My Athens

My "Athens Rising" Archive

For a few months last year, I helped write the Athens Rising column--an opinion  column about local  development, planning and architecture issues--for Flagpole Magazine, the weekly alternative newspaper here in Athens, Ga.

The column's main writer--Kevan Williams--had asked me to write the column every other week while he traveled out West to places like Portland, Ore. And that's what I did--having fun, mostly--from August through December 2010.

Kevan's back in town now, and I'm off traveling abroad and happy--for now at least--to be free of deadlines.

Here are the columns I wrote:

• August, 25, 2010:  Future of Downtown Athens

• September, 8, 2010: A Look at a Complex Zoning Decision

• September 22, 2010: Exploring an Overlooked Neighborhood

• October 6, 2010: Adding Affordable Housing, Avoiding Gentrification

• October 20, 2010: Tapping Students for Downtown Density

• November 3, 2010: Grocery Store Dreams, Part 1

• November 17, 2010: Grocery Store Dreams, Part 2

• December 1, 2010: Dilapidated Buildings, Factories and Cities

 

Lower Bus Fares? Not Ambitious Enough

Well, actually, lowering bus fares is not a bad idea. If you want to give low-income people a break and attract increased ridership, this is a reasonable suggestion.

But there's a better idea: expand service and make it free.

Doing this will save poor folks more money, will likely prove more effective at attracting new riders--and will benefit the community in other ways as well.

This idea is not as crazy or as fiscally irresponsible as it sounds. Read on!

Lower Fares Effort

According to this Athens Banner-Herald article, the Athens Bus Campaign, an effort led by anti-poverty activist Michael Smith, proposes cutting bus fares by 25 cents (from $1.50 to $1.25 for an adult fare). Smith says the fare reductions would not only cut expenses for low-income people who ride the bus everyday but would also attract more ridership and thus fill the budget gap created by the reduced fares.

Not bad logic.

But like some other folks, I'm not convinced that lowering the fares by 25 cents will--by itself--do much to attract new riders. I think Athens Transit Director Butch McDuffie is right when he says the most effective way to boost ridership is "to make your service more frequent and available."

Shaving off 25 cents for two rides a day, five days a week, most weeks of the year (25 cents x 2 rides x 5 days x 48 weeks) cuts transit costs by $120 a year--which is a modest, but real savings for low-income folks. This is a viable way for a local government to actually do something to help low income folks directly. Free, however, is an even better deal (surprise!). Compared to today's today's current $1.50 fare, paying nothing would save riders $720 annually.

Going Free

So, if we really want to boost ridership and also cut costs for low-income riders, here's what we need to do as I suggested in an earlier post: increase the frequency of service, add more routes, extend hours of operation--and offer free rides for everyone, all the time.

"Hold on," you may say. "First of all, even if we could afford to do this, not everyone rides the bus. So why isn't it fair to charge actual users for their use?"

Well, to paraphrase Aaron Renn, who runs Urbanophile, a blog about cities, no one is charged to check out library books or to take a walk in county park even though not all of us take advantage of these services.  Police officers and fire department workers don't ask for tickets or fares when they respond to emergencies.  And, there are plenty of other public services that aren't used by everyone but are paid for by us all: schools, is just one example.

"OK, then sure," you may continue, "free is great in principle but we simply can't afford to give out free bus rides in this fiscal climate. Free buses are a pipe dream!"

Affordability

We might not be able to afford it. That's true.

But consider this: the bus is already roughly 64 percent "free." Which is to say that only 36 percent of revenues for the bus come from passenger fares (which includes UGA's payments)--the rest is government subsidy (20 percent fed, 44 percent local).

In 2000, the bus system cost about $2.3 million to operate. (These decade old numbers are the only ones I could find on the Athens Transit web site.) If current costs are comparable, that means we'd only need to kick in another $840,000 or so to fund the system at its current capacity. But we want more buses and more bus stops and shelters--so let's say we'll need three times that amount or $2.53 million every year.

That's a big number for a smallish city in a bad recession--and there's no chance that Athens taxpayers will support that increase.

So, is that it? The smoke has cleared; the dream has died?

No, because while $2.53 million looks big from a local perspective, it's not so big if we can boost federal, and--potentially--state contributions.

Of course, getting these extra funds won't be easy. We may, in fact, have to help create the federal and state programs we'll need. So, this is probably a good juncture for me to confess that my proposal for a free and expanded bus system is--unlike Michael Smith's more modest, more locally-focused and easy-to-implement fare reduction proposal--a multi-year project.

Scaling Up

But I think the downside of the longer time horizon could be compensated for by the upside that an ambitious, creative campaign for a free and expanded bus system would generate. Done right, such a campaign would capture lots of positive attention for Athens--and might just put us in a position to actually receive and spend new federal and state funds to build a truly outstanding local transit system.

And remember: we're not starting from scratch here. Athens Transit is already progressive, creative and well-run. College students and faculty already ride for free. We've got some nationally recognized bus shelter designs. There's a relatively new, really nice Multi-Modal Transit Center.

What's needed is an ambitious and detailed plan to scale up. Let's deploy enough buses to dramatically reduce wait times and expand hours of service. Let's plan very simple direct routes, and have many of them converge downtown to create a very frequent "circulator" route.  Let's put up more really cool bus shelters. Let's scrap the tacky advertising. And let's work with other small cities in Georgia and across the country to build a coalition to advocate for federal and state funding of free bus systems.

By the way, it's possible that a well-designed free bus system will do a lot more than cut transportation costs for citizens, reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality. Such systems may prove attractive to employers. Potential employees may find free bus service very appealing, and--by and large--employers locate where they can most easily find employees.

Importance of Being Ambitious

Now, before one's natural pessimism kicks-in again, please note that there are reasons to be hopeful about the prospects for increased federal and state funding for local transit programs--at least post-recession.

On the federal front, federal transportation spending priorities are changing at least a little in favor of mass transit. For example, as part of stimulus spending, the Federal Department of Transportation in February awarded $1.5 billion in Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants.  More than half of that money went directly to local jurisdictions for a range of projects, including streetcars to link working class neighborhoods to downtown areas and to fund local multi-modal transit centers.

National transportation advocates are lobbying for billions in additional funding for bike lanes, buses, light rail and sidewalks--and, for the first time in recent memory, aren't being dismissed as quacks by politicians.

Even on the state front here in Georgia, there seems to be increasing recognition of the need to--maybe--do something about reducing traffic congestion other than building more roads and freeway lanes.

Plus it's likely that gas prices will start climbing a bit more aggressively--on average--as the years pass and generate more support for mass transit.

Here's the deal, though: unless there's ambition there's no plan; and unless there's a plan, there's little chance of getting funded. Because Georgia had no plans and had demonstrated very little interest over the years, the state got passed over for high speed rail funds. Let's avoid that mistake locally. Let's get ambitious and start planning now.

