Senators Introduce Bill on Complete Streets « Policy News for Planners

This should help our local Metropolitan Planning Organization and last week's High Noon in Lake Worth guest Bret Baronak incorporate bicycle and pedestrian amenities in future transportation projects. Click title for link.

The Safe Streets Act would require that within two years, each state and metropolitan planning organization adopt a complete streets policy that ensures all new federally funded transportation projects accommodate the safety and convenience of all users. The bill defines transportation projects as road construction and road modification projects, including design, planning, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, maintenance, and operations.

Click here for some recent High Noon in Lake Worth shows which highlight the "complete streets" concept.

Today's Program at the Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast - 2/10/14

Video up shortly from the Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast - 2/10/14 @ the Casino Ballroom

This was a very nice gesture on the part of the city. Seventy people RSVP'd, but about half that showed up as there were lots of bags with favors left on the table as you came into the ballroom. Many municipalities don't recognize volunteers to this extent. Thank you City of Lake Worth.

10:35 AM Flagler Bridge Has Re-Opened to Traffic

"The Flagler Bridge has re-opened to traffic after a damaged electrical switch was replaced." - Town of Palm Beach

Delray plans tourism blitz, ready to launch app - Sun Sentinel

More evidence that Delray Beach is in a class by itself. The CRA and Chamber of Commerce are jointly promoting Delray Beach as a national travel destination. Remember, they have the most expensive hotel rooms in the state. Click title for link. Read about the new app they are creating with Rand McNally:

The organization is getting some added assistance on the national spotlight.
Delray Beach is one of several test cities mapping giant Rand McNally chose to create a $15,000 cell phone app, which Immelman expects to launch in February.
"We want to put some thought into the launch," she said.
Immelman worked closely with Rand McNally's design team on the app, which is focused on places around Delray Beach "to give a fuller picture of the city."
Delray Beach was chosen for the app after winning "Most Fun Small Town" in 2012.
"We keep reaping the benefits of that," Immelman said.

Neighbors to demand West Palm Beach shut down 45th Street Flea... | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Here is an example of neighborhoods working together to address a serious issue. It is made more complicated by the fact that the property that contains the 45th Street Flea Market straddles two jurisdictions, West Palm Beach and Mangonia Park. Reading the article, click title for link, it seems as though the cities have problems regulating the businesses within the property. Some may be unlicensed. The property owner is pointing to the neighborhoods as a source of the crime problem. Mayor Muoio is wading through this thorny issue. From the article:

On Monday, residents of the Echo Lakes, Westfield and North Shore associations will meet with the mayor to outline “the damaging, deleterious and sometimes deadly impact the Flea Market has had on their communities for nearly a quarter of a century,” Jacqueline Smith of Concerned Residents of Westfield said in a release.
She said the residents also want “to vigorously counter the assertion of the Flea Market owners and manager that their neighborhoods are crime-ridden and need to be cleaned up.” Property Owner Sidney Spiegel had said at the Jan. 28 meeting it’s not his fault the market is surrounded by an area plagued by crime.

Five lagoon counties join forces to help waterway | FLORIDA TODAY | floridatoday.com

Lots of cooperation and coordination around addressing the Indian River Lagoon's water quality issues. Officials are being encouraged to "ask for the moon", in terms of assistance from the federal government. Click title for link. Here is what they are doing:

Commissioners from five counties, including Brevard, agreed Friday that they must stick together — and stick to the science — to save the Indian River Lagoon.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen the five counties coming together,” Bill Kerr, an environmental consultant from Brevard, said before a crowd of more than 100 at FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce.

It’s a City Street, Not a Superhighway

From the Biscayne Times out of Miami, this is an article regarding traffic-calming along Biscayne Boulevard and the on-going fight with FDOT regarding revamping the roadway to encourage lower speeds and fewer accidents. There are parallels in this discussion to the situation that we face on Dixie Hwy. Part of the reason the properties along the street are not thriving is that the thoroughfare is not pedestrian friendly and there is no on street parking south of the West Palm Beach/Lake Worth line. Click title for link to article. Here is a bit:

Known as the MiMo Streetscape Visioning Plan, it was drawn up by two University of Miami architecture professors. Its purpose: Find ways to slow down traffic along Biscayne Boulevard, between 61st and 77th streets, in order make it safer for pedestrians to cross the street, and to increase business for local merchants operating in that area.
At first it seemed the street improvements were a done deal. Engineers from the Florida Department of Transportation, the official custodian of Biscayne Boulevard, appeared to be receptive. (See “Boulevard Vision: Slow Down, Park, Shop,” August 2010.)
But FDOT ultimately rejected the plans. Their main objection was the installation of medians, which engineers argued would obstruct local residents trying to drive out of their neighborhoods.
“The department conducted a study to evaluate the placement of medians on the corridor,” FDOT spokesman Brian Rick says in an e-mail to the BT. “The study concluded there would be impacts that would result in additional travel distances for residents who live east and west of Biscayne Boulevard.” Rick says the medians would have other detrimental consequences as well, but by deadline did not address FDOT’s objection to additional parallel parking.

Delray hotel rates tops in state | Your Delray Boca

According to TravelMag.com, Delray Beach is the most expensive place to stay overnight in a hotel. The site that this post is linked to, click title to go there, is more than slightly biased toward Delray Beach. However, it is important to note that the least expensive double room is just two dollars shy of $300 per night. The article points out Delray having an ideal location, between Boca Raton and West Palm Beach. Hey, wait a minute, Lake Worth shares that same enviable location. Here you can stay at the Silver Lions Motel for $50 a night.

