Old West Fest and neighborhood election tonight

The OWDNA's annual Spring West Fest is tonight from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Edith Street. It will feature the music by Ben Palmer and Mark Cool. Clean Energy Durham will be offering free tune-ups and bike-blended smoothies. And there will be an election for OWDNA Board.

Bring a covered dish and celebrate the neighborhood spirit!

Can the West Main Bridge be replaced overnight?

As I have previously covered, the NCDOT and the City are planning on replacing the bridge that carries W. Main street over campus drive sometime next year. The original plan called for a year-long closure of the street but was later scaled down to six months following a neighborhood outcry. The City and the DOT celebrated the new accelerated schedule, touting is a win-win solution for the neighborhood and the city. And it is - considering that the other solution would have entailed a year-long closure of a major city street, choking traffic to both Ninth Street and Bright Leaf District.

So imagine my surprise when I read in the New York Times article (reprinted below) that the new technology used in Massachusetts allows small bridge replacements overnight. That's right - instead of six months, a prefabricated bridge very similar to the one over campus drive was replaced overnight with minimal disruption to traffic and surrounding communities. And it is not an astronomically more expensive way to do things, apparently, simply a different technology that could be just as cost-effective as the conventional method.

Current Campus Bridge

Overnight bridge replacement in Boston

Read more about this new insta-bridge technique after the break.

Update on the Water Main Replacement - The Tree Cutting Edition

 As most readers surely know, the City is currently laying down massive black pipes along large sections of West Main Street in an effort to replace the aging water main infrastructure. The work started at the intersection of Main and Rutherford and has since jumped over Ninth Street, extending all along the East Campus Wall of Duke toward North Buchanan boulevard.


What may be less obvious to a casual observer is the ham-handed way the City handled old-growth oaks growing alongside the sidewalk that runs between the street and East Campus Wall. By my count, at least three massive 100+ year old oaks have been unceremoniously cut down for no particular reason.On the map below, I have noted the approximate locations of the trees in question.

Here is how the road looked like "before" the City went on its tree-cutting binge


View Larger Map

This is, frankly, very disheartening. Just a few days ago, I wrote about the value of urban canopy to our City and the direct economic, environmental, and aesthetic benefit that it brings. To my untrained eye, there did not appear to be any particular reason for cutting these trees down. Neither the sidewalk nor the curb were disturbed by the digging equipment. Furthermore, despite years of "pruning" by Duke Power - another well known adversary of mature trees in the city -- the trees looked healthy and provided welcome shade to the pedestrians and motorists alike traveling along West Main to Downtown and back.

Perhaps there was some other reason for cutting these trees down, but I strain to understand what it was and wonder if the City could have tried harder to keep these beautiful old trees rather than cutting them down for no apparent reason. I have reached out to Alex Johnson, the Head of Durham's Urban Forestry Division, but have yet to get an answer. I suggest you write to him as well. If he responds to you, please feel free to share it in the comments.  

Show Your Heart Exhibit at Broad Street Cafe

Small, locally-owned businesses are wonderful to the community for many reasons. Not only do the account for the most of the job creation, keep money in the community, and give Durham an outsized national reputation, but they also keep our community uniquely engaged by fostering cooperation between artists, business owners, and Durham residents.

An excellent example of such cooperation is the Board Street Cafe, which has long served as a nexus of good food, excellent music and innovative art. According to the Durham News, their latest project is the Heartfelt project, a collection of paintings and other artwork serving as a fundraiser for the Dave Turner Lymphoma Foundation which helps area families facing cancer. 

Check out the article after the break and be sure to visit Broad Street, sample their fares, and, perhaps, purchase one of the art pieces.

Say NO to Fracking in Durham

I have previously covered the danger of fracking and its impact on Durham County. And although state politicians seem intend on swinging North Carolina's  doors open to this controversial practice, the City of Durham, through its elected representatives, remains opposed.

According to the Herald Sun, City Council has voted unanimously (6-0) to urge the State Legislature to continue banning this practice. This is a bold and necessary step, going beyond what the City has said previously, and should be commended.

Fracking has no place in our communities - it may poison our water, increase likelihood of earthquakes, depress our economy, not to mention a myriad of yet-undiscovered consequences. For a great overview of the hydraulic fracturing technology, commonly known as fracking, and its impact on Durham please read the report prepared by the Durham Environmental Affairs Board on March 23 (embedded below).

Earth Day Recycling Event this Sunday

 This Sunday, April 22, the City is holding another one of its recycling electronic waste events, giving residents the opportunity to discard old electronics in an environmentally responsible (and free!) way. Not incidentally, the event is timed to coincide with the 2012 Durham Earth Day Festival, which will take place from noon until 5:00 p.m. in Durham's Central Park.

