Budget priority: public safety

Over the past month the City of Madison has been holding community budget forums on different aspects of the 2011 city budget. Tonight's final forum at Warner Park is on public safety. Due to a prior commitment I can't attend, but here's what I'd say if I was there.

Mind the gap...the City replies

Two days after I started this blog and posted about the Ruskin Street bike boulevard proposal, City Traffic Engineer David Dryer replied to the email I sent his office over a week ago. I appreciate the reply, but I don't think it really answered the questions that were asked.

What's the big deal? It's just a few signs

Early feedback on yesterday's post about the Ruskin Street bike boulevard proposal falls into two camps: residents who feel the City isn't particularly concerned about what the neighborhood thinks (one reader called it "cramming down our throats") and folks who wonder what the problem is. "It's just a few signs, you'll hardly notice."

Really?

The Bike Boulevard

About a month ago, my neighbors and I got a postcard from the City inviting us to a meeting at the library, where we'd be presented with the City's proposal to turn Ruskin Street into a bike boulevard.

So what's the plan?

Welcome to Ruskin Street

Hello, my name is Dan. My wife and I live on the corner of Ruskin and Manley Streets, on Madison's lovely (and affordable!) Northside. In most respects it's a typical, quiet residential street in a mid-sized Midwestern city.

This blog is about the issues facing those of us who live on or near Ruskin Street. Planners, organizations, and City Hall have some big ideas for our part of town.

Unfortunately, our Sherman neighborhood doesn't have the political muscle that folks on Willy or Monroe Streets enjoy. As a neighborhood in transition from older folks to young families, it's time for that to change. Hopefully this blog can be a part of that.

To my neighbors old and new, welcome! Be part of the conversation!