Free the Bus!

Go Free and Multiply!

Buses Unleashed!

Fare is Free, Free is Fair!

Buses Should be Free Like the Country and Flagpole!

(Clearly, a good slogan is needed. Any suggestions?)

* * *

APPENDIX: Advantages of Going Free (adapted from a post by Aaron Renn)

1.  No fares = no expensive fare collection equipment, and no cash box related accounting, security, etc.

2.  No fares = quicker bus boarding, less bus idling time.

3.  No fares = really good way to boost ridership.

4.  No fares = great city marketing asset.

Sidewalk Felicities, and a Suggestion for the ABH

Not sure that this blog can take credit, but two instances of what I highlighted as "sidewalk infelicities" have been improved.

The Northwest and Southwest corners at Prince Ave. and Barber St.--a location with lots of foot traffic--are now much more pedestrian friendly.  Take a look at these before and after shots:

Exhibit 1: Northwest corner of Prince Ave. and Barber St.

Before:

After:

Exhibit 2: Southwest corner of Prince Ave. and Barber St.

Before:

After:

Nice work. But, as I said, I'm not sure that any spotlighting by this blog did anything to spur the work. Athens-Clarke Co. does have a Sidewalk Improvement Program in place, and these corners may have been slated for work under that program or another one long before I took note of them here.

For citizens like me the before-and-after shots have proven to be a very satisfying way to report a problem and then to see that something actually got done. (In this case, I can at least pretend that I had an impact--even though it might have been a coincidence.) I  imagine that public servants might feel a similar satisfaction in being able to be so visibly responsive and effective.

In an earlier post, I suggested that Athens-Clarke Co. government set up its own version of SeeClickFix to allow citizens to publicly report city infrastructure problems like crumbling sidewalks or uncollected trash and to have the county's response to those reports publicly tracked.

Suggestion for the Athens Banner-Herald

Now, I think it might be a good idea if the Athens Banner-Herald hosted and bird-dogged such a site as part of its on-line package.  According to this New York Times article, there's a local daily in Connecticut that's using SeeClickFix to boost its internet traffic and interactivity with readers. (The article includes a link to the newspaper's online site and the SeeClickFix page it maintains there. And, FYI, there's already a nascent SeeClickFix page for Athens--it  just needs some high-profile care and attention.)

It seems like a similar effort here in Athens could produce lots of benefits: citizens might feel a little more empowered; public servants might feel a little more useful and loved; the Athens Banner-Herald might get a positive jolt from the new social media, and the city's infrastructure might improve.

Apps for Athens Policymakers

“What apps would you find useful as an Athens-Clarke Co. policymaker?”

That’s the question I emailed a couple weeks ago to all county commissioners and a few other county-level policymakers. I let people know that I was welcoming serious as well as fanciful suggestions.

After I emailed the question, I found out—according to one insider’s estimate—just five of the eleven commissioners use iPhones or similar devices.  Still, I  got a couple responses

Here is what I got. The asterisked ones are the ideas of ACC policymakers. The rest are mine. If you’ve got a suggestion for an app that would be useful to local policymakers, email me.

CrystalBall*
How’s this new development going to pan out? Use your iPhone to gauge the true motivations of developers, predict future economic downturns and tell you who will be sitting on the commission ten years hence when the development is actually built.

ThisWorks
Looking for a workable solution fast? Want to look smart? With your iPhone, you can be an innovative policy wonk in any setting. ThisWorks is a portal to a constantly updated database of innovative local programs and policies—all of which have been performance evaluated and have won national policy awards.

TellMeWhy--Again
Tell me once more why I sought public office? Why exactly are you putting up with so much crap from the media, from your constituents, from your fellow elected officials, from your own family? Your iPhone will remind you with a customizable audio pep talk composed of only the most heartfelt and authentic reasons for public service.

Zowner**
Who owns this rat-infested apartment building?  Isn’t this block zoned for single-family homes? Tapping into the Tax Assessor’s database, your iPhone will answer your parcel zoning and ownership questions as they occur to you. (Zone + owner = zowner, get it?)

SeeIt *
Unless you’re an experienced architect, you can’t tell what a building will look like from site plans and elevations. Let your iPhone build a photo-realistic 3-D model so you can actually see it.

NumberCruncher
Imagine having constant access to the budget director. Now, quickly answer your budgetary questions with your iPhone. See revenue estimates, tally expenditures, model tax changes and more.

CodeStat**
Find the full text of every provision in the municipal code and in state statutes even if you’re nowhere near a desktop. This app turns your iPhone into a blazingly fast handheld legislative database.

Carvillizer
Have a tough campaign decision to make? With this app, your iPhone becomes a personal James Carville—a foulmouthed but effective campaign manager. You’ll get battletested advice about campaign tactics packaged in expletive-laced, down-home similes.

WhoDoesWhat**
Handle constituent requests for help on the spot. Use your iPhone to identify the right government employee to contact—and get the process started with an email, phone call or instant message right then and there.

SitRep
You’ll feel like you’re in a command center as you use your iPhone to access geo-tagged realtime information about local traffic and weather conditions and police, fire and other emergency service responses.

FrameIt
Aren’t you supposed to represent me? Why don’t you just cut taxes? How come you can’t snap your fingers and make X, Y or Z happen?  Use your iPhone to refresh your memory about the best ways to respond to questions like these and more. You select ideological framework and set the answer complexity scale.

FlakJacket
When you can’t avoid taking flak, use your iPhone to steel yourself by listening in advance to searing criticism and unfair mockery. Pick from a gallery of critics and set the level of derision you want to get ready for. There’s everything from whining egghead to snarky blogger to barking Bible-thumper.

EgoPuff
Say something stupid to a reporter? Did a constituent yell at you? Use your iPhone to cheer up by watching an easy-to-create inspirational video about you. Include happy things: favorite photos, uplifting quotes, your margin of victory, reminders of famous political comebacks. Choose an upbeat soundtrack.

Programmer
Tell constituents on the spot if they’re likely to qualify for help from a whole range of local, state and federal programs—everything from Earned Income Tax Credits to Unemployment Compensation to Homestead Exemptions. This app turns your iPhone into one-stop eligibility determination bureaucrat.

Speechify
Just add a few details and select from a menu of occasion/audience types, and let your iPhone generate a speech script for you. It’ll be a good speech, too: humorous, sprinkled with current pop-culture references, full of poll-tested sound bites and memorable turns-of-phrase. Adjustable scroll speeds.

WhisperingAide
Never lack something personal and flattering to say to any constituent or potential campaign donor you meet. Pretend you’re just ending a phone call and whisper in a name, and your iPhone will whisper back personal details…husband’s name, names of kids, proximity to birthday, volunteer activities, job, contribution level, etc.