The recycling event will be held at at 423 Morris St. (below) in downtown Durham from noon until 5:00 p.m. According to the press release, the city will accept the following items:

• Computers, laptops, keyboards, mice, printers, monitors, speakers, copiers, scanners, circuit boards, hard drives, computer parts, etc.
• Televisions, stereo equipment, tape players, receivers, amplifiers, record players, etc.
• Kitchen electronics, such as microwaves, mixers, blenders, choppers, etc.
• Telephones, cell phones, and fax machines
• Hair dryers, curling irons, alarm clocks and vacuum cleaner
• Power tools, cordless tools, etc.
• Electronic toys, such as keyboards and video game system

In addition to taking your old junk for free, resident will not even have to leave their cars to unload the stuff. According to Larrisha McGill, waste reduction coordinator with the City’s Solid Waste Management Department, “the City will have staff on hand to unload these items. The location of the collection site is mapped below.

View Larger Map

*Please note that this event will not accept large appliances, refrigerators, air conditioners, or any other appliances that contain Freon.

Read the full press release after the break.

New sushi restaraunt in the neighborhood set to open in June

Vine, a new family owned Sushi & Thai restaurant is set to open in Bull City Market, taking the space previously occupied by Cillias. According to the Herald-Sun, the proprietors expect to charge between $8-13 per item and is patterned after a restaurant with the same name in New York City. They are planning to complete renovations by early June.

Interestingly enough, the space was originally rented to Raleigh-based Orchid Japanese Restaurant but the deal must have fallen through.

What is the value of Durham's green canopy?

One of the distinctive features of our neighborhood and the neighborhoods around is the abundance of mature trees (mostly oaks),  a true urban forest, shielding our houses from excessive heat and bathing the whole neighborhood in the sea of green from early March until late October. This vegetation is a critical part of the appeal of this neighborhood's character and, despite Duke Power's best efforts at decimating our urban canopy (a subject I covered in my previous posts), this part of town retains some of the most strikingly beautiful tree-lined streets in the city.

In addition to their aesthetic value, mature forest canopy diretcly translates into increased property values. On Bull City Mutterings, Reyn Bowman, writes that according to researchers looking at apartment rents in Portland each tree on a house's lot increase smoothly rent by $5.62 and a tree in the public right of way by a whopping $21.00. Furthermore, according to this research, presence of mature trees increases the property value by the average of 2%, not inconsequential amount given that the current average listing price of homes in our neighborhood is close to $300,000 (see below)

Taken from Trulia Trends

But what is the value of Durham's green canopy as a whole? Surely, it goes beyond simply increasing values of individual properties, given the crucial role mature trees play in air filtration, carbon sequestration, heat reduction, stormwater treatment, and a host of other benefits. The researchers at the U.S. Forest Service Department have examined this issue closely using our neighbor to the West, Tennessee, as an example.

According to their report, each urban tree in the state provides an estimated $2.25 worth of measurable economic benefits every year. It may not seem like a lot until one realizes that there are over 284 million such trees in that state. Thus, through energy savings, air and water filtering and carbon storage, the urban trees of Tennessee account for more than $638 million in benefits. Although the Forestry Service has not done similar survey of North Carolina trees, it is likely that their economic impact and value to the community will be comparable, if not greater.

I have not been able to find a tree census for either Durham or North Carolina as a whole, but think Tennessee data underscore the critical role urban trees play in making our city livable and beautiful.

Adventures in the land of neighborhood listservs

In the past couple of weeks the OWDNA listserv has been buzzing with accusations, counter-accusations, umbrage taking, reverse umbrage taking, and various other forms of less-than-helpful interactions. This is normal, although I am hopeful that the discourse will eventually revert to the more typical "free stuff on the curb" and "community event tomorrow" mode soon.

All listservs have to balance the need to provide a forum for honest opinions and feedback against the danger of a few loud voices hijacking the conversation. Left unchecked, most people will simply tune out, turning a community support lifeline into an echo chamber.

Moderation is a critical tool to prevent this from happening but only if there are clear rules governing what type of conduct will be moderated. In general, I think OWDNA listserv has done a remarkably good job educating the community, keeping current with the neighborhood events, and giving voice to people's concerns

For some more background on the complex psyche of neighborhood listservs, I am reprinting a very funny and insightful article from the Atlantic Cities about the 20 characters you will meet on every neighborhood email list. Personally, I am definitely #8 (the armchair urban planner) and, if you are reading this, you may be too.

