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Sunday, July 27th

Bike Trail Bringing New Life To Old Towns
A bike trail is helping bring new life to forgotten towns in Southwestern Pennsylvania.


In 2007, Somerset County officials counted 31 new businesses started as a direct result of the Great Allegheny Passage. The Trail Town Program, an arm of the non-profit Progress Fund and supported by government and foundation money, helped start 11 new businesses last year alone. Halfway into 2008, Trail Town has aided eight more, and assisted with another two.


Read the article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 07.27.08 @ 16:13PST

The Brooklyn Colonist
Check out the new Brooklyn design available in our marketplace!
Click here

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 07.27.08 @ 15:34PST

Sunday, July 20th

A New Twist on Dinner
At a local restaurant the other night, that I won't name, I hadn't been prepared to pay cash. The waiter informed me where the nearest ATM was, or, he said, "you can come back and pay it tomorrow." I couldn't believe it either, and that's the option I chose. On thinking about it, it's a pretty busy place and they probably save quite a bit by not paying credit card fees, and if one of every ten people who "will pay tomorrow," never do, they probably still come out ahead. The other nine might eat there again since they have to come back anyway. Sounds like it could be a better way to do things. At minimum, it gave me a pretty good impression of the place and since I do want to eat there again, I promptly went back to pay.

I would love to plug the place, but don't want to give anyone ideas about where to get a free meal. It'll be on our new Brooklyn page when I get around to building that. (The place shown is not the one I am writing about).

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 07.20.08 @ 13:46PST

Urban American Now Experiencing Black Flight
Chicago, New York, San Francisco are losing black residents, changing neighborhoods and remaking urban America. see the article in the Wall Street Journal.

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 07.20.08 @ 12:42PST

Batman in Chicago
The new Batman Movie, The Dark Knight depicts, pretty obviously, Chicago as Gotham. I have two questions. First, is this because of the mob element or the was it too sensitive to set a movie with so much terrorist acivity in New York? Second, has New York gotten so safe that the image as Gotham is no longer believable?

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 07.20.08 @ 12:34PST

Thursday, July 10th

New Orleans Fastest Growing
New Orleans, hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, was the fastest-growing large city in the nation between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007. This follows the city having the largest rate of population loss since 2000.

Houston, another city near the Gulf Coast, led the nation’s cities in numerical increase during the period. New Orleans had the fifth largest numerical growth.

U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today show New Orleans’ population rose by 13.8 percent to 239,124 during the one-year period, to lead all cities with populations of 100,000 or more in rate of increase. New Orleans was followed by Victorville, Calif., whose population climbed 9.5 percent to 107,221. Victorville, in Southern California’s San Bernardino County, saw its population pass the 100,000 mark for the first time in 2007.

Three Texas cities made the fastest-growing top 10: McKinney and Denton (near Dallas, ranking third and 10th, respectively) and Killeen (near Austin, ranking sixth). Rounding out the top 10 were North Las Vegas, Nev. (fourth); Cary, N.C. (near Raleigh, ranking fifth); Port St. Lucie, Fla. (on the Atlantic coast, seventh); Gilbert, Ariz. (near Phoenix, eighth); and Clarksville, Tenn. (on the Kentucky border, ninth).

Houston added 38,932 residents between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, to lead the nation in numerical population increase. Houston, which reached 2.2 million, was joined by three other Texas cities: San Antonio (third), Fort Worth (fourth) and Austin (eighth). North Carolina also contributed multiple cities to the list: Charlotte (ninth) and Raleigh (10th). Rounding out the top 10 were Phoenix (second), New Orleans (fifth), New York (sixth) and Atlanta (seventh).