--- --- ---
* Commissioner Alice Kinman suggested these. She played on the more fantastic side of things because—in part—the real-world work of local policymakers is “so complicated that it’s hard to think in terms of the type of information you can get from an iPhone app.”

**Commissioner Kelly Girtz suggested these, but noted: “I think I was the very last of my friends to move up to the cell phone from smoke signals. The iPhone or equivalent is still way over the horizon.”

Robert Goodspeed writes about—in a nonfictional way—the intersection of local government and new social media/technologies. Read this and this.

[Correction: As originally published, this post incorrectly attributed Commissioner Kinman's app suggestions to Commissioner Girtz, and vice versa. Sorry! This has been corrected.]

Image by Dan Lorentz

 

How to Stop Student Rot

[The best way for established neighborhood residents and homeowners to curb irritating student behaviors—like leaving garbage carts on the sidewalk all week long, making lots of noise and parking on the grass—is to go talk to their student neighbors soon after they move in to discuss things like city noise ordinances and politeness.

That's the advice Athens-Clarke Co. Commissioner David Lynn offered in Sunday's Athens Banner-Herald story about some college students violating a local ordinance limiting how many unrelated people that can live together in house in neighborhoods zoned for single-families.

Compared to trying to enforce an ordinance that requires the counting of "unrelated" people living together, he's surely right: direct talk about what really irritates people—the trash, noise and parking issues—is a better approach.

But even though there's much to recommend Lynn's approach—it's immediately implementable, it doesn't involve writing new rules and it apparently works (at least so far, in particular neighborhoods)—there are problems with it. First, it gets old pretty fast. And second, it won't work in neighborhoods under heavy student pressure.

I've now lived in four college towns, always fairly near campus. It's not fun to have to talk to new neighbors every year about fairly obvious matters of politeness and then be ignored as often as not. Over time as more students move in, fewer established residents have the patience to do that every year and so they move...and yet another block gets lost to student rot—which is a real loss to the community.

That said, I personally haven't had any student problems where I live in Athens...but I'm sure some neighborhoods nearer to campus do have such problems.

Anyway, here's my take on a possible way to address the problem of student rot. I wrote this while living in Lexington, Ky. in a neighborhood that was badly afflicted with the rot...]

* * *

When college students cram into homes built for single families, the rot that results is hard to miss. Even if you've never lived in a neighborhood near campus, you'd have no trouble identifying the telltale signs. Trash-strewn yards. Over-parked streets and driveways. Rotting couches on rotting porches. Loud parties into the wee hours.

There is no mystery about why college students make nice, older neighborhoods look crappy when enough of them move in. What is a mystery, though, is why cities and colleges—town and gown—don't seem motivated to do much to prevent the spoiling of these neighborhoods.

This lack of motivation is not good news for anyone—for neighborhoods, for cities, for colleges or for students. Here are three reasons why town and gown should work together to stop student rot:

1. Crappiness and crime. When too many college students move in, they have two neighborhood-killing effects. First, they quickly make houses look like run down tenements. Second, their high turnover rate sucks the life out of the neighborhood by making it hard for neighbors to come to know and trust and respect each other. When neighborhoods lack neighborliness they rapidly become unpleasant, and risk becoming unsafe as well. Cities risk seeing neighborhoods slide into shabby and dangerous places in need of constant patrol. Colleges risk being surrounded by such neighborhoods.

2. Use of prime residential areas for workers and families. Near campus neighborhoods are usually located in desirable parts of town. They are often walkable neighborhoods, close to work, schools and shopping. Such short commute neighborhoods are becoming even more desirable for working families and individuals as gas prices continue to rise and as more people seek "greener" lifestyles. Having such neighborhoods helps cities attract and retain longer-term taxpaying residents. They also help colleges to attract new faculty.

3. Opportunity to harness student energy. Efforts to stop student rot, if done right (I'll suggest ways to do it right below), can transform even large student populations into unalloyed economic and cultural gold for cities. After all, students are hardly just a bane for cities; they are huge assets, too. The trick is to harness student energy to create more vibrant life on campus and in a distinctive student-centered city district.

Myths about student rot

Let's say, after having absorbed the three points just mentioned, city and college policymakers now understand why it's important to fight student rot. Let's say they are motivated to act. What should they do?

The first order of business should be to avoid being distracted by some common myths.

Myth #1: Students are only half the problem. It's true that students and the absentee landlords that rent to them don't cause all the rot. Irresponsible homeowners certainly do exist. So do responsible students. But because you can find examples of bad homeowners and good students doesn't change the reality that most students are highly transient renters with little stake in the neighborhoods they live in and that most homeowners aren't very transient and usually do care a lot about where they live. Students don't cause all the rot, but they are surely responsible for most of it.

Myth #2: Student rot in neighborhoods near campus is to be expected. Well, of course, your neighborhood is infested with students. You live next to campus! What did you expect? If something like that is your response to people who complain about student rot, consider this: not long ago neighborhoods right next to campus—right next to lots of students—were populated mainly by homeowners with a sprinkling of student renters. Not long ago many of these neighborhoods were pleasant, cared-for places. An enlivening diversity of people—most with a real stake in a good neighborhood—lived there. This mix often included college faculty, administrators and workers and their families, first-time homebuyers, older folks with long-time connections to the area—and some students.

Myth #3: Increasing student enrollments are the cause. Students flood into once pleasant, stable neighborhoods. Homeowners flee. Neighborhoods deteriorate. Surely, increases in student enrollment explain this. Well, that's certainly part of the explanation. But it is only part because the student flood into residential neighborhoods outpaces the growth in enrollment in most places. Choices made by colleges play a bigger explanatory role. Choices such as: building less on-campus student housing; ending on-campus living requirements for freshmen and sophomores; and banning or severely restricting on-campus drinking. It's these choices—choices that push students off-campus into city neighborhoods—and not increasing enrollments that account for most of the student influx.

Myth #4: New ordinances will solve the problem. Under pressure from homeowner constituents, city policymakers may be tempted to fight student rot with new ordinances. Direct attacks on the problem include proposals to limit the number of students that can live together in one house or to restrict the number of houses that can be rented to students. Other proposals target symptoms: ticketing loud partiers, fining students and landlords for trash and poor upkeep and extending college conduct rules to cover off-campus behavior. There an indirect efforts, too, such as using zoning rules to protect architectural character which may have the effect of reducing the financial attractiveness of chopping-up single-family houses into student rentals. Some of these ideas might be worthy on their own terms or employed as temporary measures. But they won't do much to stop student rot because they don't deal with a fundamental economic fact: the intense student demand for housing near campus and the good money to be made by renting. Ignoring the economics isn't helpful. The force is too strong.

Better ideas

So, what should be done? What might work?