Watch Ninth Street on TV

Ninth Street has long served as one of the major hubs of commerce and civic activity in Durham. From its inception as one of Durham's first and longest continuously-operating business districts, it has carved a distinctive place in the city's history - a place with a unique mix of college students, neighborhood residents, quirky shop business owners, and independent artists. But unlike many other parts of Durham memorialized in movies  (good and bad), I could not find any references to filming taking place on Ninth Street itself.

Well, things are about to change with a new television show called the "Pitch" (AMC), which pits two advertising agencies against each other in an effort to win a potential client. The first episode features Durham-based McKinney company against Los Angeles agency, WDCW. Both companies are chasing Subway, a fast-food franchise. McKinny won the competition and the winning advertisement, called “Freestyle Breakfast,” was filmed at 705 Ninth Street (a Subway franchise) on Ninth Street in Durham as Lethal rapped his way through the line at the restaurant.

The show premiers on AMC on April 30 at 9:00 pm EST. You can see the episode featuring Ninth Street subway here. The article from the Herald Sun describing the show and McKinney's win is reprinted after the break.

Why are urban neighborhoods are the future of housing

A pair of interesting articles on Salon and Atlantic Cities examine the long-term demographic shifts that are increasingly favoring smaller, walkable, and urban neighborhoods like ours over the dominant housing style of the the previous half century - the suburban development. The authors point to a great convergence of two large demographic groups - the Baby Boomers (1946-1964) and the Millennials (1981-2000) both of which are increasingly interested in communities that are easily accessible and pedestrian friendly.

While the Baby Boomers are downsizing and seeking smaller houses with less upkeep and closer to community centers, hospitals, restaurants, and parks, the Milleanials are outright rejecting their parents' suburban lifestyles in favor of higher density neighborhoods. This is evidenced by surveys showing that Americans are driving fewer miles and that fewer young drivers are getting drivers' licenses. Even more striking is the fact that  46% of drivers aged 18-24 said they would choose internet access over owning a car.

While it may be premature to celebrate the end of American's love affair with the car -- and surely some of the conclusions are due to the terrible economy and its disproportionate impact on young people -- the long-term trends are unmistakable: the demand for urban, walkable neighborhoods is going to far outstrip the supply for many years to come.

The graph below demonstrates this better than I can the representation of demand for transit-oriented development via-a-vis the supply. 

This data is further confirmed by the 2011 Community Preference Survey by the National Association of Realtor's, which indicated that 58% of all responds indicated a preference for "a neighborhood with a mix of houses and stores and other businesses within an easy walk."

All of this suggests a continued, strong interest in urban real estate but it also raises a question: will the pent-up demand translate into higher real-estate prices or more rentors. After all, the other great story about this recession has been the rise of rental housing nationwide, including the Triangle, which hit the highest occupancy rate of rental properties in a decade.

Although I am personally ambivalent on rent vs. own debate, the folks at Trulia Trends have devised a really neat tool which shows in which metro area it is cheaper to buy a home rather than rent. Not surprisingly, in our region it is still more affordable to buy than it is to rent. 

City Launches Rain Catchers Project - come get your free stuff

One of the defining features of our neighborhood is the Ellerbee Creek, part of the Ellerbee Creek Watershed that stretches from  Falls through much of North Durham. Unfortunately, over the years the streams feeding this watershed have become among the polluted in the state, as described in this excellent the history of the Ellerbee by John Schelp on the website the Old West Durham Neighborhood Association.

The Ellerbee Creek Watershed Association has done a fantastic job raising awareness about this critical natural resource, and now the City of Durham has began a major imitative to improve the water quality in surrounding streams and lakes.

This new initiative, dubbed Rain Catchers, seeks to provide free rain gardens, trees, rain-barrels and downspout disconnection to residents of Old West Durham, Trnity Heights, Trinity Park, Walltown, and Watts Hospital-Hillandale neighborhoods.

The neighborhoods covered by the pilot program

Some of you may have already received a mailing describing this project. It is really a win-win situation: the city gives you a choice of free native plants, rain-barrels, native trees, or rain gardens in exchange for your pledge to actually install those on your property. To help the process along, there is a bidding system whereby you can ask for a small amount of money to help you defray installation costs. Because the budget is limited -- and you are getting this stuff for free --the lower your bid, the more likely you are to get the requested supplies.

The city benefits by reducing the amount of harmful runoff to the long-suffering riverbed and you, the resident, get to lower your water bill, improve the appearance of your yard, and save water and the environment in the process.

