butttrumpet

There has to be a balance between quality of life in the city and economic development. We could create all the jobs in the world if we weren't concerned about pollution, noise, etc. I think there are valid reasons for not wanting quarrying operations on the edge of town. I could make money doing a number of different things on my property that I own in Fayetteville. I could maximize the potential in the land I own, and some might argue that I should have the right to do that. The reality is that I have neighbors, and so I have to follow rules to ensure that I don't infringe on their right of enjoyment of their property. When a business operation uses explosives and heavy equipment, there are going to be issues with adjacent property owners and concerns that need to be addressed. I don't think what is happening right now is unreasonable.

The city's Cone Patrol lists it as being under construction the rest of this year, stating that there will be one lane open during the day, and two lanes open during night hours. Three lanes is about right for Township. There are a lot of businesses along there now. I hope they can squeeze in some bike lanes and some trees along the street. There are some big ones that will be lost I'm afraid, in front of Miller Boskus Lack and the Hardware Store. There were several east of there lost from the ice storm as well.

The parcel of land at the SWC of Dickson Street and Block Avenue which was Brandon Barber's failed Divinity project is set to be auctioned off September 28th. Hopefully somebody cool with a good vision will buy it and get it for cheap. I think that parcel would be awesome for about 5 stories of high end rental apartments with a great ground floor restaurant or two. Some kind of development there would do a lot to tie Dickson and theSquare together.

I have noticed the utilities are being relocated on Township between North College and Gregg. Are there plans for expanding Township there? I can't find anything online about it and its not a part of the city transportation bond program.

I can't help but feel that one of the reasons this has dragged out as long as it has is because there are some serious power brokers who live in that neighborhood. I believe Jim Lindsey and Frank Broyles' homes are both directly affected by this. I don't have a whole lot of sympathy, given that this has been planned for a very long time, and because Mr. Lindsey has, in my opinion, shown very little regard for the city's wishes when it comes to planning, quality of life amenities, and for lack of a better phrase, not putting up crappy apartments that all look the same everywhere. This is a classic NIMBY situation. Worst case scenario for those mentioned above, if they hate it so much, they truly can move on, and it won't hurt them much. Better yet, invest in some trees to screen the thing from view.

A person who can make such a loaded, false, irresponsible public statement about Fayetteville has no business whatsoever representing this city. Gazzola should resign immediately.

This is false. Light rail, at the low rates it would be ridden in NWA, would by much more expensive per person than what we currently have. I think in many people's minds, "the government" is going to pay for light rail, so in a sense, its "free". Not so. People are not going to choose to ride light rail, given the limited places it would take you in NWA, when you can just get in your car and drive. The environmental advantages of light rail with regards to emissions are going to become less and less significant over the next 20 years to almost be negligible as low-emission automobile technology improves. People have a low cost alternative already, and hardly anybody rides it. Its called ORT. Until someone can demonstrate demand for public transportation in NWA, light rail is never going to be anything than a hippie utopian fantasy. Sure, trains are cool. Having trains in NWA would be cool. I can understand that. What I can't understand is how there are so many people here who are incapable of applying the most basic critical analysis to the issue and see how it really isn't feasible or needed in NWA. Its kind of a funny paradox. The people who seem to want light rail the most are the people most aghast at the idea of NWA become a dense urban center of 1-1.5 million people, yet that density and population increase is the only scenario that would make light rail even partially feasible in our metro. You can't have one without the other.

Random thought: Why doesn't the city narrow Center St. between College and the Square down to one lane, change up the parking, put in wider sidewalks, trees and lighting? The street carries "one lane" worth of traffic mostly anyway. Wider sidewalks and landscaping could extend the Square's atmosphere out to College Avenue there. I think the same thing could be done to Mountain street one block South and it would really make a great pedestrian area, effectively enlarging the Square in the process. Thoughts?

Didn't Jordan brag during the debates that he would have all major aterials become boulevards? Where is the boulevard discussion?

I don't feel sorry for them. Who do they think they are that they can just make up some far-reaching rules and force private property owners to adhere to them? It sounds like the city wastes a lot of money on jobs for people who aren't actually needed. As a taxpayer, I think the city should get rid of some of that non-essential staff instead of creating things for them to do.

I think a good question would be: What does the Historic Preservation hope to achieve that could not be addressed by a strict planning approval process?

Thats a really interesting rail map.