As I see it, the efforts of city and college policymakers should aim at significantly reducing student demand for housing in near campus neighborhoods.

This doesn't mean adopting policies that allow homeowners to shoot students on sight. It doesn't mean dispersing students far and wide. It doesn't mean cutting enrollments.

What it does mean is concentrating most of student life where it belongs: on campus and in a well-defined, vibrant student-centered district.

Here are three proposals intended to accomplish that:

1. Revitalize on-campus student housing. Colleges should revive the tradition of on-campus living for most students, and build the capacity to house them. Many students today don't want to live on campus. One reason they don't is that most dormitories really suck; they are the American version of bleak East German apartment blocs. But this can be changed. Some colleges are now building new-style residence halls featuring well-designed rooms with fully equipped kitchens, fitness centers, social lounges, movie theaters, pools, game rooms, cable TV and even restaurants, coffee shops and other retail spaces. Even college administrators are starting to realize that cool student housing and other social amenities help with recruitment efforts. When combined with requirements that students live on campus, such efforts create a concentrated, revitalized campus culture. Students like that.

2. End prohibition. When colleges ban on-campus drinking they give students a powerful motivation to move into off-campus neighborhoods where they can party at will without any supervision. Colleges that lift this prohibition and establish policies to allow of-age students to drink responsibly in their rooms and create other venues where social drinking is permitted will be better positioned to intervene when there are problems. Prohibition doesn't stop student drinking; it just shifts where the drinking is done. The responsibility for supervision properly lies with the colleges, not the residents of near campus neighborhoods.

3. Create a vibrant student district. Even where there's a lively on-campus student culture, students will spill into the city—especially into the nearby neighborhoods—for adventure or at least a change of pace. The city should welcome them with a well-defined, concentrated district that caters to their interests and needs. Restaurants. Bookstores. Coffee houses. Smoke shops. Affordable off-campus apartments. Clothing stores. Free wi-fi. Bars. Art galleries. Some high-end condos for the rich kids. A museum. A public water fountain that it's OK to splash around in. Such a district would be extremely appealing—and not just to students. It would harness the economic and cultural energy of students for the good of everyone.

In the meantime

To do these things will require lots of cooperation among city and college policymakers and developers, too. And because it won't happen overnight, city and college leaders must also cooperate on policies for the interim to assure both existing and prospective near campus neighborhood residents that the vitality and quality of these neighborhoods is important.

This means cities should vigorously enforce housing codes and noise ordinances and swiftly fine students and absentee landlords for violations. Colleges should extend student honor codes to encompass off-campus behavior and appoint troubleshooters to work with neighborhood groups and residents to identify and deal with student problems in residential areas.

But don't forget these are temporary "fixes." They are intended mainly to signal that cities and colleges care about the fate of near campus neighborhoods. If intended as permanent solutions to the problem, these policies will only guarantee endless frustration for everyone involved. If the real problem—student demand for housing in near campus neighborhoods—is not dealt with, then the result will be campuses surrounded by shabby, unsafe neighborhoods. This will happen sooner than you think. And when it happens, everyone—students, residents, city leaders and college administrators—loses.

New goal for neighborhood residents

The benefits of these proposals are clear and substantial. Cities get higher quality neighborhoods. Students and colleges get re-vitalized campus life. Everyone gets to enjoy the cultural and economic energy of a new and distinctive student-centered district.

To obtain these prizes, however, town and gown policymakers will have to be pushed into action by the residents of near campus neighborhoods.

But these residents will have to embrace a new, more strategic goal—that of significantly reducing demand for student housing in their neighborhoods.

This means energies currently spent on seeking new ordinances to control student rentals and to punish students and absentee landlords for misbehavior will have to be re-directed. The new work will involve enlisting city and state policymakers to help push colleges to build more student housing and to re-vitalize campus life. It will also mean demanding that cities start working with planners and developers to create student-centered commercial and cultural districts.

Such work will take more time than getting a new ordinance passed, but the pay-off will be much sweeter: a pleasant, safe neighborhood right next to campus.

# # #

Update: SeeClickFix for Athens

Locations of SeeClickFix reports for Athens, Ga.

In Tuesday's post I suggested that Athens-Clarke Co. government create a SeeClickFix- or FixMyStreet-style Web site to allow citizens to publicly report city infrastructure problems like crumbling sidewalks or uncollected trash and to have the county's response to those reports publicly tracked.

I still think it's a good idea to have the county government promote and staff such a site because I think such government-side involvement and commitment is crucial to the effectiveness and sustainability of this kind of project.

But as Ben Berkowitz from SeeClickFix has pointed out to me (see comments to Tuesday's post) it's ridiculously easy for anyone to set-up a SeeClickFix site. In fact, Ben's gone ahead and created a page for Athens using two examples from Monday's post about sidewalk infelicities.

The reports on the page are automatically forwarded to Mayor Heidi Davison's official county email account. I'm not sure her account is the best destination for the reports, but that's the way the page is set up right now.

A Local “SeeClickFix” for Athens?

I wonder if a local version of a Web site like SeeClickFix or FixMyStreet would work here in Athens?

Both sites allow citizens to use digital and Web technologies—like uploading digital photos and linking them to maps—to report non-emergency problems like potholes, cracked sidewalks or uncollected trash.

Such sites can be set-up to direct the citizen reports to the appropriate local government department for follow-up, and the follow-up itself can be publicly tracked and updated.

A Web site like this could do two really positive things simultaneously: 1) it would give citizens an easy, public way to report problems or suggest improvements; and 2), it would give local government a visible way to demonstrate both its responsiveness to citizens and its daily efforts to keep local infrastructure in good repair.

Image credit: Sceenshot of SeeClickFix, LLC’s Web site logo.

Jmac Answers My Questions

By Dan Lorentz

In high school they called him Johnny Mac. At his blog Beyond the Trestle he goes by Jmac. And in the pages of the Athens Banner-Herald, where he writes a weekly opinion column, his byline is Johnathan McGinty.

He’s been an assistant news editor for the Athens Banner-Herald, worked on many state and local political campaigns, co-edited the state’s most widely read Democratic blog and now runs his own public relations and fundraising shop for non-profits.

He seems to know a lot about Georgia politics, and that’s why I decided to ask him to explain my new hometown’s place in state-level politics.

Q. A liberal Democrat.  From the Midwest. Accustomed to being represented by centrists in Congress. Contributes to Democratic gubernatorial and senatorial candidates because they have an even chance of winning. Expects forceful—and fairly liberal—local representation in the state legislature. Just moved to town. What would you tell a person with this background about what to expect from politics in Athens?
 
