September 2004

Guest Post by Patrick McDonough

On September 22, 2004, Orange County residents will join millions of others around the globe and celebrate World Car Free Day by leaving their cars at home.

Orange County residents who make a pledge to go Car Free for the day or go “Car Lite,” and reduce their number of drive-alone automobile trips will be entered in a drawing for prizes. Pledge forms can be picked up at Weaver Street Market, Whole Foods Market, Chapel Hill Town Hall, or Carrboro Town Hall. People can also pledge online at www.gocarfree.com . The EPA estimates that if 10 cars are taken off the road for only one day, 314 pounds of carbon dioxide are removed from the atmosphere.

The goal of Car Free Day is to have fun while reducing the overall use of cars in the community, and raising awareness of the social, environmental, and public health benefits of communities that are not dependent upon the automobile.

Guest Post by Joe Baysdon

Chapel Hill, brace yourself for a more than 275% increase in traffic to and from northern Chatham County. Our County Commissioners have opened the floodgates to developers, and within the next ten years, you folks using 15-501 in southern Orange County will share our pain.

The Briar Chapel development, proposed to be built just west of 15-501, 5 miles south of the county line, will be responsible for 55% of that increased traffic. Furthermore, after looking over Newland's (the developer's) traffic projections and speaking with Robert Eby of CCEC, I believe a 275% estimated increase is too low. That's because northern Chatham has several more developments awaiting approval which are not accounted for in Newland's projections. These developments include Booth Mountain and Pittsboro Station. Also, the Obey's Creek development has been proposed in Orange County.

Is it the New Year's Eve romance yeilding September babies? In addition to OP's first birthday, this weekend also brings the 34th birthday of two close friends of mine (both of whom will be at the OP party), and the Flicker Festival's Tenth Birthday!

I have been a loyal Flicker-watcher since it's early days at Local 506, so while this anniversary makes me happy, it also makes me feel really old. ;-} Flicker will be observing it's tenth year with a variety of activities:

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23

The three day event will begin Thursday at the original Flicker venue, Local 506, when all past and current Flicker directors will screen films. Norwood Cheek's "Young Rock" will wrap up the evening and features 17 music videos from bands such as Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, and Polvo. The film provides a veritable slice of the Chapel Hill music scene back from 1994.

8 pm Local 506, Chapel Hill (919) 942-5506

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

This was surprising news: Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools (you know, the ones that are overcrowded because of the rapid growth of our school-aged community) only added 68 new students this school year. This was so far under expectations that they may have to give some money back to the state. Don't worry - both high schools are still over capacity.

I haven't noticed any radical changes in development patterns. The only explanations I can think of are charter schools taking in more students, or the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (SAPFO). But I don't think SAPFO has been implemented yet. The Chapel Hill News called it a "pause" in our ongoing growth spurt. I wonder if this could this signal a significant change in our development patterns?