, of course, took their revised concept across from the Soundbar on South Limestone and are joining the college crowd just in time for school to start.  Ole Hooker's Bait n Tackle Bar n Grille apparently has been working the kinks out over the summer and is now ready to roll.

Speaking of exciting corridors for new dining and entertainment, I cannot leave out what is happening on Jefferson St.  Stella's, Nick Ryan's and Wine + Market are now joined by the Apiary catering company (who also want to add a sit down restaurant) and a burger joint where Cuppa: used to be.  The Green Tavern is still doing well with the Transy. crowd but I hear that even bigger thing may be in the works.

In anticipation of the BCTCS campus being occupied soon, I hear that Alltech (the WEG sponsor) is looking to do something with the old Rainbo bakery building at the intersection of Sixth and Jefferson.  Some sort of adaptive mixed use which would include a restaurant and some retail.  The Coolavin Apts. may change to student housing and with the park right there(so is the Hope Center) there is certainly a way to bridge the railroad tracks so that they could get to school safely.  Alltech would be clearly looking ahead.

Several blocks away at Sixth and Lime, of course, is Al's Bar and if all of this takes place, just think of the trolley loop that could be created for a decent "pub crawl".

So, there you have it.  Any thoughts?

Welcome To The New Reality.

It has been a while since I have posted but there have been so many things going on.

The debate in Washington about the "crisis" of the long term debt problem has everyone quarreling about how one side has let the other down.  That there will be no let up in the demand that we live within our means, that continue to grow more and more meager everyday.

The TEA Party and many of the Republicans state that we are a nation of people who should be self reliant who will rebuild our nation from the ground up.  Very many of those same folks cannot even feed themselves should the grocery stores fail to receive their truckloads of supplies. 

The American people have become more and more reliant on the Highway Trust Fund (HFT) to finance the road infrastructure in America and that Fund is reliant on the Federal Gas Tax.  Our demands that our car get better gas mileage and that we keep fuel prices low, and especially, the demand that we NOT increase the gas tax, have rendered the HTF insufficient to repair, much less expand, the national road system.

Now we hear that most of the 18.4-cent tax per gallon of gasoline set to expire Sept. 30th.  That is at the end of the Federal fiscal year.  If the wrangling over extending this is as rancorous as the debt ceiling issue, we may not have a gas tax this time next year.  The individual states would have to enforce their own increases and allocate for their own highways.  50 different ways of calculating the fees, 50 different methods of collecting it and 50 versions of allocating toward transportation projects.  This could have a devastating effect on the trucking industry.

States which currently have a sparse population could see their highways wither away and become dirt roads.  Parts of states with larger cities (think of the area from Washington, DC. to Boston) may get their roads paved but the paths to other portions of the state may be just that - paths.  Lexington, Louisville, Bowling Green and Northern Ky could see all the road growth - or we could actually see regional rail.

But what if we followed the lead of Mitch and Rand and did not raise the fuel taxes in any way?  The Federal government could then no longer help us, nor could the State.  Each individual would have to fend for themselves. Rugged individualism would have to be instilled in all of us.  Can't you just see it now, Mad Max right here in Central Kentucky?  No, somehow I think that we would all have to cooperate and pull together.

Melissa Lafsky has it right when she says that "our inability to raise the gas tax is at the heart of our economic decline" . We want to cut taxes on all the wrong things.  We only tax about 60% of the total tax base and that is leaving a lot of cash on the table. 

Today, the City of Williamstown granted tax breaks to the creationist theme park to the tune of 75% over thirty years in addition to the $40 million in incentives from the State.  If this project is not good enough to go it alone, then why do it at all?  I'm just saying that that is a lot of money for something which may be dated and faded in 30 years, then need new incentives to "freshen" it up - or replace it.

The hard liners on not raising taxes are adamant that they will not inflict higher taxes on corporations.  The same corporations who are sitting on $2.5 trillion in liquid cash and not expanding or hiring because they don't have local customers.  Those local customers are not showing demand for products because unemployed(or underemployed) folks cannot pay for stuff.  Nor can they borrow the funds to pay for things.

So, the final results are, private industry will not create jobs, the Government is not allowed to create jobs, the gas tax will not pay for transportation construction jobs, the social safety net jobs will be reduced and our rugged individuals will rebuild America. 

Welcome to the new reality.