It seems to me that some of the most vocal people in this city as far as preserving the feel of Dickson Street may have not been around long enough to remember the area prior to the WAC. I'm all for quality development and redevelopment, but I really don't consider much of Dickson to be historic. At least not in the way the Square is. And even then, the Square is a mix of old and new. I think a better approach would be to regulate facade materials, MAYBE building heights, and just be strict about maintaining (and improving on) the character of the area in a general sense. Hog Haus, for example, at the time it was redeveloped, was sorely needed. Today, I'd hope that the kind of stucco facade that it has might be discouraged. I feel like the historic designation is just another backdoor way of trying to keep everything in Fayetteville the way it is forever.

As much as I hate infringing on private property owner rights, I'd like to see a "core" of Dickson Street preserved. That said, 3 Sisters is a great building and it would never have happened had something like this been in place. It seems to me that the general "feel" of Dickson could just as easily be preserved by having strict design standards.

I guess the new "People's Government" under Jordan is only "open" when it won't prevent them from doing whatever the hell they feel like.

I think it would be cool if the neighborhood identities were emphasized in street signage, sidewalk materials, etc. Like how in Springdale's east side, some of the street signage shows rodeo stuff. It would be neat if Fayette Junction street signs had an FJ on them, or a train or something. Walker Park could have a maple leaf with a WP on it.

The Fayette Junction Neighborhood Plan was presented tonight. I really like how they are naming all the neighborhoods, or bringing up the old forgotten names in this case, during this planning process. Walker Park is done, and now Fayette Junction. Anybody know which part of town is next up for master planning?

No wonder he's so angry.

Very good point. The anti-growth faction of this city is NO GROWTH. Read Aubrey Shepherd's blog sometime. She opposes infill, as well as sprawl. There's not a single development she approves of in this city. Its scary to think that those people have Lioneld Jordan's ear.

True. Not only the hills in the eastern part of Fayetteville, but also the big wigs. They'd be another big obstacle to anything being built out east. There's a LOT of money in Goshen and E. Fayetteville. They all like our current road system just fine.

This is kind of how I feel about it. Okay, so lets sit down and determine the "direction" we want our city to go in. Ok. I guess. It kind of echos my feelings about Jordan's "Loop" idea. We aren't starting a city from scratch here, guys. My feeling is that Jordan really doesn't fully understand how the city runs, and now that he is in charge, he needs all the help he can get. There's definitely going to be a learning curve with this guy. They aren't going to re-invent the wheel, although that sounds like what they are trying to do. We've traded in a leader for government by committee apparently. Why not just do away with the mayor all together?

RE: Funding You know this whole list presented by the mayors is like $80 billion. Considering we are giving Paulson $700 billion to use at his discretion, why CAN't Obama give us the funds for ALL of these projects? RE: Jordan's Loop Yeah, Jordan's idea for the highway loop sounds like an elementary kid trying to do city planning. His idea, I believe, was to build a loop and then put transit stops every half mile or so. Bus stops, I think. Its goofy, and doesn't really make sense unless you are planning out a city from scratch (on construction paper, using crayons).

Here is a link to the new Main Street infrastructure improvements stimulus proposed to Obama. This document is over 800 pages long, but the projects are listed by states. Fayetteville has several requests. One thing I noticed in particular is the completion of Crossover to the city limits, the extension of Joyce to I-540, and over $6 million for additional "safety improvements" to College Avenue. I assume that means extending the downtown improvements out into midtown and southtown. I know these were things cooked up and planned for by the Coody administration for this survey. I hope the Jordan folks can see it through should this thing pass. I am so glad Fayetteville plans ahead so well. This survey called for infrastructure projects that could be fast tracked in 09-10. Good thing we had a long wish list if this thing goes through. Report: http://usmayors.org/mainstreeteconomicreco...port-200812.pdf

You know what should happen here is that the folks from the NWA Museum foundation need to cooperate with the city to present a plan to incorporate both facilities into one big knockout space. That would create a cultural synergy that would compete well against Bentonville, plus both entities could contribute their fundraising to the project. Edit: Perhaps the current WAC could be converted into the NWA Nature Museum. That would save them a lot of money, and make more sense than having two venues in one small area. It already has a nice little outdoor area that could be used for teaching, displays, etc. Surely it would be less expensive to renovate the current WAC into a museum than to build from scratch. I am going to email the NWA Museum people my idea.

Thanks for the update on Springdale. Its sad to see people from Springdale say that the downtown area is a lost cause, though. I wish the city leaders were better at planning.