First Listening Session
Last Sunday I had my first listening session at the Bagel Bin. I think it went very well. Eight Kings Contrivance residents stopped by to say hi and talk. I got some reading material suggested to me and I got to talk to serveral residents about issues in the community that concerned them. Owen Brown's Columbia Council Rep Pearl Atkinson-Stewart also stopped by to say hi. I look forward to seeing everyone at my next one which will be in late May. If you were unable to stop by, please feel free to use the comments in this post as a continuing listening session.
Labels: Columbia Council, Kings Contrivance, Listening Session
posted by Evan | 3:16 AM
4 Comments:
Did you fix the pool parking crunch yet? If not, what are you waiting for?
Glad it went well!
I have not even been sworn in yet, but thanks for asking about the pools :) It is a big issue for me. With any problem I think the first think we should do is diagnose the root cause. In this case, I plan to work with staff to review pool use data to see what data exists on which neighborhood each pools users live in, did they walk, drive or bike to the pool, and why they picked that pool. If we don't currently have that data I will seek my fellow board members support in asking the staff to collect this data. After we have seen the data we can move forward in finding solutions. The planning for the next budget starts in October so this data collection will put us right on schedule for getting solutions included in the next budget.
In pursuing root causes based on hard data, please keep in mind that there are some events that obviously exceed CA pool lot capacity such as swim team meets and shouldn't be used as benchmarks for needed parking spaces, plenty of street parking exists nearby along the public streets on which these these pools front, and that there is a certain distance beyond which people are less likely to walk to a pool (1/4 mile via street or CA path maybe - I'm sure there is good statistical data on the distance somewhere).
I don't know if it already occurs, for CA swim team meets, but maybe buses or something similar could be used to lessen the required parking and also move the visiting swim team from neighborhood A to neighborhood B and back via more ecofriendly means?
Providing ample bike stands at each pool, visible through the fence could help, too. Maybe also have good bike locks that could be checked out at the pool with a CA card to secure a bike?
I wonder how many bike-related events CA conducts each year? Maybe more bike related events/programs would spur more bike ridership to pools, thereby requiring less parking spaces.
Bike ridership is higher in many other countries, some Western European countries promoting cleaner air, less traffic congestion, less parking requirements, and more public transit use via providing free community bikes for anyones' use at any time.
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