A. Confusion sums it up in one word.
 
Locally, you've reached an island of blue awash in a sea of red, and that's good and bad. It's good in that your local officials are progressive and willing to tackle big picture issues from a progressive perspective. For instance, the OneAthens initiative a few years back sparked a community-wide discussion on combating poverty, and local leaders pledged to launch a program aimed at providing health insurance coverage to low-income and uninsured citizens in the community (the momentum has stalled, as has the existence of necessary funding, but that's another story). It's bad in the sense that conservative officials who run the state have little incentive or desire to work with progressives in this community (and vice versa).
 
Statewide, though, there's ample room for frustration. Athens is represented by three members in the State House—Rep. Doug McKillip (D-Athens), Rep. Keith Heard (D-Athens) and Rep. Bob Smith (R-Watkinsville)—and they run the ideological spectrum.

McKillip is a solid progressive who is in his second term in Atlanta. He's emerged as a good champion for a state version of the Earned Income Tax Credit and is finding his voice up there.

Heard is a different story as he typically votes the right way, but has a tendency to also back non-progressive pieces of legislation (i.e. his recent vote to raise rates on Georgia Power customers to pre-pay the construction of nuclear power plants in the Augusta area, his willingness to relax restrictions on predatory lending, his opposition to Sunday sales of alcohol). Plus, he's got a tenuous residency issue as he keeps a house in Atlanta for his wife's business and his state work, and it's where he spends most of his time during the year thus opening him up to criticism from locals regarding representation.
 
Smith, of course, is a whole different animal. He's a dyed-in-the-wool conservative who, by sitting on the Appropriations committee, proves to be a thorn in the side of local progressives. He has routinely not supported local initiatives from Athens-Clarke County because they are at odds with his ideology. For Athens liberals, he's pretty much useless.
 
In the State Senate, Sen. Ralph Hudgens and Sen. Bill Cowsert are mixed.

Hudgens has been Public Enemy No. 1 for quite some time in this area for reasons that will be explained in the next answer, and he's a staunch social conservative.

Cowsert is a different story. He's a good team player for the GOP, but he's also very engaged in the local community. Most local officials have good working relationships with him, even if they disagree on the issues, and I've heard that he's very good at entering in dialogue with local progressives and sticking up for Athens-centric projects. Plus, he's the governor's floor leader in the State Senate, which gives him tremendous clout in Atlanta, and that's a good thing for the community (or should be).
 
If you're looking for hope at the state level, good luck. Democrats are on the verge of losing all constitutionally elected offices at the state level in 2010 as Georgia is one of a handful of states that has grown more conservative over the past 15 years. There's little fundraising infrastructure these days, and most candidates with a 'D' next to their name lose regardless of who they are or what they campaign on. The candidacy of Roy Barnes for governor, though, gives Democrats some hope as he still enjoys strong name recognition and is enjoying positive support among moderates and independents who long for the economic successes of the 1990s when he was governor.
 
Long term, the state is wired for Democratic success. Demographically, the urban areas are growing more diverse, and they're growing fast. These voters lean more Democratic than Republican, suggesting that Georgia could achieve swing state status in the next 10 years or so.
 
Q. In the state Senate, Athens is represented by Bill Cowsert and Ralph Hudgens. They’re both Republicans. If Athens is so liberal (is it?), how did that happen?

A. That's a good question we all want to know.
 
Athens traditionally has had just one state senator representing it. In 2005, however, Sen. Ralph Hudgens who lived in and represented neighboring Madison County, put forward a redistricting plan aimed at giving the community two state senators. In effect, it cut the community in half and lumped its progressive population with the more conservative rural areas.

This was something Athens officials had never asked for, though the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce –which, at the time, was run by a conservative president and operated a conservative PAC aimed at mobilizing business/Republican support in the area—did support Hudgens's efforts to do so. Jane Kidd, now the chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, was then state representative for the area in the seat now held by McKillip and had already announced her intention to run for the recently vacated District 46 seat when it covered primarily Athens-Clarke County.
 
Once the redistricting went into place, Cowsert announced his intention to challenge her (Kidd had defeated Cowsert for the State House seat just two years earlier). There was ample speculation that this was an attempt by Cowsert's brother-in-law Brian Kemp, himself a state representative who had embarked on an ill-fated campaign for Agriculture Commissioner, to put a family member with similar views in the Georgia General Assembly (though I personally never really bought into that line of argument, despite how nonsensical and shameless the redistricting was).
 
District 47 then was expanded to gobble up portions of three local commission districts in Athens-Clarke County, while District 46 took the rest of the community and lumped it into all of Oconee County and most of Walton County. Both Kidd and, in 2008, Sherry Jackson, turned out significant Democratic voters in Athens-Clarke County only to lose by 10 points or more.
 
In actuality, rather than help Athens-Clarke County, it has the potential to hurt it. Hudgens has proven to be utterly useless for the community, and Cowsert is expected to seek another office down the road. Given the demographics of the district, it's plausible to concede that a more conservative Republican from Oconee County or Walton County would win the primary to replace Cowsert, trounce the Democrat in the race and then leave the urban center of Northeast Georgia and home of the state's flagship university without any representation in the State Senate.
 
It's fair to call the redistricting what it was—a shameless partisan attempt to pad the lead for Republicans in the State Senate while, at the same time, sticking a thumb in the eye of Athens progressives who they disagreed with.

Q. You said the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce supported dividing Athens into two Senate districts even though city officials never asked for that. Who was in charge of the chamber then?

A. Larry McKinney, who has since moved on to work in Daytona Beach for its chamber, and he was replaced by Doc Eldridge, the former mayor. Though it's unclear if it was McKinney's choosing or through a directive from chamber leadership, during his tenure that body became more openly hostile with the more progressive Athens-Clarke County Commission. It started a PAC that aimed to support 'business-friendly' candidates and causes, though all of its contested candidates would handily lose in 2006, and McKinney's openly combative style ultimately lost the chamber a lot of local support and ushered in his early exit. Though still strained, Eldridge is working to rebuild that relationship (though the recent flap over a supposed 'secret meeting' reopened some old wounds).

Q. In every community there’s a relatively small group of behind-the-scenes people who play an outsized role in local politics. Of this group, who are the key players in shaping how Athens is represented in the state legislature?
 
A. It's tough to say. If you're referring strictly to the election of candidates, there are a host of folks—really too many to name—who are influential Democratic donors, opinion makers and 'movers-and-shakers' in this community. That's the benefit, I suppose, of it being a progressive community.

For instance, a pair of former progressive officials still hold much sway in former mayor Gwen O'Looney and former state representative Louise McBee. There really isn't a progressive candidate seeking state or national office that doesn't sit down with the two of them before running to pick their brain, seek advice and try to win an endorsement.

Current Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Mike Hamby has worked to get countless local and state officials elected, and he served as the interim executive director for the Democratic Party of Georgia when Jane Kidd was elected chair. Again, there are a host of others too.
 
