A Cycle of Violence

Over the years, I've had the… um… opportunity to interact with police in a variety of situations. Traffic violations, calls for support when kids were trespassing in our condo's pool, city functions, and just out on the beat. And while a few have sported "tough guy" attitudes (lamentable for any civil servant), they've all been professional. A few, even, have even been spectacular. So when I hear stories of police brutality I am immediately of two minds: "the story's being blown out of proportion" and "authority breeds unrighteous dominion".

But some times — on rare occasions — I'm of only one mind. Take a look at this footage:



Now read the follow-up story in the New York Post (not known for an even-handed approach). Here's more about the Pogan assault at the Smoking Gun. If you're not familiar with Critical Mass, they're an amazing grassroots cyclist empowerment organization. There's even a small Salt Lake City chapter.

Domo Arigato Mr Roboto

The video speaks for itself…

I [Heart] Chris Yates

I love to drive… I love maps… and I love art (maps and art are rarely mutually exclusive). So imagine my thrice-blessed eyes this morning, when I came across artist Chris Yates' version (can you find the errors?) of a subway-esque interstate map for the US?

I think I've reached Nirvana (and not the crap-band from the 80s).

And for my brothers and sisters who love Canada as much as I do, Chris also has one for you…




Hat tip: Strange Maps

This Is the Life

So I read in this morning's Tribune how a condo boom is hitting downtown Salt Lake City, and it was a great little write-up... it's especially fun to read good news about your neighborhood and the people you know (Luann Lakis serves on the Downtown Community Council, Ken Milo is an up-stairs neighbor and a fixture in the area).

I'll let you read the article yourself, but I've got this much to add: there's more to living downtown than return on investment and the nightlife. I have never been more plugged-into a neighborhood than this one. I know and see more people and care more about the people I know and see than ever before.

How is this possible?

Living downtown means I don't have to drive... and walking means I see more of my neighbors, and it means I frequent my neighborhood businesses more regularly. So in an odd twist of fate, living in the big city is much more like living in a small village than living in the wastelands of suburbia ever could be.

So to Troy, Andrew, Matt, Nick, John, and the rest of the crew at Tony Caputo's... to Jace, Bobby, Liz, Teresa, Brandon, and everyone at Carlucci's... to Rachael and the ladies at Roots... to Mary and her friendly helpers at Jade Market... to SLC Urbanite and her husband... to Tom and his wife... to J Simon (and his broken foot)... to Devin and his little family... and to everyone in my corner of heaven: howdy neighbor!

Carpool Lanes & the Rule of Law

This will be short.

This morning, I was heading to work and there was a multi-car accident... traffic ground to a halt.

I was in the outside lane, just next to the carpool/HOV/express lane... and as I sat there, I counted a couple dozen vehicles whiz past me with only the driver in the car. Now, I don't like waiting in traffic any more than the next person... but I just don't get the presumptiveness of drivers who do this sort of thing. Sure it's just a white line ( and soon, a double white line ), and you're not likely to get caught... but isn't that just the point?

Isn't civilization just a (very thin) white line?

Yeah: I'm being a little dramatic... but not entirely... I see a fundamental break-down: it used to be that folks didn't cross the white line. Now it's commonplace. Anyway, just an observation.

( An aside: I wish that traffic fines were gaged against the likelihood of getting caught... a $2000 ticket for driving in the express lane — especially if it were posted regularly — would certainly give pause. )

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Boyer Company Whines about Trax Stations

So the Deseret News reports that the plan for two TRAX stops is a problem for Gateway developers (hat tip: Transit in Utah). My first reaction was to think that maybe they had a point... but then I looked at the sketches I've seen and I've come to the conclusion that the Boyer Company can't see past the end of its nose.

First of all, the proposed stop would block a single entrance to one of the Gateway's two parking garages — and then, only for traffic coming from the South. So let's re-state this a little more clearly: the Gateway features two parking garages (each with two entrances), on-street parking, and (I believe) is working on addition parking on the North end of the development. This TRAX station would block traffic coming from the South from turning into the 400 West entrance of just one of their garages — leaving three easily accessible garage entrances untouched, and area on-street parking largely unscathed — and they're complaining.

* rolls eyes *

If they were so concerned about maximizing traffic to their development, there's plenty else to work on...

For starters: their beloved garages are called "Summer Parking" and "Winter Parking" (for their South garage and North garage, respectively) ... names that must lead at least some of their patrons to believe that the said garages are only available seasonally. They could certainly improve wayfinding (and community loyalty) by renaming their parking structures, or dropping the names altogether: cutesy names aren't worth the trouble in most cases.

But I should expect silly names from the people who named the apartments attached to their development "Northgate"... which would be fine if the apartments were confined to the North end of development — north of the structure crossing over 100 South, which looks vaguely like a gate. But no: there are two towers of "Northgate" — one to the North of the "gate" on 100 South, and one to the South of the "gate" on 100 South (which set-up leads to all sorts of confusion for people trying to find friends living there).

Which brings me to the second point: if the folks at the Boyers Company wanted to maximize traffic at their development, you'd think that they would have made it straight-forward for people living at the Gateway to actually shop at the Gateway. But they didn't. Except for an out-of-the-way and probably unintended access way from the underground apartment parking garage, I know of no way for people living at the Gateway to actually get there — except to walk around the entire development from the rear — which means hoofing it along 500 West, which is an unsavory prospect, at best.

Finally, the Boyers don't seem to understand that encouraging growth in their neighborhood necessarily means encouraging their own growth... despite the problems I have with the place, it's still nice to visit... and I walk there often. With more development in the area supported by more TRAX stations, they're bound to enjoy additional patronage.

I Am a Fancy Parker

So over at AskMefi, someone asked why some people back into a stall (fancy park). Among the responses was a link to this great site... which explains in way too much detail what fancy parking is.

My response:

I back-in to avoid backing out.

When I'm parking, I'm in the flow of traffic, and know what's going-on around me... but when I'm leaving a stall, it's almost impossible to see what's going-on as I back out. So I back-in to give me safer sight-lines upon departure. Well, that, and it's easier to maneuver backing-in... so it's easier to center the car in its stall.