Making solar accessible

I just saw this New York Times story (via Grist) about the Berkeley City Council approving loans to property owners who want to invest in solar panels.

In a move being watched by other cities around the country, the Council unanimously approved a program to give city-backed loans to property owners who install rooftop solar-power systems. The loans, which are likely to total up to $22,000 apiece, would be paid off over 20 years as part of the owners’ property-tax bills.

I’ll be watching. Hopefully Independence’s City Council takes notice, too!

Ours is a city of great plans

I’ve spent some time over the past few months looking at the community development page on the City of Independence website.  What I’ve found is that the city has a history of preparing intelligent, well-considered plans that emphasize residential density, mixed-use architecture, bicycle friendliness, and other smart aspects of urban design. 

One such plan is the Fairmount-Carlisle Redevelopment Plan. The proposed expansion of the plan into the Bristol and Procter Neighborhoods is a welcome move, and many of my neighbors are quite excited by it. 

Another is the Independence Square Revitalization Plan.  With its emphasis on walkability and mixed-use real estate, the plan outlines a bright and vibrant future for the Independence Square. 

There are a few points I’m not sure about, but all in all, it’s a great plan.  I don’t think I’d emphasize loft living on the square.  That real estate is much better utilized as office space, especially when the plan lacks the kind of vibrant night-life that makes the urban loft lifestyle appealing.

As office space, this real estate has great potential, especially if you want the sort of richly textured environments that inspire creative work.  I believe that the primary goal for the Independence Square should be to encourage such creative businesses to (re)locate to the Square.  These businesses, especially in fields such as high-tech, architecture, and marketing, provide a sustaining market for first-floor retail businesses and stimulate additional first-floor growth.

The challenge for Independence Square property owners will be to make this second-story office space appealing to small businesses.  Property owners need to focus on using the available financial tools to make this property attractive, not just aesthetically, but technologically. 

Potential businesses will need to have reliable electrical, phone, and Internet.  Open rafters, bare brick walls, old hardwood floors, and a flexible floorplan provide the environment to inspire the creative mind.  Fast networking, reliable phone and electrical, and modern plumbing provides the infrastructure that business owners will look for to ensure they’re making a good investment.

Another challenge is accessibility.  Imagine a business owner needing to impress a big potential client.  What will be the client’s first impression?  This is a big deal in business-to-business relationships.  It provides the client with an unspoken assurance that they’re in good hands.  Big office buildings typically offer an impressive and formal entryway, with an inviting lobby directing guests with wayfinding and elevators. 

Property owners on the Independence Square need to consider:  How do we create inviting lobby spaces that direct visitors to the businesses in a straight-forward and comfortable way? 

Let’s solve these problems and get the kind of booster-shot our Independence Square retail businesses need.

Independence to discuss public transit

The City of Independence announced public input meetings on the city’s public transit system.  The meetings will be Thursday, September 4 from 3 PM to 5 PM, and Saturday, September 6, from 10 AM to noon.  The meetings will be held in Conference Room D on the lower level of City Hall.

I plan to attend on Saturday to propose investment in the walkability and bicycle-friendliness of the urban areas of the city.  By investing in the walking and bicycling infrastructure of our urban areas, we can achieve several benefits:

• Provide transit options that benefit residents of all socio-economic levels
• Stimulate the local economy by reducing our need to buy fuel
• Encourage small businesses such as Pace Bicycle and Peddlers
• Improve public health by encouraging residents of all ages to participate in healthy activities
• Reduce carbon emissions by supporting alternative transportation
• Lower our dependence on fossil fuels

In urban areas, bicycling and walking work together with mass transit options such as buses.  While we cannot and should not replace buses, we can change the way we look at public transportation by including these alternatives in the formula. 

A bicycling/walking strategy also requires us to think differently about how we organize our neighborhoods.  For decades we’ve tried to apply a suburban template, clustering work and commerce away from houses and relying on automobiles to get us everywhere.  As we look at rebuilding and restoring our older neighborhoods in Northwest Independence, we need to encourage and support the return of the kinds of businesses that support our everyday lives.  As a community, we need to find our way back to traditional neighborhood designs, so that neighborhood grocers, hardware stores, and pharmacists can return to areas such as Englewood.

Procter Neighborhood gets new website

As the recycling project has grown, I’ve come to realize that the neighborhood as a whole could use an online presence to help us communicate and stay organized. So today I’ve launched the Procter Neighborhood website.

The Procter Neighborhood site is dedicated to supporting residents and spotlighting the wonderful neighborhood we have. The new site will feature neighborhood news. It will also become the new home of Procter Recycles.

As much as I love to write, it won’t be a neighborhood site without your help and participation. Create your WordPress account* today (it’s free and easy) and begin participating in comments. Plus, with your WordPress account, you can sign up to be an author, so you can contribute!

*The WordPress account is just an easy way to ensure we are who we say we are. There’s no cost, and you don’t give up your privacy in any way.

Which way will Missouri swing in November?

It all depends on you.

The past few presidential election cycles have taught me how important it is to participate in our nation’s political process.  I can say I’ve never missed voting in a major election, but is that enough?  History suggests perhaps not.

Let’s start with an understanding of the nation’s electoral process.  Common Craft just put out this great explanation.  Share it with your friends and your kids to help everyone understand.

As Lee mentions, all states except Maine and Nebraska follow a winner-take-all system, awarding all of their electoral votes to the majority winner of that state.  Missouri has 9 congressional districts + 2 senators = 11 electoral votes.  It is the majority of votes cast in Missouri that decides which candidate gets our 11 electoral votes.