Crafting policy is a bit different. A lot of folks, from both sides of the aisle, have a hand in policy matters. Rep. Bob Smith sits on the Appropriations committee, and that gives him a lot of sway over pieces of legislation. Oconee County Chairman Melvin Davis is a vice chair of the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, which has grown into a very influential advocacy organization for local communities, regardless of ideological leanings. Lucy Rowland, a member of the Athens-Clarke County Planning Commission, has a great policy mind for land use issues, preservation issues, etc. The late E.H. Culpepper did a ton of things behind the scenes, such as being an instrumental person in crafting the vision for the 'Brain Train' commuter rail project that would connect Atlanta to Athens-Clarke County.
 
Q. To many folks who live in Athens, U.S. Congressman Paul Broun is an embarrassment. How did such a goof get elected?  Voters in Athens must make up just a small part of the 10th Congressional District. Who are the other voters?

A. Ah yes, that question.
 
Rep. Paul Broun, quite simply, got elected in 2007 because a good-sized contingent of Athens progressives voted for him ... which, given his penchant for calling the president a Marxist dictator, is somewhat ironic.
 
In 2007, Rep. Charlie Norwood passed away, thus resulting in a non-partisan, special election for that seat. If there was ever a time for a progressive to score an upset, it would be in a low-turnout, non-partisan race like this one. Early on, progressives in the district rallied around James Marlowe who had connections to Lincolnton (where his father had served as mayor), and he ran on a smart policy platform built around rebuilding the dwindling economic base around 'Green Jobs' and the like. He raised a good bit of cash and, given the sheer volume of candidates in the race, he was the favorite to land in a runoff with Republican State Sen. Jim Whitehead from Augusta.
 
The other candidates descended into a near-comical parade of the insane, and Broun was an almost forgotten member of that group. Bill Greene had earned the backing of the anti-immigration 'Minutemen' group, and he figured to be the other Republican with a serious chance in the race based on his ability to appeal to the far right elements of the GOP base.
 
The election told us a different story. Broun, who had been informally campaigning for the seat since before Norwood had passed away, locked up decent support in the rural areas of the district. He stacked up massive signs all along the country roads throughout Northeast Georgia, thus boosting his name recognition in a crowded race with little information available to voters. He was aided by surprisingly low turnout among Democrats in Athens-Clarke County, and the defection of African-American voters in Augusta-Richmond County and its surrounding areas to two African-American candidates. Further boosting Broun's candidacy was his family legacy as his father, Paul Broun Sr., was a very popular 'Yellow Dog' Democrat who represted Athens-Clarke County for more than two decades in the Georgia General Assembly (in fact, I heard numerous folks tell me they were so glad that 'Senior' was back into politics ... even though he had passed away a few years earlier).
 
Whitehead cruised to 40 percent or so, while Broun edged Marlowe for second place by 198 votes (something which depresses me greatly to this day).
 
Now, Whitehead was also kind of a hothead. And, to burnish his Republican credentials, he regularly poormouthed liberal Athens-Clarke County including a now infamous joke about bombing everything in the community except Sanford Stadium. He criticized academic liberals at the University of Georgia. He refused to debate Broun and wouldn't visit Athens-Clarke County to save his life. He made some crack about terrorists coming over from Mexico.
 
This, understandably, infuriated Athenians of all stripes. And Broun, to his credit, took advantage as he positioned himself as someone who was from the community, would fight for us on the national stage and, even though he might disagree with our views, he'd always have time for us. And it worked to some extent. The Athens Banner-Herald endorsed Broun solely for those reasons. Pete McCommons from Flagpole endorsed Broun and encouraged liberals from the community to go vote for him. Democrats wrote letters to the editors of both papers blasting Whitehead for anti-Athens comments.
 
Of course, all this was political absurdity because Whitehead, arguably aloof and easily more conservative than area voters, also knew how being a representative worked (i.e. you have to bring home the bacon). Broun, on the other hand, was someone who had campaigned on a platform of Medicare and Social Security being unconstitutional and swore off earmarks (which, for a community that lives and dies by the prosperity of publicly-funded university, was not a good thing). The Broun that sought election in 2007 was just as conservative as the one in 2009 who thinks Americorps is a secret plot aimed at installing a Marxist Gestapo, it's just that he happened to be running against someone who said mean things about our town.
 
So, the same progressive community that gave him 1,474 votes in the first election gave him 5,122 the next time around. He crushed Whitehead by more than 4,400 votes in Athens-Clarke County and won the election by a bare 394 votes.
 
From there on out, with a district that is roughly 65-35 Republican, Broun is virtually assured of re-election (particularly after staving off a primary challenge from Augusta in 2008).

Q. In 2010, voters in Athens will help decide five state legislative races. From a progressive perspective, what will be the most important and interesting races?
 
A. Three are out of pocket right off the bat, but we'll take a quick look at them.
 
Rep. Bob Smith is a lock given the majority of the district lies within Oconee County, though that isn't to say he couldn't be vulnerable to a primary challenge. While that won't happen given Smith's influential status on various House committees, he has burned some bridges in the local community which would make it interesting to see what could happen. A centrist Republican might garner lots of support in Athens-Clarke County, which could impact that race. Again, I don't see anyone desiring a challenge though.
 
Rep. Doug McKillip is a safe bet. He's regarded as one of the top young progressives in the Georgia House of Representatives, and that's his seat as long as he wants it.
 
Sen. Bill Cowsert has survived a pair of strong challenges, as well as a primary challenge on the right, and he's locked in for the long haul too. I'd venture to say that some Democrat will challenge him, but it will be hard to garner more than 45 percent against him.
 
Two races, however, should be in play in 2010.
 
State Senate District 47 will be interesting, even if it lacks a Democratic challenger. With Sen. Ralph Hudgens seeking the GOP nomination for Insurance Commissioner, the Republican side has filled up rapidly. One candidate that has peaked the curiosity of moderates and progressives is Braselton Mayor Pat Graham. She's well regarded as a competent manager who approaches policies and issues from a pragmatic, albeit conservative perspective. Arguably, anything is better than Hudgens—or so we think—but Graham might be able to attract some crossover Democratic support (particularly if the governor's race has thinned out by then).
 
State House 114 figures to be different this time around too. Rep. Keith Heard is rumored to be interested in seeking the Democratic nomination for Insurance Commissioner, which would make that an open seat for the first time in 10 years or so. Regardless, there have been ample rumblings that Heard might face a primary challenge. He's fallen out of favor with a lot of local progressives for a variety of reasons, ranging from basic representative issues to his willingness to crossover and vote with Republicans on things like Senate Bill 31 (which raised Georgia Power consumer rates to pre-pay profit for the company's shareholders). He's always butted heads with the Athens-Clarke County Commission, including a now famous public argument with various leaders in which he assigned the blame for the community's poverty problem with them, and I think a challenge from the left would be interesting.
 
