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DATELINE June 30, 2014
“BUILDING BIGGER ROADS ACTUALLY MAKES TRAFFIC WORSE” I’ve taken Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use Report for July 3rd and revised it. “Road projects are almost invariably costly, but the money we spend for these projects is supposed to make our lives better. Among other things, road projects are supposed to reduce traffic congestion, surely one of the banes of our modern, automobile-based existence. As it turns out, though, the effectiveness of road projects, as a way to reduce traffic congestion, is highly suspect. I want to make sure that KUSP listeners and BrattonOnline readers know about the concept of “induced demand.” The idea is that new road projects actually increase, rather than decrease, traffic congestion. As Wired Magazine puts it in the headline for a recent article on this topic: “What’s Up With That: Building Bigger Roads Actually Makes Traffic Worse?” If you’d like to read this article, and I do recommend it, here are the links. It’s an easy to read introduction to the topic, which is also explored in numerous engineering studies. I have some links to those studies, too.The fact that building bigger, wider roads might actually make things worse is counterintuitive, but it might actually be true! What’s up with that? Read about “induced” traffic demand and find out more”. From Wired Magazine…”The concept is called “induced demand”, which is economist-speak for when increasing the supply of something (like roads) makes people want that thing even more. Though some traffic engineers made note of this phenomenon at least as early as the 1960s, it is only in recent years that social scientists have collected enough data to show how this happens pretty much every time we build new roads. These findings imply that the ways we traditionally go about trying to mitigate jams are essentially fruitless, and that we’d all be spending a lot less time in traffic if we could just be a little more rational”.
Wired Magazine Article on Induced Demand
Monterey County Weekly Article on Transportation Planning
Victoria Transportation Policy Institute Article on Induced Demand
Duranton and Turner: “The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion”
Gary’s website is at www.gapatton.net
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Kit Birskovich says, “this German woman has worked with her two dogs to teach them music skills. Amazing! And legitimate (I have watched all her films closely and know a bit of German. I may begin accepting dogs as piano students, just as soon as I can get the right set-up…)”
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JIM CARREY DOES “TM” MESSAGE. Ray Ginghoffer found this You Tube gem. |
INCREASE PARKING FEES. From that same article in Wired magazine on Induced Demand…Parking in most cities is far cheaper than it should be, and it’s too often free. “Because it’s free, people will misuse it and it will be full all the time,”. Drivers searching for parking contribute significantly to road congestion. “There are some estimates that say in the central part of cities up to 30 percent of driving is people just cruising around for parking,” Increasing the price of a parking spot when demand is high would encourage people to leave sooner, letting more drivers occupy the same spot during the day. San Francisco did exactly this starting in 2011 and the results have been a boon to retailers because more customers are able to park in front of their stores. And because prices go down when demand is low, the program has actually saved motorists money. In a move to expand the meters outside of downtown and a few other areas, the city conducted a recent parking census and found that it has more than 440,000 public parking spots, which, if placed end to end, would stretch longer than California’s entire coastline. Try dropping that little factoid during your next cocktail party conversation with city planners and traffic engineers.
CONSERVATION LESSONS. This just came in from Rick Longinotti and Santa Cruz Desal Alternatives… Conservation Lessons from Australia with Conner Everts and from Soquel Creek District with Ron Duncan. A ten year drought provoked Australians to achieve unprecedented levels of water conservation. Conner Everts of California’s Environmental Water Caucus reports on what he learned visiting Australia last year. In the event that no new water sources become available, the Soquel Creek Water District will seek to reduce water consumption by over 30%—for the next 20 years. District Conservation Manager Ron Duncan reports on this ambitious planning effort, including an innovative plan to improve the District’s water-neutral growth policy. It happens Fri, July 18, 7-8:30 pm, London Nelson Center, 301 Center St., Santa Cruz free admission
RED HORSE CHESTNUT TREE UPDATE. That’s the beautiful heritage chestnut tree at the corner of Broadway and Ocean that the Santa Cruz City Council voted to kill. This news is from Gillian Greensite of the “Save Our Big Trees” organization. “The executive committee of the Sierra Club approved the sending of a letter from the Sierra Club to Ms. Farley Kern, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Hyatt. It has been mailed today. Thank you all who emailed Ms. Kern. I hope those of you who have yet to do so can send a quick email this week. Our message is being heard and they need to hear from many more of us to be effective. farley.kern@hyatt.com The TREE PROTEST~VIGIL NEEDS A FEW MORE FOLKS THIS WEEK it continues this week on Wednesdays as always from 3-5PM at 407 Broadway under the shade of the red horse chestnut. A few regulars cannot make this week’s vigil so if you’ve been waiting to jump in, now’s the time!