New York continued to be the nation’s most populous city, with 8.3 million residents. This was more than twice the population of Los Angeles, which ranked second at 3.8 million. Chicago, with 2.8 million, was third, followed by Houston and Phoenix (1.6 million). (See Table 3. [Excel])

Other highlights:

2006-2007

New to the listing of the 25 most populous cities in 2007 is Nashville-Davidson, Tenn. (a city-county consolidation), 25th with a population of 590,807. In addition, Fort Worth moved up to 17th place; Charlotte to 19th; and Milwaukee to 22nd. Washington fell out of the top 25.

California and Texas each placed five cities on the listing of the 25 fastest-growing and on the list of the 25 biggest numerical gainers between 2006 and 2007.

Other cities making both lists of the 25 largest numerical gainers and the 25 fastest-growing from 2006 to 2007: New Orleans; Victorville; North Las Vegas; Port St. Lucie; Gilbert; Fort Worth; Raleigh; Atlanta; Henderson, Nev.; and Bakersfield, Calif.

Columbus, Ga., had the largest percentage decrease from 2006 to 2007. Its population decline is attributable to a decline in the population living in military barracks. Columbus was followed by Baton Rouge, La.; Hollywood, Fla.; Jackson, Miss.; and Coral Springs, Fla. Six of the 25 fastest-losing cities were in Florida.

Cleveland suffered the largest numerical decline in population from 2006 to 2007, followed by Columbus, Ga.; Baton Rouge; Philadelphia; and Baltimore.

2000-2007

McKinney, Texas, was the nation’s fastest-growing city between April 1, 2000, and July 1, 2007, as its population more than doubled to 115,620. North Las Vegas was second, as its population rose 83.6 percent to 212,114. Eight of the top 25 were in California: Victorville, Elk Grove, Irvine, Roseville, Rancho Cucamonga, Moreno Valley, Bakersfield and Fontana.

New York was the largest numerical gainer, adding 265,873 residents over the period. Houston, which added 233,876, was second. Five other Texas cities made the top 25: San Antonio, Fort Worth, Austin, McKinney and Dallas.

New Orleans experienced both the largest rate of loss and largest numerical decline during the period, as its population fell 50.7 percent (from 484,674 to 239,124). Cleveland had the second greatest rate of loss (8.3 percent, from 477,472 to 438,042), with Philadelphia ranking second in numerical decrease (from 1,517,550 to 1,449,634).

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 07.10.08 @ 17:18PST

So Who Owns the Road?
The Texas Department of Transportation just released an analysis of gas tax economics that ought to deflate the pompous arrogance of those drivers who typically really do believe they own the road. To quote:

...No road pays for itself in gas taxes and fees. For example, in Houston, the 15 miles of SH 99 from I-10 to US 290 will cost $1 billion to build and maintain over its lifetime, while only generating $162 million in gas taxes. That gives a tax gap ratio of .16, which means that the real gas tax rate people would need to pay on this segment of road to completely pay for it would be $2.22 per gallon. This is just one example, but there is not one road in Texas that pays for itself based on the tax system of today. Some roads pay for about half their true cost, but most roads we have analyzed pay for considerably less.

Read the full article at Texas DOT: Do Roads Pay for Themselves?

Other analyses over the years have shown that most roads cover about half or less of their costs from fuel and car taxes and fees in the US.

This means that those of us who use less road surface (such as cyclists, transit users, stay-at-homes) subsidize road hogs. (Mass transit uses roadways more efficiently than cars do, and of course rail transit doesn't use them at all.)

In other words, we really own the damn road!

Richard Risemberg (rrisemberg@newcolonist.com), on 07.10.08 @ 17:03PST

Monday, July 7th

Gas In The News
Forbes recently did a list of top citie sto cut your gas bill. You might have guessed Baltimore and San Francisco, but the list also includes Phoenix and Los Angeles. Number one is DC. New York isn't on the list. Meanwhile the New York Times ran a map showing where the greatest portion of your income is eaten up by gas prices. Wilcox County, Alabama takes that prize at 16 percent. Another rates areas in their affordability factoring housing and then housing and transportation. The suburbs may not be as affordable as you think! Link

Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 07.07.08 @ 17:28PST