Lets talk about supply and demand here. According to this, Delray Beach is surpassing Palm Beach in having the most expensive, least expensive room. One would think that there is indeed a market for quality hotel rooms . Note there are criteria included in the survey that weed out the not-well-reviewed properties. You really would think that we could fill some of the holes downtown with hotel properties given these rates.

Here is what the article concludes:

So what does this all mean?
Well, we spoke to a couple of local hoteliers, who shared with us their take on the list.
First, these rates are being achieved, so if you believe in the free market, a lot of tourists are finding a lot of value in Delray Beach.
Second, the city must be doing something right to attract these rates during the height of the season.
Third, the Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau might want to start pushing Delray a tad bit more, with apologies to our neighbors Boca Raton, Wellington and Palm Beach.
Fourth, attracting some moderate priced hotel options might not be a bad idea. (The Fairfield Inn, which is underway at I-95 and West Atlantic Avenue might be just what the doctor ordered).

Perhaps Lake Worth is destined to fill in the vast moderate priced category?

From the Town of Palm Beach this morning: Flagler Bridge Temporarily Closed Due to Mechanical Issue

"The Town has been notified that the Flagler Bridge is temporarily closed due to a mechanical issue. Contractors are on site reviewing the situation and the bridge will be reopened as quickly as possible. The initial assessment is that this is an electrical problem and not an indication of structural concerns."

Set to Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers"

Join Sally Welsh and a lot of other cool peeps at the Lake Worth Municipal Pool Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at 10 a.m. $4 to enter if you are a Lake Worth resident.

Occupy Our Homes moves into Palm Beach County | www.mypalmbeachpost.com

Something to keep in mind related to battle against foreclosures and resulting vacant, bank-owned properties. Lake Worth is particularly affected by the crisis. We still have a large inventory of vacant and foreclosed homes - some estimate that there are a total of 2,000 here. This organization is following an activist route, even shutting down bank branches by sit-ins if those banks prove to be uncooperative in modifying loans. Click title for link. From the article:

An offshoot of the infamous Occupy Wall Street movement is taking up residence in Palm Beach County with a grassroots effort to keep homes from foreclosure.
Occupy Our Homes Palm Beach County is expected to set up an office as early as this month with two full-time organizers who will run campaigns to fight foreclosure and teach homeowners how to conduct their own activism, said Tim Franzen, a member of the Occupy Our Homes national steering committee.
“We get more phone calls from Palm Beach County than almost anywhere else in the country right now,” Franzen said. “The national movement has had an eye on the area, and we decided in the fall to make it a priority to get a thriving chapter down there.”

Floating house finds a home - Sun Sentinel

The house without a home is finally going to find one, in North Carolina. A number of local relocation spots have been tried, but none came together at the right time with enough resources. The house is now dismantled and it will be moved in pieces. Lake Worth was one of the alternatives attempted. Click title for link. From the article:

The 111-year-old Stambaugh Cottage, which floated on a barge in the Lake Worth Lagoon for close to three years, is packing up and moving north.
The historic home, which escaped demolition in May 2011, was dismantled last month by its owner Jim Vance.
But the story isn't over for the house which is affectionately referred to as "little house that could." Vance plans to rebuild the home as a bridal cottage at his North Carolina property, The Vineyard at 37 High Holly.

And this from the end of the article. The house dates from 1903.

Jane Day, president of Research Atlantica Incorporated said, "the county and South Florida lost an educational opportunity. It's not so much about the Stambaugh cottage, but more about what living around Lake Worth was like a hundred years ago."

Keep it civil | www.palmbeachdailynews.com

Palm Beach is still reeling from last week's election and the campaign season that led up to it. The last thing you want to be in Palm Beach is to be rude. Politeness and courtesy is general the way of the world over on the island. However, the gloves came off in this recent election, with a significant amount of resources dedicated to besmirch your opponent. Not all is over and done with as they have another election on the PUD-5 ordinance which may bring its own brand of craziness and over-the-top representations (or more likely misrepresentations) of fact. Click title for link for the Shiny Sheet editorial on the topic. 

We have come to expect bitter, no-holds-barred fighting in presidential elections. But small-town Palm Beach campaigns traditionally have been more civil — with debates, luncheons and meet-and-greets.
This year, they turned ugly fast. David Rosow, who did not seek a fourth term, was correct when he said political attacks have sunk the town to an “impossible new low.”
With five candidates vying for two seats, it was high-spirited until mean-spirited fliers turned up in residents’ mailboxes.

Why Climate Change Denial Is Biggest Conservative Lie of All – Forward.com

Interesting and hard-hitting article on climate change and global warming from a Jewish perspective. It's time that the deniers face the music and stop distorting the reality of what is happening around us. Click title for link. From the article:

Are conservatives ever right?
They were wrong about slavery, wrong about women’s suffrage, wrong about segregation, wrong about gay rights. They were wrong about trickle down economics – it’s never worked and never will, as the ballooning wealth gap proves once again. They were wrong about Iraq (where are those WMD’s, anyway?) and wrong about Vietnam before it. They’re even wrong about evolution (in which only 43% of Republicans believe).
But no error, no misguided application of ideology, no deception is more damaging than the web of lies that conservatives have spun about climate change.