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BURNING MAN. Peggy Snider sent this |
HIGHWAYS ONE & NINE NEW INTERSECTION.There are 25 Heritage trees at this intersection. Gillian Greensite says, There will be many issues protested. However the issue of the proposed removal of 25 heritage trees from the site will probably not receive much attention…until they’ve gone. The Environmental Report from the Project is vague on exactly which trees will be removed. My hunch is it will be the grove of tall eucalyptus that grow on the corner and add a bit of beauty and rural feeling to an otherwise busy intersection. Let alone bird habitat. If you can’t make the meeting, public comment will be accepted until Friday July 11th. Addressed to Matt Fowler: Senior Environmental Planner Matt.C.Fowler@dot.ca.gov. For the trees! Gillian Greensite for Save Our Big Trees
CEDAR STREET VIDEO CLOSING. Over many, many years I’ve found hundreds of film treasures at Cedar Street Video. Most of them were films that were never commercially released in the USA. Cedar Street Video stopped renting videos Monday, June 30 and will begin selling those treasures July 1-15 from noon to 7 p.m. Every four of five days the prices go down on the remaining DVD series and Blu-Ray until the 15th of July. Some grand bargains here and yes the East Cliff Video and Video 9 in Boulder Creek will remain open.
3RD ANNUAL SANTA CRUZ FRINGE FESTIVAL JULY 10-19. An amazing collection of talent both local and visiting will b e happening right here at six different venues. Check them all 150 performances by 32 different artist/groups in Santa Cruz during the 10 day festival from July 10–19. Check it all out go to www.scfringe.com for details
I’m working out a column on the county’s former “Transit Corridor Plan“, now relabeled as “The Sustainable Santa Cruz County“. Have more research to do, but with an Advisory Group of 21 members that include reps from city governments (Capitola, Santa Cruz, Chambers of Commerce, Developers (Barry Swenson Builder), Louis Rittenhouse, commercial real estate brokers, and Dominican Hospital it seems these groups will outmuscle bicycle, pedestrian and neighborhood groups. Sort of reminds of the makeup of Fred Keeley’s Transportation Funding Task Force. Another current gripe of mine, if City Official had consulted residents before they demolished the Cooper House (like they are doing with the Beach Flats Mural), the Cooper House would still be there.
(Paul Elerick is co-chair with Peter Scott of the Campaign for Sensible Transportation, http://sensibletransportation.org , and he’s a member of Nisene 2 Sea, a group of open space advocates).
SANDY LYDON’S CENTRAL COAST SECRETS. Click here to see Sandy’s Summer issue of Secrets…tours, history bits, terrible photo, etc. http://www.sandylydon.com
PATTON’S PROGRAM. Gary covers the following on this week’s KUSP Land Use Report.
The oft-dreaded Army Corps of Engineers is upgrading the levies along the Pajaro River. Monterey County is trying to achieve”Sustainable Communities” and could possibly endanger our natural world in so doing. He defines “induced demand” and discusses road projects and how new roads actually increase traffic.!!! He ends the week talking about “Development Rights” and how they are misunderstood because there aren’t any such thing as Development Rights.Read the complete scripts of the above at Gary Patton’s KUSP Land Use site http://blogs.kusp.org/landuse . Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney who represents indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmenatl issues. The opions expressed are Mr. Patton’s \. Gary has his own website, Two Worlds/365” – www.gapatton.net
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. Shark attack at the Monterey Aquarium see De Cinzo’s point of view…below a few pages.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. One more joke on Uncle Sam scroll down a bit.