Are We Really No. 6

So, Kiplinger's has sent a reporter to Lexington - or better yet, a Senior Associate Editor -  and soaked up the essence that makes Lexington a No. 6 city for best value as a place to live. I am glad that they focus their magazine on finances because they missed it on geography.  Lexington is NOT a Northern Kentucky city.  We, and our metro area are very definitely Central Kentucky, North Central, but very Central Ky.

I don't know how long this editor stayed in town but I will wager that she was escorted around by a member of Commerce Lexington.  She has the wording of the advertising brochures down pat.  The part about keeping the small-town feel while believing that we are the center of the horse farm world, the basketball world, the Southern charm world and just about any other world that you could think of.  Don't get me wrong, we have an impact in all of them but we do not drive what happens in those worlds, we just go with the flow.

Healthcare and the new expanded hospital is a good thing and the University is the largest employer, but the divide between the professionals and the rest of our "diversified" work force is very stark.  A few haves and many have-nots exist side by side here in Lexington, and a few more have-nots every day.  Lexmark, though a major company, is not a huge local employer.

Her comments on physical growth and the self imposed limitations on Fayette County's rural lots sizes do not reflect the thoughts of home buyers, as the cost of real estate here is higher but when averaged with the rest of the metro area will become affordable.  Such affordable housing is much harder to find in Lexington proper.

She also implies that the city is buying pastureland, but the PDR is only buying the development right of said pastureland ( from the folks who would not be allowed to develop it in the first place).

She describes downtown fairly accurately and notes some of the successes and hopes for the future, although her characterizations of the events at Cheapside only point out how few and seldom that they occur.  I still feel that any private group should be able to rent the facility for a fund raiser or get together along the same lines as renting a park shelter in some of the parks.  We should not believe that all functions are to supplied by the city.

Her housing costs appear to be solely for Lexington and not for the rest of the metro area and as someone who has looked for a place with FOUR bedrooms and a family of 4-5, such places are very hard to find in that limited range.  Not all households are young professionals or retired couples but the small family types who WANT to live downtown are priced out of the market.

"Why its fun"  We have Keeneland and the University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball to cheer for.  Keeneland for six weeks a year and basketball for 3 months (if you can get a ticket) and each event totals about 23,000 souls at a time.  UK football boasts nearly 2.5 times that number but only 8 times a year. From there, when you take away the dining and drinking around town, most folks find that there is precious little that is affordable to hold their interest.

Lastly, to the mayors comment "wears itself like a loose jacket, it’s not so sophisticated that it’s predictable. We’re not pretending to be something we’re not.”.  We may not be sophisticated but we are predictable and we are ALL pretending to be that which we are not.  Some pretending downward and some pretending upward, but pretending just the same.

The Property That Southland Didn't Take

I heard today of another investigation into the possible uses of the old Todd's Trace Apartments, or what is now known as the Pennington Place dump.  This would make about the fifth time that someone has asked about the property and what could be done to redevelop it.

Since it has been basically abandoned for several years now, all the apartments have been broken into and at least two complete buildings destroyed by fire, there is no way that it could be rehabbed and the only solution is to start with a clean slate.

I have given my thoughts on how the area should have been redeveloped when I wrote this back in January.  Unfortunately the church is proceeding with its plan and there is not another large religious entity set to do something similar.  I also do not want another large piece of tax revenue generating property to be designated as tax-free as long as our city needs the funds as the do.  No, somebody rally has to make this a viable development for both the city's and their sake.

What makes this so tough to work with is the lack of easy access to the major roadways.  I still think that, at some point, the dependance on the personal automobile will be removed and since this location is at the intersection of two main roads and it is a straight shot to downtown, some sort of mass transit will suffice for most new urbanists who may live that far out.

Still, today's urban developers are not that forward looking and a quicker access is desired in order to work a deal. The property is hemmed in by two, less than stellar areas, the business along Woodhill and the declining neighborhood of duplexes and townhomes with a growing reputation for crime, and a successful shopping area on Richmond Rd. Residential, and especially up-scale residential, without a different orientation and access would be a hard sell in this location.

So many of late seem to think that the current design process for the CentrePointe block will bring about a winning solution and a certain Herald-Leader columnist and blogger believes that we should apply a similar  one to the Lexington Center redesign, so should we get the mayor involved and do something here?  How about some suggestions from you, my readers. 

What would you place in this difficult redevelopment area?  Remember, the church took a similar sized chunk of apparently unneeded commercial land so a shopping center may not be viewed as possible.  The French Quarter hotel works, but do we need another series of lodging units, either extended stay or otherwise?  Give me your ideas and I will post them and send them on to the mayor.

First The Trains, Then The Planes, Then The Roads?