If you want to participate but have not received a flyer, or have any other questions about the program, head over the the Stormwater services facebook page or email Laura Webb Smith, public education coordinator for the City’s Stormwater Services Division.

The News Release describing the program in greater detail is reprinted after the break.

How to improve the Harris Teeter parking lot

As I have previously covered on this blog, the new Harris Teeter coming to Ninth Street is a reality and although its design may undergo some cosmetic changes, the front-facing parking lot for 200+ cars is almost certainly not going away. So what can be done to improve this space?

Surprisingly a lot. Not all parking lots are created equal and there is much a clever designer can do to ameliorate the impact of a parking lot on the community.

As this post on the Atlantic Cities website makes clear, the city of New York has taken the lead in creating a specific set of requirements designed to make parking lots greener, more visually appealing and pedestrian friendly. These include landscaping the perimeter with mature trees, creating islands of greenery throughout the parking lot, thereby reducing "heat island" effect, adding bicycle parking and numerous other improvements (check out the presentation that summarizes all of the improvements here).

In another interesting article, reprinted below, Tom Vanderbuilt, the author of Traffic, writes in Slate about making parking lots into community spaces and improving their appearance more generally. His thesis is that parking lots are going to be with us for a very long time so instead of bemoaning their continued existence, we need to come up with creative ways to integrate them into the community space. For example, he suggests that on weekends a section of the parking lot be converted into a portable farmers market - an idea that was tried with great success by Arlington, VA at the Columbia Pike Farmers Market.

My hope is that Harris Teeter designers take note of at lease some, if not all, of these suggestions. Surely, perimeter landscaping, smart water filtration, bicycle parking, and islands of greenery are a necessity. Some other, more ambitious ideas, such as adding solar panels on top or using alternative surface materials may belong to the realm of fantasy. In any event, at the very least, the developers should review the EPA's 2008 Parking Lot Resource Guide, which provides a comprehensive overview of best practices. As for our city leaders - they should consider using this report -- as well as NYC regulations -- as a blueprint for parking lot construction in urban areas.

Bringing Farmers Market to Ninth Street - here is how

The Durham Farmers Market has a loyal following which allowed it to blossom into a true community event. Every Saturday -- rain or shine -- many Durhamites make the trek to central park to buy locally-grown vegetables, sample food truck fare and chat with their neighbors. It has become a ritual of sort.

I am not one of them. This is not because I am opposed to Farmers Market or think that going there is not worthwhile. Mostly, it is because I am lazy and have trouble motivating myself to do anything ambitious on Saturday mornings. I also relish the idea of walking to the grocery store rather than driving, although I understand that it is not always possible.

Well, whether you are like me or a more motivated Farmers Market aficionado, it seems like a new local start-up, LoMo (short for Local Mobile Market), is aiming to help bring the Farmers Market to Durham neighborhoods across town. The idea is simple - similar to popular book mobiles, a specially outfitted trailer with stalls with stop at predetermined locations around town and sell produce from various distributors. For more information, check out their interview with Durham Magazine.

So, all we need to do now is to lobby for their new truck to stop in our neighborhood! In terms of locations, I would suggest the corner of Ninth Street and Green or, perhaps, the parking lot of Nice Price Books.

View Larger Map

So far, their website lists the Oval Park and Trinity Park as possible locations. Both are close, but Ninth Street is more central and has better parking options. If you want them to come to Ninth Street, email to let them know - they are still working out their rotation.


I already did and hope that more people will as well.

Are big-box stores going away?

Best Buy has recently announced that it is closing 5% of its stores, despite the steadily improving economy and rising purchasing power of Americans across economic spectrum. And the company is not alone in seeing its economic model of box-box suburban stores undermined by the rise of internet commerce coupled -- not incidentally -- with decreasing interest in cars and driving by the millennials.

There seems to be a massive structural change happening to the retail sector, with the death of secondary retailers (Borders, Circuit City, Liniens'n Things) now followed by the shrinkage of the market leaders (think Target, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, etc). Perhaps we are finally moving into the post-mall consumer economy, where people do most of their generic shopping online and rely on small local businesses for unique or one-of-a-kind purchases.

All of this has direct relevance to Ninth Street, of course, as it is currently dominated by exactly the type of unique, character-driven local business that is best position to compete in the post big-box economy. Smart developers should take heed -- the long-term patters of economic development are increasingly turning against the old ways of doing business. Instead of suburban in-fill, successful development of the future is likely to rest on a combination of smaller retail establishments in pedestrian-friendly locales supplemented by internet commerce/delivery behemoths.