MICHAEL JACKSON’S MANSION…a sneak inside! Brad Kava always on the search for “new news” sent this sneak peak inside Michael Jackson’s deserted Neverland. See photos and read the interview with the photographers here.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Look, Ma, I’m on Huff Post! This week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com), I’m all over the blogosphere, ranting about villains and fairy tales. Also, catch up with the superb Polish drama, Ida, and stand clear while I fire a broadside at the pirate TV series Crossbones. Then find out how you can win a free hardcover copy of Alias Hook from Goodreads!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
SANTA CRUZ SHAKESPEARE.From their press release…The newly formed Santa Cruz Shakespeare is proud to present its inaugural summer repertory season starting with previews on July 1 and playing through August 10, in the Sinsheimer-Stanley Festival Glen at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Tickets are available online at www.santacruztickets.com.
Santa Cruz Shakespeare (SCS) carries on the tradition of professional, thought-provoking and passionate theater in Santa Cruz, forged by its predecessor Shakespeare Santa Cruz (SSC), with two comedies to celebrate the summer and the inaugural season’s successful funding campaign last winter. The festival opens with As You Like It on July 1 followed by The Merry Wives of Windsor opening on July 13 . SCS is also proud to present two special performances of The Fringe Show: The Beard of Avon , a mad-cap comedy by Amy Freed, July 29 and August 5..
The summer festivities will include pre and post-show discussions. There’s the Weekend With Shakespeare, a two-day event, July 25 and 26, where participants will hear leading Shakespeare scholars and theatre artists share their insights into the season’s plays through lectures and discussions. Weekend participants will also see both productions in premiere seating at a discounted price. Check it all out at www.santacruzshakespeare.org
…that is the question
(new films… in order of perfection)
(new films… in order of perfection)
GORE VIDAL. The United States of Amnesia. You need to see this documentary/hymn to a real American hero. Vidal always stood up for the America he believed in and if you’ve forgotten or arent aware of hoe strong and resolute and correct in his life long attempt to make sense of hwta wqas and IS happening in the USA see this film. Read his books. And memorize his statements about our ridiculous government. Especially what he says about J.F.K. and Obama.
OBVIOUS CHILD. It’s listed as a comedy…it isn’t. It’s a gut wrenching well done portrait of a young woman coming of age in NYC. Jenny Slate plays a stand-up comic with a life that isn’t funny and Gaby Hoffman from Crystal Fairy is her buddy. You might not like Jenny’s character but you’ll face the fact that even tougher- than- shit people have feelings.
TRANSFORMERS: Age of Extinction. Mark Wahlberg and his “Autobots” fight off the “Decepticons” or something like that. In case you care (and you shouldn’t ) The Transformers now have personalities like the fat robot who smokes metal cigars and has a metal beard. There’s a Japanese Samurai robot, a southern red-neck robot, it’s just awful and it’s 2 hours and 37 minutes long. You could knit a scarf in that same amount of time. Peter Cullen is the voice of Opitmus Prime (not our Peter Cullen) one of those special effect thingees.
SNEAK PREVIEW. Roman Polanski’s Venus in Fur opens July 18. I saw an advance preview. This is Polanski’s masterpiece, a genuine master work of cinema, a genuine artistic statement and one hell of a good movie. Save that date. The film stars Emmanuelle Seigner, Polanski’s wife. The plot is from an original novel by Sacher-Masoch which is where we get the word masochism!!! (hint, hint)
Still playing at a theatre near us,
from best to really bad
from best to really bad
IDA. A very serious and wonderful film about an 18 year old girl in 1960’s Poland who is about to become a nun. Her mother dies and the girl learns she is Jewish. It’s a beautiful story of Poland, the Nazi’s, love, tradition…and should remain the “best film of the year”, if there is any real criteria in the choosing. See it asap, it’ll probably leave town quickly.
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. You’ll tear up more than laugh in this nicely made piece of cinema. Oscars, best film of the year, stuff like that is being said by audiences over and over again. Shailene Woodley (Goerge Clooney’s tean age daughter in The Descendents” takes the lead role and keeps it. Newcomer Ansel Elgort plays her teen age boyfriend, and they are both gying from cancer. Weepy, emotional and great like Greek tragedies. Go see it.
