Sampler Platter 12.01.09

LBI piece worth a read... (4.00 / 1)

Fantastic piece here from Ian Sacs at Planetizen, a better plan for Long Beach Island, NJ.

LBI was much further than I used to regularly tread as a kid growing up in North Jersey.  Most of my summer weekend 'getaways' were to Keansburg, or Asbury Park, or Red Bank, or Long Branch, or Belmar, or Point Pleasant, or Seaside Heights.

But I did spend a couple of extended weekends down LBI in high school.  I had a friend whose uncle owned a beach house in Ship Bottom, and I tagged along with him for trips down there in the summers of '95 and '96.

Anyways, back to the above-linked piece...

I've always felt the way to fix summer traffic problems "down the shore" (especially south of Toms River) would be to introduce mass transit to the area, which currently doesn't exist in any workable form.  Yeah, there's a seasonal NJ Transit bus or two, but the trains end in Bay Head (Point Pleasant), and from between there and Atlantic City you're largely on your own.  Or you're in a car, which brings us to the problem at hand.

The current LBI bridge needs to be replaced.  The $250 million price tag (btw, this is up from $155 million in 2005), fwiw, is laughable.  It'll end up at least twice that.  It takes millions to pave a 2-mile stretch of existing highway, how the fuck does NJDOT propose they can possibly build a second completely separate span across and through extremely sensitive wetlands and over a couple of miles of the Manahawkin Bay and rehabilitate the current span for roughly the same amount of money it takes to rip down a Garden State Parkway Toll Plaza or two?  Calling bullshit on that.

Anyways...

Why not give Sacs' plan a thought or two, NJDOT?  New Jersey drivers have already clearly proven they're more than willing to forgo traffic when given the 'park & ride' option... and honestly, have you ever met one New Jerseyan who hasn't complained about Shore Traffic?  There's a simple reason for that - the private automobile is the only possible way to go for way too many of New Jersey's shore towns.

Give them trolleys, buses and bike and pedestrian paths!

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 14:11:12 PM UTC

It's having to change a whole mindset... (4.00 / 1)

The mindset of car-centered transportation.

Portland and San Francisco have had much success in building workable mass transit systems that people actually use. When LA started expanding the Metro system and added light rail lines, they found record high ridership and slightly less crowded freeways. Even Phoenix (!!!!) recently started a light rail network, and loads of people are already filling up the trains!

The demand will be there, but people first need to be willing to try something new and ditch the car.

I just wish we'll one day restart Amtrak service in Las Vegas (or just build a sensible high-speed rail network that actually goes somewhere!) and extend the MAX Line from North Las Vegas to Downtown, The Strip area, Summerlin, The Southwest, and (of course!) Henderson. (Hello, please put a station by my house!)

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 19:58:50 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

yep (4.00 / 1)

i agree with you, important point

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by: korvix1 @ Wed Dec 02, 2009 at 10:47:35 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

used to go regularly to the Jersey Shore (4.00 / 2)

as a teen, it was always Atlantic City..and even back then traffic was horrible. Now if I go to a shore its Fire Island because my sister owns a house there. Its a hassle to get there, because there are no cars allowed on the island unless you have a permit. So you have to drive to Bay Shore Long Island and take the ferry. But its heavenly once you get there because of no cars..

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by: LeeN @ Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 14:40:58 PM UTC

Atlantic City... (4.00 / 1)

Atlantic City, interestingly enough, is the only Jersey Shore town south of Point Pleasant to have rail service!

And btw, wanna talk about crazy?

Heh.

Let's say you wanna hit AC from Red Bank.  

You gotta take the North Jersey Coast Line up to Rahway, and then the Northeast Corridor down to Trenton.  And then SEPTA to Philly to catch the NJ Transit AC Line; or RiverLine light rail from Trenton to Walter Rand station in Camden, where you can then catch PATCO to Lindenwold to hook up with NJT's Atlantic City line.

5 or so hours, and well over 130 miles of train travel... to go what?  Like 60 miles direct if you had a car?  Or a couple hours if there was regular bus service?

.......................