Unlike Kansas, which is reliably Republican, or Illinois, which is reliably Democrat, Missouri is considered a swing state in the November election.  In a swing state, the winner-take-all approach is where the popular vote loses most of its strength.  Our statewide vote could be as close as 49.99% to 50.01% or closer, but it’s that .01% whose voice is heard in the end.  Voter turn-out, especially in swing states, is the key to determining which candidate wins.

The electoral college makes it crucial not only to participate as a voter, but to help motivate and encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same. 

Even if you’re not energized and motivated by the candidate himself, it’s still important to chose the party that will best represent your day-to-day interests. 

How well Congress and the President work together depends upon a certain balance of power.  It’s through legislation in Congress that most of the nation’s agenda is set.  If the majority party in Congress has a wide majority (enough to override the President’s veto power, or to block the minority’s attempt to filibuster) it has a clear chance at setting the nation’s agenda clearly and decisively. However, if the Congress is split very evenly the agenda either requires more compromise, or gridlock results.  The President’s party affiliation will have more influence, too, when the Congressional split is close.  The Vice President provides tie-breaking votes in the Senate, and the President’s veto power often comes down to party platform.

If you’re energized about a presidential candidate, spread the word. If you’re not, at least support the party that supports your day-to-day interests.

Support alternative transportation

WalkScore.com is teaming up with Transportation for America to gather an online petition to support alternative transportation in the 2009 Transportation bill in Congress.

Transportation for America has a strong vision for national transportation policy: build world-class rail-based mass transit, repair and maintain the highways and bridges we have, and improve our health by investing in walking and bicycling infrastructure.

Here’s the pitch from WalkScore:

We need your help to create more walkable neighborhoods. Please forward this petition to your friends who support walking, biking, and transit:
http://www.walkscore.com/transportation-bill.shtml

The 2009 Transportation Bill is a once-in-a-decade opportunity. Walk Score will hand-deliver the list of supporters to Congress on foot, on bike, on bus, and on subway.

Thanks for your support!
The Walk Score Team
www.walkscore.com

If you haven’t checked out WalkScore.com yet, take a minute. They have a simple web site that ranks cities by walkability (Kansas City ranked 34th). If you have an extra minute, use their tool to recommend Independence, MO for their rankings.

Procter Recycles: Week Five

[Update: Check out the Procter Neighborhood Website for the latest on Procter Recycles.]

We had a great week this week!  Eight households nearly filled my pickup.  Way to go, Procter!

We’ve reached a point where it’s more efficient for me to do some presorting.  If you could start leaving your recycling in a spare (even broken) storage tub, that would make it easier for me to do that presorting.  

Also, please be sure to rinse anything that contained food or beverages.

Procter Recycles: Week Two

[Update: Check out the Procter Neighborhood Website for the latest on Procter Recycles.]

Procter Neighborhood, we’re making great progress.  We doubled our participation this week!  Eight households contributed recycling this week.  That’s 160 miles per gallon per household!  Keep up the great work, and help spread the word, too! 

Once again, I got to meet more Procter neighbors: Diane, Dee, Heather and John.  It was great to meet you all!  So far, I think that’s one of the best parts of this adventure!

This was our first week of glass recycling.  I took it up to the Bridging the Gap drop-off at Deramus and Choteau.  I combined that trip with one to Habitat ReStore to donate a load of landscaping bricks.  I’ve been through their showroom before – they have some great materials worth buying, and the proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity.

Marcie Gragg has asked the City Manager’s office to look into partnering with Bridging the Gap to provide glass recycling at Independence drop-off sites.  More news as I hear it!

Independence investigates wind energy

Well, I asked for it, and I’m encouraged to see that the July 14 city council study session included a discussion of wind energy as part of the city’s portfolio of energy generation (skip to 13:45 for the renewable energy discussion).

Points of interest from the presentation: While Missouri has no state-wide legislation that would require municipal utilities to meet renewable energy portfolio standards (RPS), the cities of Columbia and Springfield have passed city ordinances to do just that.

Independence Power and Light operates at a peak demand of 315 megawatts per year. City Manager Robert Heacock introduced (clarified 25:50) a proposal to enter into a 20 year agreement to purchase 15 megawatts per year of wind-generated electricity from TradeWind Energy in Kansas. The electricity would come from their Smoky Hills project in central Kansas. The TradeWind representative claimed that Smoky Hills is the “most energetic wind project” site in Kansas. Some details for the project:

• 508,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year avoided (presumably compared to coal)
• 1,885 tons sulfur dioxide per year avoided
• 1,137 tons nitric oxides per year avoided
• will supply 90,000 homes per year
• Will be online by the end of 2008

This seems like a great beginning for environmental stewardship in Independence. I’d like to hear more, though. What I didn’t hear in this recording was any evaluation of sites in the City of Independence itself, and how they measure up in their potential for wind or geothermal power generation.

While councilwoman Marcie Gragg was astute in asking about political opposition to TradeWind’s projects, what we didn’t get into was any substantive discussion. Is the political opposition among Kansans enough to derail the project (I would certainly hope not)? What are the future opportunities for TradeWind and Independence Power and Light to expand beyond the 15 megawatts per year contract (which is not quite 5% of our annual consumption)?

I’m very encouraged by the proposal, and by Mr. Heacock’s vision for Independence’s renewable energy leadership. Let’s get behind him and push for cleaner energy.

We have a glass recycler!

[Update: Check out the Procter Neighborhood Website for the latest on Procter Recycles.]

Great news, Procter Neighborhood! Bridging the Gap can accept our glass.

Here’s what they require:

Rinse… No dishes of any kind including wine glasses, plates, Pyrex, etc. No flower vases, light bulbs or flat panes of glass. No opaque colored glass.

Pretty simple. 

Phase 2: Let’s convince the City of Independence to partner with BTG to accept glass at the city’s two recycling drop-off sites.