Back in August of 2009, I wrote a piece about a little known Federal program called the Essential Air Service in which the government reimburses major airlines to serve smaller rural communities.  This year it runs to the tune of nearly $200 million and still our air carriers claim that they cannot make any money.  Today, Delta Air Lines announced that it “can no longer afford” to serve 24 of the rural airports that they picked up in the merger with Northwest Airlines.

From what I can gather, it is not all about the corporate decisions to leave folks high and dry but the "style" in which these passengers desire plays a factor.  Everybody, I guess, wishes that their airport be a modern and useful airfield, with the latest in air comfort and speed, but when you cannot fill the existing seats of the propeller type planes - then you will not fill a larger regional JET.  Nor can you fly to the 29 major hubs from just Anyplace, USA and expect to get good slots in the landing pattern.

The Essential Air Service subsidies are slated to expire in 2013 unless Congress decides to extend them but in this current fiscal state I would not hold my breath on that. The current Republican strategy is to cut out anything that does not help corporations but may do some good for the common man.  The highways that we cannot maintain will have to do for these 24 cities and probably a similar number next year - and the year after.

This is also just one decision made by one airline, how many more will be coming in the days ahead?  Deregulation was supposed to free up the airline industry to be responsive to the market demands and to foster more competitive scheduling and pricing.  The Essential Air Service subsidies were to equalize the opportunities for the rural cities which could not run with the big dogs, but also could not stay on the porch.  If things continue as they have in the past five years, even the big dogs may not be running like they have been.

Many of these small cities got a big boost from the railroad systems and some of them owe it all to the railroads. These railroads brought life into a lot of places in the expanding western territories.  For years they were THE way for people to come and go for long distance travel..  The automobile and the airplane helped bring those days to an end, so what is expected when these modes are no longer economically viable?  When the rural areas no longer have air service and the states and federal government can no longer build and maintain the roads.  What will we have then?

Other countries are considering (and building) systems of high speed rail with feeder routes of more moderate speed which connect to the more rural communities there.  Somehow, that doesn't fit in with our concept of a modern world...    yet.

A Cowshare- Business As Usual?

The cowshare program to which I belong is having a bit of difficulty lately.

The whole thing dates back to when the health authorities in Ohio and Kentucky along with their Federal counterparts began harassing the farmer for delivering what the cow owners were expecting, just plain, raw milk.  

Cowshares work a little differently from a normal dairy whereas the farmer sells shares of his cows to a group of people.  Very much like a syndicate would own a race horse or other property.  They then pay for the maintenance and care of the property and receive a dividend of the product which results.  For a racehorse that would be a share of the purses won but in dairy cows it would be the milk produced.  That is produced daily.  For me, my two shares result in two gallons every week  Sometimes it is sufficient, sometimes it is too much.

Our farmer is an Anabaptist from Mississippi who raises cow and other farm animals for the simple joy of producing the highest and best quality food that people can buy.  To him, farming is not a business where the bottom line is profit or loss, it is a living where he can work hard, provide for his family and others and do what the Creator put us here to do.

This mindset and philosophy runs contrary to the general direction of the world today and that is where the cowshare program begins to have difficulty.  Several years ago, when they were located in Northern Kentucky and the harassment took place, our local agencies sought to remove this type of program and/or force it to be like all the other agri-businesses.  Despite all the talk of the movement toward locally grown food or the organic foods movement, the state and federal governments only want them to conform to the big business model.  Our farmer was forced to sell the existing farm(at a loss), file bankruptcy, move the herd and establish themselves on a leased farm.  In effect, to start over.

Again, our farmer (and we of the cowshare program by extension) are being forced to look for a new location.  A location where the farmer can put down roots and continue to provide the nutritious food that we members want and expect.  This is whee it becomes real difficult.  Because of the current financial situation, banks are not willing to lend to farmers who are not really operating as a business, the ones just getting by but still paying the bills.  Trying to operate within such a narrow, confining box is proving very difficult for us all.

Our farmer reminds me of a Mennonite, although I guess that he could be called a "Mennonite Lite" as he drives a truck and they do use the Internet, and the way they approach farming is somewhat reminiscent of the Amish.

I actually learned today that the Amish population in America is growing (10%) and growing even better in Kentucky (15%) in the last two years.  Studies reveal that new Amish settlements are established about once every three weeks.  The states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Delaware which are usually known for their Amish communities are actually losing out to states like Kentucky and New York.  The truly unfortunate part of the foregoing information is that roughly only 10% of the Amish today receive their primary income from farming.