That district is viewed as a safe Democratic seat, and it has a large number of African-American voters, which have sent both him and current Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond to the Gold Dome over the past 20 years. However, the rise of the progressives in places like Boulevard, Normaltown and Cobbham suggest it might resemble a dynamic that's closer to local political realities. In that case, it would be all about voter turnout and the effectiveness of the challenger to mobilize that emerging base of support.
 
Those might be the most entertaining electorally speaking, but from a policy perspective I still argue it begins and ends with Cowsert. He's got the governor's ear, is the most receptive conservative to the progressive community among the local delegation and, if he went to bat for something (like, say, a pilot program for circuit breaker property taxes), it stands a good chance of getting through.
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This interview was conducted via email. The text published here is an ever so slightly edited version of the actual exchange.

Image credit: from Beyond the Trestle blog

Ben Emanuel Answers My Questions

By Dan Lorentz

For those of you who don’t take notice of bylines, Ben Emanuel writes about local government and politics for Flagpole Magazine.  He pens the City Dope column.

To help me better understand my new hometown, I asked Emanuel a few basic questions about the landscape of local politics here in Athens.

I’m glad I asked him my questions when I did. In September, Emanuel will mark his fourth—and, it turns out, final—year as city editor for the weekly paper. This fall he will be transitioning out of local journalism and into environmental advocacy and watershed protection.

Q. Every community seems to have a set of durable conflicts that shape local politics. What are the key conflicts in Athens? Who are the major players?

A. Certainly there's the longstanding issue of town-gown relations—both cooperation and conflict—in all its permutations. The multitude of permutations means that town-gown conflict can take shape through any number of issues, from homeowner-renter/student conflict. For example,  the single-family zoning issues and the rental registration ordinance, early in Heidi's [Athens-Clarke Co. Mayor Heidi Davison] first term), to conflict over the growth of the university (where did that new parking deck at the intramural fields come from?!).

In the end, of course, all the town-gown stuff basically boils down to economics—pretty paradoxical economics. The smallest county in the state has a lot of state-owned land that's off the tax rolls, although not all the UGA Real Estate Foundation's land is off the rolls, [UGA director of community relations] Pat Allen pointed out to me once.  But then again, would Athens even be here if not for UGA?

This economic angle leads straight into a more cultural dimension of the same thing: the resentment that many locals feel toward students, despite the obvious relationship that, for example, [Flagpole Magazine publisher] Pete McCommons hit on in a Pub Notes column at this time of year, two years ago: "This is where Athens gets really strange. It's why we're here, really, as much as the students. You may not personally brighten at the prospect of liquored-up red hordes, but you benefit from them. They bring you money, whether directly or indirectly, and their cash helps keep Athens weird and also reminds us why we want it so."

Another key conflict, while not nearly as old as that one, is growth. In terms of the sprawl angle, this conflict is maybe just a decade or two old, but it's still a defining one—in part because Athens has tried to take a different approach to the issue from the rest of north Georgia.

Of course, "growth" to some means general economic growth, not just land development, so then you get into economic development issues like NBAF [the proposed National Bio- and Agro- Defense Facility] or even the Enron (!) thing several years ago. [Enron thing=the controversy that erupted in 2001 about Athens-Clarke Co.'s efforts to encourage Enron to build and operate a 560 megawatt natural gas power plant in the county.]  The major players are: environmental/land use advocates, economic development/Chamber of Commerce folks, local government (on both sides of the equation).

There's also the not-really-all-that-often discussed matrix of race issues, with poverty issues intersecting heavily. There's Athens/Oconee Co. stuff, with so many upper-middle-class Clarke Co. workers living in Oconee.

Let's close for now with the intra-government conflict between Athens-Clarke Co. (ACC) elected officials (and their constituents) and ACC staff. Since, under the ACC charter, the manager's office holds a lot of power and the mayor is basically assigned the task of herding cats on the commission (okay, along with some other things), many people see this as an ongoing friction that's important. It is, but sometimes I think this friction is overstated.

Q. There will be a few major stories about the upcoming 2010 mayoral election in Athens. What will they be? Speculate. [Note: I asked this question just before Spencer Fyre, executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Athens, announced he was setting-up an exploratory committee to raise funds for a possible run for mayor.]

A. Well, it'll depend who's running, won't it?

It's fair to say that Charlie Maddox and Nancy Denson appear be trying to line up support very early, but I tend to think there will be at least another fairly serious candidate or two before it's all said and done. Sorry, but at present I don't see either of the college students who are running as serious candidates.

If we assume that there's an additional candidate (or candidates?) on the left end of things, then I think we've got a story along these contours: What's next for the whole general liberal-progressive agenda which has taken hold in Athens over the past decade? The commission has changed character almost completely in 10 years, and while there might be a few seats up for grabs in 2010, outside of District 7 [seat currently held by Commissioner Kathy Hoard] it's hard to see the general bent of the commission changing much.

But it has taken several years (a) for the mayor and commission to fully turn over, and (b) for the body then to find its footing and learn how to advance a progressive agenda in the most efficient ways.

So, I think it's already an open question about where we're headed as a sorta-working-on-progressive city, and it makes sense to me that that concern would be crystallized in the mayor's race. But I'll admit it's my own bias to see that as a big issue.

But there's also economic development. All candidates will have to be thinking about it. A relevant question: What have various folks learned from the NBAF thing?

Just one more issue: charter review. I don't know and can't say how it will come up in the election, but it's supposed to happen soon thereafter, if I understand correctly. Periodic review of the ACC charter is built into the document itself; open questions may well pertain to the form of government here. Could get interesting.

Q. A little history lesson, please. How has the commission changed almost completely in 10 years? What drove the change?

A. In a nutshell, it's just that the mayor and commission, as a body, has shifted toward a strong predominance of liberal-progressive political perspectives. You can see the contrast most starkly in seats like District 5, where David Lynn replaced the late Hugh Logan, and in the mayor's seat, where Heidi replaced Doc Eldridge. Even if most folks around here were called Democrats back then (and Doc was, in case you don't know), they were traditional centrist/conservative "Democrats" (or good old boys, as some would say). I don't want to overstate it—after all, Gwen O'Looney was mayor before Doc, and if Gwen wasn't a break with tradition...

Basically, you now have folks in elected office here who value environmental protection, neighborhood protection, who are socially liberal and who seem to be interested in promoting the kinds of things a progressive city promotes, from bike lanes to partner benefits to vigorous recycling and on down the line. I guess that's fairly obvious to a newcomer, but just remember that we are a smallish Southern town, so—like anywhere—things haven't always been this way!

