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http://www.cyclelicio.us/2012/conservative-ideals-and-bicycling/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Cyclelicious+%28Cyclelicious%29

LeBron James rides his bike to work.  Why can’t you?  http://streetsblog.net/2012/12/20/lebron-james-bike-commuter/

I know a lot of rock stars who commute year-round, and for fear of forgetting someone I won’t mention them by name.  You probably know at least one of them, but might not realize it–because it’s not just those weird people who ride, it’s some of the people you see every day.

Sometimes, however, you need a little bigger push.  A decade ago, Lance Armstrong got people out on road rides again, but he turned out to be a bigger celebrity than most (and cyclists are still waiting for the full backlash of his doping scandal).  Some of the famous people you watch or listen to enjoy the heck out of cycling [fill in links]—

“But,” you interrupt to say, “they’re famous and can make their own schedules.  I have a real job and kids, and don’t forget that I live in Grand Forks!”

This is true.  Maybe we need someone with a little less star power to rely on for inspiration.  Someone who also has a job, who may have kids, and who makes bicycle commuting look easy.  Famous, yes, but locally so.  Most importantly, we don’t need another advocate (like myself) who is defined by the fact that they commute by bicycle.

The world is looking for everyday people who can be looked up to, without asking for anything in return.  It could be you they are looking for.

“The Grand Forks-East Grand Forks Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) will hold a public input meeting from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., on Thursday, Nov. 29, at the River Valley Room in the University of North Dakota Memorial Union, 2901 University Ave., to provide draft recommendations to improve traffic on University Avenue.”

http://und.edu/news/2012/11/university-avenue-meeting.cfm

Previous discussions about University Avenue on this blog can be found here.

The main Area Voices discussion (Grand Forks Herald website comments) I have found is here.

JP, a psychology student at the University of North Dakota, had a great blog called Touring Grand Forks where he explored the city by bicycle.  He’s since graduated, but the blog lives on and includes a lot of good commentary.

Schaefs has mentioned MindMixer a time or two before in reference to Fargo.  The idea is that the city of Grand Forks could get suggestions and feedback about what is working and what isn’t, take stock of what seems important to people, and adjust things accordingly.

Now Grand Forks has one: Engage the Forks.  Will it work?  I’m cautiously optimistic.  If the site doesn’t become overrun with people who are negative about every single thing in their lives, and if the people who are supposed to be watching the site are, in fact, watching it, it could bring some great ideas forward.  I’ll be giving it a whirl.

I should note that this idea is nothing new, and even the MindMixer site design is just a rehash of the standard online message board/forum structure: there are message boards delineating the major topic groups (“categories”), sub-boards (“topics”) and the actual posts (“idea submissions”).  Posts are graded according to who agrees and/or comments on them, etc.  It’s interesting how different marketing of the features makes people more likely to use the system, and I wonder that if UND becomes more involved in Engage the Forks, will it become what http://talk.campusdakota.com (or even the defunct VoiceUND) was supposed to be?

One major tenet of the complete streets movement is the promotion of mixed-use development, i.e., avoiding the “suburbia” problem by allowing dense residential and commercial space to be developed in the same area.  Gobal population and economic centers such as New York City, London, and Tokyo are prime examples of this model: build large buildings, put commercial space on the ground floor, and let people live upstairs.  The model is even mentioned in the Broadway show Rent, as Benny attempts to stop Maureen’s protest: “with condos on the top / whose rent keeps open our shops…”

The ubiquity of strip malls was mentioned to me before I moved to Grand Forks, almost seven years ago now.  With downtown gutted by the flood, developers moved to building commercial space wherever they could, as cheaply as possible, which resulted in a number of single-story strip malls built in commercial areas.  When I got here, I was surprised: why build single-story when you could build even higher and include apartments?  Nowhere does this seem sillier to me than north of the Ralph Engelstad Arena, where there are two strip malls taking up what could be some of the most valuable space “owned” by the University of North Dakota.  Dinkytown it ain’t, and even North Dakota State University has denser buildings on the edge of campus.

All of this brings me to this morning.  Just weeks after the announcement and positive review of a second WalMart (in a town of 55,000) by the powers-that-be, the Grand Forks Herald drops a bomb by coming out in favor of mixed-use development–and due to an online comment, no less.  I’ll skip past further expressions of shock.  Although the editorial sees mixed-use zoning as a way to alleviate the housing shortage, the additional implications are also positive for complete streets: reduction in the time/distance to commercial areas = reduction in miles driven (or even driving at all) = less traffic = safer-feeling streets = more people using alternative transportation = more people at “eye level” for businesses* = more economic activity = etc.

Is it possible in Grand Forks?  In Tom Dennis’ own words: “Well, let’s find out. The point is that it’s a fresh idea, one that the city now can set about exploring. And that kind of exploration is exciting because it’s the way problems get solved.”

OUR OPINION: Apartments on 32nd? Why not?
(A copy of the article is available on request.)