CHEF. Now, check out this cast Jon Favreau, Dustin Hoffman, John Leguizamo, Sofia Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., and Oliver Platt.It’s an original comedy all centering around food. It’s funny, touching, fast moving, and even educational!!! If you enjoy preparing food, and relish eating good food this is your movie! Chefs, food critics, restaurant owners, and normal people should see this well made film.
THE ROVER. Set in Australia ten years after “the collapse” as they call it Guy Pierce and Robert Pattinson shoot and chase evil men across an empty continent to get Pierce’s stolen car back. You’ll learn why at the very end. Pattinson plays a handicapped harmless Steinbeck-like”Lenny” that’ll remind you of Jerry Lewis in his 1950’s “spastic” comedies.
JERSEY BOYS. Like most of Clint Eastwood- directed films, Jersey Boys is about as deep as a 45 rpm disc. The same plot could have been afixed to any pop group. The acting is about as good as you can expect from such a hackneyed show biz story. Even if you’re still a Frankie Valli fan, this movie is boring.
MALEFICENT. As we all know know this is “Sleeping Beauty” gone bad. Curses, spells, special effects and Angelina Jolie’s fake jawbones plus horns make this an almost silly and phony saga. Elle Fanning who is now 16 years old is still cute as all get out. And you should get out and see some more meaningful movie.
WORDS AND PICTURES. Juliette Binoche and Clive Owen are fine actors but this flimsy, hokey film probably will hurt both of their careers. Doris Day and Rock Hudson would have been great in this “high school teachers sort of fall in love” over a debate whether words or pictures best express the human spirit. If you do see it don’t eat sweets at the same time.
EDGE OF TOMORROW. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt wade through this sci-fi time loop tour de force. It’s easy to say it’s like Groundhog’s Day, and it is but it does have some damned undefinable something that kept me awake all the way through. Don’t rush to see it, just go after you’ve seen everything else.
22 JUMP STREET. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are back again doing their dumb undercover cop thing. The film took in $111.5 million dollars the opening weekend, and what else is new??? It’s stupid, mean, crotch focussed, anti-gay, and will probably make many more millions before thet finish 23 JUMP STREET. If you do go and see this pierce of junk don’t tell me about it!
UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or sometimes old programs are archived… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. July 1st has Frank Perry director of The Capitola History Museum telling us about local baseball legend Harry Hooper and their museum exhibit. After Frank, Karla Hawkinson will talk about IotaGift.com her online business and how it helps veterans. Michael Warren and Aimee Zygmonski from Santa Cruz Shakespeare will guest on the July 8 program then Karen Egan from Bridging Warriors talks about their aims and goals. Lisa Jensen film critic and author of her new book “Alias Hook” will open the July 15 program and Ellen Primack will then talk about this year’s Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. Becca King Reed will talk about heart disease and raw food benefits on July 22 then Executive director of The Grey Bears Tim Brattan (no relation) tells all about their latest achievements. On July 29th Julie Callahan talks about the “March for Elephants” program. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always at bratton@cruzio.com
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UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE RADIO PROGRAM KZSC 88.1 FM or live online at www.KZSC.ORG TUESDAYS 7-8 P.M. |
UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 5 years here’s a chronological list of just this year’s podcasts. Click herehttp://kzsc.org/blog/tag/universal-grapevine then tap on “listen here” to hear any or all of them… all over again. The update includes Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson-Darrow, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. Hear them all!!!
QUOTES. “My life, I realize suddenly, is July. Childhood is June, and old age is August, but here it is, July, and my life, this year, is July inside of July”, Rick Bass. “No one’s gonna give a damn in July if you lost a game in March”, Earl Weaver. “Many public-school children seem to know only two dates: 1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don’t know what happened on either occasion,” Mark Twain. “Hot July brings cooling showers,
Apricots and gillyflowers,” Sara Coleridge, Pretty Lessons in Verse
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BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.
Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.