What drove the change? I don't know—maybe the townies and the liberal profs and their kids all just finally built up enough critical mass to win elections? Maybe certain issues—like land use/ sprawl/ growth—catalyzed political change? I wasn't around back then (er, okay, I technically was around starting in the very late '90s, but I was in college, and NOT paying attention to this stuff), so I have to say I really wouldn't know.

There's probably a lot in what I've written above that long-timers here could and would correct or finesse!

Q. Who cares the most about the outcome of the 2010 mayoral election? Which people? Which constituencies or interest groups are hungriest to win?

A. I'm not sure I know yet. I've already made clear here, I think, that I tend to think from the liberal-progressive (and enviro) perspective, and I think that that whole crowd will be very interested in holding onto their gains of the last few election cycles while also laying a foundation to continue moving their agenda forward. So I think those folks are hungry to win for those reasons.

Is the Chamber of Commerce/ Republican crowd hungry to win back City Hall? Maybe, but we're not really seeing it yet. And if they are, they might need to find a stronger candidate than what they've got. Who knows: maybe they will find someone else.

Meanwhile, for some people there's probably a very real question of how much the mayor's race matters, on account of our form of government. It will matter, though, to enough people, at least as much as past unified government mayoral elections have: after all, you could say that change is still underway here, and has only begun but is not fully accomplished. And you need a mayor to direct that change, most likely.

So personally, I see the race in those terms: the folks who want to see a truly progressive city here probably feel the need to keep working hard and lay the groundwork for continued progressive change. This may be a narrow perspective on my part, but hey: it's early yet. It may well be that a lot of people will express their preference for a moderate political position (or conservative, for some), but I don't see them as "hungriest." That's just me!

Q. Local government officials have recognized and are dealing with a host of challenges facing the community. Are they missing anything? What challenges aren’t getting the attention they should?

A. I tend to give our local officials a lot of credit on this front. I'd be tempted to say that air quality doesn't get quite the depth of attention it really needs, but then again it was a topic at this month's Mayor & Commission work session (see John Huie's story in Flagpole), and apparently ACC Environmental Coordinator Dick Field made the argument there that we've done a lot to improve the situation already.

To take another example from last week's Flagpole, homelessness is a growing problem, which everyone's aware of, but I think it's fair to say that the problem is outstripping the "solution infrastructure" at present.

That's not really the kind of thing you're asking for, I realize, but I'd guess (purely a guess) that you could say the same about a lot of social-service issues right now. For instance, it seems like out-of-school opportunities for middle- and high-schoolers are light here compared to bigger cities, but I've heard folks recently talking about getting those kids into work readiness stuff and other programs.

That's the thing about Athens: most stuff is probably on the radar, but a whole lot of stuff probably also needs attention in more depth. But I'm probably missing something!
___ ___ ___

This interview was conducted via email. The text published here is an ever so slightly condensed and edited version of the actual exchange, and has been reviewed by the interview subject.

First Impressions

Here’s a small collection of my first impressions of Athens, Ga., my new hometown since May 2008. I collect these jottings I made earlier now—while they’re relatively fresh—mainly because I’m interested to see how my thinking about the city will change over time. They’re not listed in any particular order. In the service of accurately recording them, any contradictions, incoherencies and superficialities have been left intact.

 ***

Exuberant, subversive vegetation. Front yard gardens invade and colonize swaths of sidewalk surface. Tree roots attack from below. If people suddenly vanished from here, the plants would overthrow the pavement within a month.

***

Pockmarked by poverty. Public housing projects here, there, everywhere.

***

At night, there’s a casual romance to the place. You see lots of couples strolling together. Strings of lights sparkle from many porches. There’s almost always music floating in the air from somewhere.

***

Two varieties of nonchalance are present here. 1. A pleasant informality perked with attentiveness and gently constrained by tact and patience. 2. A self-consciously cavalier attitude about promptness mixed with a distaste for precision.

***

You can apparently keep discovering yet another really good place to eat here.

***

The music of Athens itself: metallic drone of the cicadas, rumble of trains, almost inaudible trumpets of the Naval Supply Corps School, bursts of dogs barking, ambushes of party noises.

***

Rusty water towers. Steaming ravines choked with kudzu. Lines of tall, fat cumulus clouds moving slowly on the horizon. Reclining cats, panting.

***

A core of charm surrounded by yuck.

***

Blacks and whites live in closer proximity here than in some other places I’ve lived. Yet, even more so than other places, the two communities seem to live parallel—not intersecting—lives in the same space. Awkward.

***

Smart mayor. Helpful city employees. Citizens responded quickly, effectively to drought. Intelligent coverage of local issues, especially in Flagpole.

[Word cloud generated at Wordle]

Convention Space, Corridors, Really Long Words

It’s not always a good idea to expand convention space. According to this Athens Banner-Herald article, developers are promising a new hotel if taxpayers pay for an expansion of the Classic Center’s convention space. Such an expansion might be a good idea, and it certainly seems so at first blush. But consider this: nearly every city in the country spends money to expand convention space. The convention market is so competitive that even convention centers in cities with huge tourism pull like Washington, D.C. don’t make a profit. Before I’d support spending very precious taxpayer dollars on this, I’d like the hotel developers and others who favor expanding the convention center to answer the questions this paper—“Space Available: The Realities of Convention Centers as Economic Development Strategy”—asks. (I learned about this paper from an article, “Unconventional Thinking,” in Next American City, a quarterly magazine. As of this writing, the article is not available online.) [Photo credit: Flickr user the unquietlibrarian]

* * *

A reminder to all city planning amateurs and regular citizens (including me). The Athens Clarke Co. Planning Commission is seeking citizen input on two key Athens street corridors—Prince Av. and Oak/Oconee St. as they approach downtown. If you go here, you’ll find space to submit comments.  Don’t neglect to examine all the incredibly detailed charts and graphics depicting key features of both corridors. I’m really impressed by the quality and accessibility of the information provided by the planning commission. [Image credit: ACC]

* * *

Antidisingenuousmentarianismphilia. Hillary Brown’s blog, Antidisingenuousmentarianism, should be a dud. For one thing, it has a title that requires one to take a breath and furrow one’s brow in concentration before attempting—and more than likely failing—to pronounce it correctly. For another, it has no unifying theme: Brown puts up little reviews of New Yorker articles, stories and reviews; she tosses off vivid little movie/DVD reviews; presents cute kitty photos; rants about service at Ikea; expands—entertainingly—on her published restaurant reviews in Flagpole Magazine; and indulges in what she calls her “lil’ hobby,” which is commenting—pithily, thoughtfully—on local affairs. But this seeming hodgepodge works. Everything is written with a certain brio, and I find the New Yorker stuff a useful guide about what to read in that relentless magazine. Plus I’ve recommended to my wife that she read her “lil’ hobby” posts as a quick way to keep up with a smart perspective on local affairs. [Image credit: Screen shot of Hillary Brown's blog banner]