Might they be another example of how our big business before farming attitude is eroding the country?

Again With The Grocery Stores

Grocery stores are in the news again.

The Business Lexington recently broke the news that I have been sitting on for a few days so I guess it is okay to talks about now.  The Kroger store in Chevy Chase has had a parking problem for lo these many years.  About as many years as since the returned to a Chevy Chase location.  As they made the stores bigger, the problem just got bigger too.

The first building that I remember on this property was a Colonial Alber's grocery store and, like Kroger, they sat back off the street with parking in the front.  At that time, the entire block of Lafayette (now Marquis) Ave. was filled with houses and commercial businesses had yet to encroach.  This and a sister store on Southland Dr were their only foray into the Lexington market.  Built in the mid 'fifties, in ten years they were gone.

Masters TV & Appliances had moved from the present Charlie Browns spot and stayed until a Higgin's KRI branch opened.  Neither one lasted very long.  Then came the Piece Goods Shop, a fabric and sewing store, which lasted until the very early '70s.

Kroger, which had had a presence in Chevy Chase since before the war (WWII), had moved to the 500 block of S. Upper St., then decided to return, tore down the old building and (if I recall correctly) brought the building a bit closer to the sidewalk squeezing the parking a little in order to bring in the delivery trucks to the rear.  Over the years, they have had two expansions and have approached their 40,000 sq. ft. limit for the B-1 zone.  Parking and the increase in population/area from which they draw has become a greater and greater mismatch, even after they acquired additional property.

A possible solution, placing the parking on the roof.  Hey, why not, it has been done successfully in Florida.  (I guess that goes along with Florida's own Fark tag.)  My feeling is that the engineering and the space necessary for the ramps up and down is going to be too costly and that it might be better to excavate for all the mechanical, food prep and offices.  That would leave much more of the ground floor for sale area.

I like the idea if it being right up on the sidewalk (10 feet back)and a possible cafe style seating area.  Even a art style bus stop could be designed into the facade.  Bring back the old type display windows and an awning and you have the urban feel of the rest of Chevy Chase.  It does seem strange to be talking about parking solutions in such a walkable neighborhood as this is.

The title does say stores - plural - so what is the other one.

A legal ad in the Wednesday Herald-Leader stated the intention of applying for a couple of liquor licenses for the old Joe's Crab Shack location on Nicholasville Rd. near Regency Center.  Also, within the last few weeks, an amended development plan was approved for a mystery tenant and the 15,000 sq. ft. structure is clearly labeled as a grocery and an attached liquor outlet.

Do we know any small footprint stores which would like to keep its plans quiet for a while?

The name on the legal ad was ......................Trader Joe's.

Finishing What We Started

Does anybody remember this piece of topiary and how it was to look during the World Equestrian Games?  

This wireframe of a raring horse was planted with 7 varieties of clematis representing the 7 continents from which the games contestants came.  It was placed more than 2 years ago and the plants were to be tended and fed so as to be in full bloom during the games.  It is supposed to be a legacy of the games for the "Horse Capital of the World", yet it seems to be dying back.

Last year the vines had risen to the height of the base of the neck, now they barely make it to the hindquarters.  Someone has really fallen down on the job of maintaining this piece of public art.

The State Government and the Horse Park were the main driving force behind the WEG and the Lexington Government basically tried to move heaven and earth to be ready in time for the games.  The did move a lot of earth. But this topiary is on State property(the Court House Plaza) and the City made many announcements with it as a backdrop.  Both entities seem to lay some sort of claim to it, but I don't think either of them are doing much for it.  Could the change in administration have had this much effect on things?

Similar type questions may be asked about our street trees downtown.  Since I have been working downtown the street trees on Main St have been put in three times and the trees that were originally put in under Urban Renewal are all gone.  

Does anyone remember the well shaded plaza in front of the "Gold Bank", otherwise known then as Citizens Union?  Or the benches under those shady trees?  All gone.  Something about the public using them during the day.

Our downtown street trees have been placed in tree wells and either mulched or surrounded with a grating of some sort. Then we just sit around and watch the weeds take over, the brick pavers buckle and the iron grates lift due to the roots being confined to the wells.  Eventually, the trees encounter stress or disease and begin to decline and die.  We have an urban forester on staff but he and his crew are kept busy looking at what we can do next, while the present situation continues to devolve.

Sometimes, looking for the next big thing just gets in the way of finishing or maintaining what we have.  We are continually painting the doors and windows and ignoring that the foundation leaks.