Don't know much about Fire Island.  Furthest I've ever been out Long Island is Queens / Garden City / Mineola / Hempstead / Uniondale / Freeport, where I have friends...

:)

Came pretty close once, though!  Did some work out in Wyandanch back in 2004 or so...

"The essence of the independent mind lies not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks." - Christopher Hitchens

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by: JayinPortland @ Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 15:47:44 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

wow thats crazy.but our whole rail system is nuts... (4.00 / 2)

and our whole system needs retooling.But that means $$$$$$

Afghanistan will probably get railroads before ours get fixed.

Hello President Romney..

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by: LeeN @ Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 16:45:29 PM UTC

President Romney (4.00 / 1)

If his father couldn't make it to the White House except as an invited guest, what makes Mittens think he has a chance?

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by: count @ Wed Dec 02, 2009 at 00:00:07 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Food Stamp Usage is Up Almost Everywhere (4.00 / 3)

The number of food stamp recipients has climbed by about 10 million over the past two years, resulting in a program that now feeds 1 in 8 Americans and nearly 1 in 4 children.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11...

The NY Times also has an interesting map showing food stamp usage:

    http://www.nytimes.com/interac...

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by: Andy Anderson @ Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 16:47:47 PM UTC

Chickens? Ahem! (4.00 / 2)

Reads like an instance where organic is better.

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by: count @ Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 18:38:01 PM UTC

It's here! It's here! City Center is finally starting to open! (4.00 / 1)

Vdara is the first property to open today. And later this week, Aria (another non-gaming resort) and Crystals (a high-end shopping mall with big-name luxury brands) will open. When I take my dad out for dinner (his b-day present) on Saturday, I'm hoping we'll have a chance to stop at City Center and see up close & personally the future of Las Vegas.

Hopefully this will give us another economic shot in the arm, as we badly need more help. It will also be exciting to see "green building" on such a grand scale, and I hope this will encourage more of Las Vegas to be less wasteful.

Act on Principles and make equality happen.

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by: atdleft @ Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 20:06:48 PM UTC

Thank God it's almost 2010 (4.00 / 2)

I can't complain about 2009, but last summer was disappointing and this school year is out of hand hard.  I can't wait for it to be over.

Vote for yourself at www.ni4d.us!

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by: rossl @ Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 22:46:07 PM UTC

Curious article about meat grown in a lab in the Netherlands (4.00 / 2)

Think this might potentially be a less cruel alternative meat, plus potentially more energy efficient: http://www.care2.com/greenlivi...

By the way, I now recycle my plastic sandwich and food storage bags as follows:
1. Rinse the bags immediately to remove the worst of the solids and stickies.
2. Save up a pile of about five to ten rinsed bags.
3. Next time you wash a big spaghetti or soup pot, add detergent and water and soak the plastic bags in the pot.
4. After the soak, turn the bags inside out and rub them against each other. Also scrub the inside of the pan with a scrubby sponge.
5. Dump out the soapy water, add clean water. Rinse. Dump.
6. Final rinse and hang bags on tools the kitchen tool jar (where I keep my whisks, wooden spoons, potato masher, etc.).

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by: cybercitizen @ Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 15:40:44 PM UTC

kitchen tool jar (4.00 / 1)

I have one of those. I found a beautiful tall fluted clear glass container for a dollar or two at Goodwill. No maker's marks on it so I can't research anything about its original use.  

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by: count @ Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 17:56:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I like your bag recycling idea. (4.00 / 1)

My neighbor does that. I have other uses for the plastic bags I get from the store. Any more I look at the packaging of the products I buy and then get things in containers that I can reuse.

About the lab meat thing, anyone who wants to eat out of a lab vat is free to do so. As for me, I'll stick with the old ways.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Thu Dec 03, 2009 at 23:04:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

lab vat meat (4.00 / 1)

I can't see many people buying it from the grocery to grill at home, or ordering it in a sitdown restaurant, but who knows? Marketing is a wonderful thing. Perhaps if the meat is sufficiently expensive, the elite will meet to eat it. Nevertheless, it seems most likely destined for Big Macs, school nutrition programs and other institutional meals, and processed frozen food.

I could be wrong, I've been wrong before.

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by: count @ Fri Dec 04, 2009 at 00:19:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]