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Comment Spam
By the way, comment spam on Lincolnite finally forced me to require non-logged-in visitors to answer a CAPTCHA before being allowed to comment. Please let me know if you have any problems with the new system.
The Plan
Yesterday I downloaded the Lincoln Downtown Master Plan and the accompanying Lincoln Downtown Design Guidelines. The two documents are filled with lots of interesting (and extremely ambitious) stuff. I think I will try to put together a few posts describing the contents of the documents, peppered with my assessment of concepts big and small. I will probably try to do a five-part series. If you have any topics you would like me to cover, or questions you would like answered, please let me know.
Nealo is Feeling a Little Cornered
Neal Obermeyer’s latest cartoon* touches on a topic I brought up yesterday. Very nice, Neal!
*The cartoon wasn’t online yet this morning, but I assume it will show up soon.
Wanted: One Home for a Mediocre Chinese Restaurant
If anybody out there has a home for Taste of China, Mayor Seng would love to hear from you. Taste of China remains the lone hold-up in the quest to start up the request for proposals process for the proposed Downtown high rise.
In related news, the Douglas 3 should start coming down this fall to make way for the new “civic plaza”. But what’s this?
The civic plaza would be bordered by a four- to five-story building filled with retail shops on the ground floor and possibly offices or housing on upper floors.
I don’t remember that being a part of the plan. I thought the entirety of the Douglas 3 property was going to be converted to greenspace open space. If a chunk of the property is going to be turned into a new building, isn’t the plaza going to be awfully tiny?
Pirogi to the People
A bit of Downtown dining news: looks like a new restaurant is opening between Oso Burrito and Abloom the flower shop (the name of which escapes me right now). A sign for Inna’s Pirogi Cafe popped up recently. Looks like one worth checking out when it opens.
If you’re wondering, a pirogi is a crescent-shaped dumpling of unleavened dough, stuffed with sauerkraut, cheese, mashed potatoes, cabbage, onion, meat, or fruit.
Dehumanizing
Is there any better way to dehumanize a people than to feel the need to justify their humanity?
Downtown Differences
Whether or not you like Lincoln’s efforts over the years to keep Downtown alive and kicking, at least some of those efforts have obviously made a difference. I witnessed the perfect illustration on Sunday. I was in Downtown Omaha around 1:00pm on Sunday. Cars were all but non-existent, and I didn’t see a single pedestrian. Not one. Two hours later I was in Downtown Lincoln. Not only was Downtown abuzz, I had a heck of a time finding a parking spot and I almost had to resort to using a parking garage.
I don’t always agree with the methods used to support Downtown, but clearly something is drawing folks to Downtown Lincoln in a way that Omaha can’t match. A downtown district cannot thrive if it’s a 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday district. Downtown Lincoln clearly is not, and that makes me very pleased.
And Then There Were Two?
The Arena Task Force has moved away from the Haymarket Post Office site and is now focusing primarily on the two remaining sites: behind the train station, and the south end of the Haymarket. That’s not to say the Post Office location is completely out of the running, but it’s clearly the least favorite child.
So which of the last two makes the most sense? I don’t know that there is a clear frontrunner. The train station location, done right, could be really neat. The station would act as the front door, giving new life to a neat old building. The south location, on the other hand, would clean up a chunk of Downtown that isn’t currently much to look at, and it would extend the reach of the active portion of the Haymarket. It’s the latter point that really intrigues me. But the devil is in the details.
Frankly, I’m still a little interested in the possibilities of a location east of Downtown. There are probably more complications over there, but I like the idea, at least in theory, of an arena and convention center kicking off development in Antelope Valley. We already know John Q. Hammons likes the area, so other developers would be certain to jump in as well.
Fairly Successful
The Journal Star’s positive coverage sure didn’t hurt anything, but my impression is that the State Fair earned itself some good ratings from visitors this year. The final attendance count isn’t in yet, but it sounds like it should be up from last year. Even slow, incremental progress is good news for the Fair at this point.
That being said, the Nebraska State Fair still doesn’t have that “killer” feature, nor does it offer the whole shebang to draw in the widest possible range of visitors. But if attendance keeps creeping up each year it demonstrates a commitment by visitors, and that, in turn, means they will make their preferences known.
A few of my suggestions:
- The Fair has to find a way to upgrade some of State Fair Park’s facilities. Whether that be in the form of new facilities or remodeled existing facilities, a facelift is in order. Perhaps the Fair Board should play the lottery...
- I like that there were “hot spots” and “calm spots” across the fairgrounds, but some spots were just plain dead. Some of the dead spots really sapped the Fair’s energy. They need to find a way either to get rid of those dead spots, or to somehow convert them into assets.
- The proselytizer-to-vendor ratio was way too high. The solution, I think, is more vendors and activity booths, rather than fewer proselytizers. (Not that I’m a fan of being told I’m going to Hell while I’m trying to have a good time at the State Fair.)
- How about more free activities for adults? How-to seminars; state government information booths; a variety of lectures, speeches, and debates; and so on. They don’t all have to be big draws (although some should be, of course). Instead, the mere presence of more activities and options makes the Fair more interesting.
What are your suggestions?
Room Temperature
72 degrees. That’s the highest expected temperature for this Labor Day weekend. A good portion of the crowd at today’s Husker game will be wearing jackets. Jackets at the first game of the season. I’m speechless.
72. Wow.
It’s Game Day!
It’s game day, ladies and gentlemen, as the Huskers return to Memorial Stadium to kick off the 2006 season. And that means it’s time for one of my almost-never-accurate score predictions:
Huskers 52
La. Tech 17
There you have it. If you picked that score, you can rest assured you’re going to lose the pool this week.
Go Big Red!
Phriday Phood
Mr. T and I dropped by Phreddy’s Phillies (or whatever Papa John’s is going to be called) for a couple philly cheesesteaks. For five bucks ($5.50 to add mushrooms and jalapenos) you get a bunch of meat, onions, and green peppers stacked on a fresh roll, along with a pile of seasoned french fries. Healthfood it ain’t—Mr. T likened his post-eating condition to having raw egg yolks flowing through his veins—but if you’re looking for a good cheesesteak, you aren’t really interested in its healthfulness, are you?
I’ve been hankering for a good cheesesteak in the Downtown area for a few months. I think I’ve found my place.
I Didn’t Write It, But I Agree
Note to Lincolnite readers: I’m not Phuong Phan who wrote in to the Journal Star today, but I’ve said these basic words before:
To get to my house, I have to take a few turns first through the neighborhood. Now, we all know that the law states: at a residential intersection, the car to the right of you has the right of way. I’ve noticed some people decide that it’s the car on the “road most traveled.” The first couple of intersections in the neighborhood are the ones that worry me the most because they’re the busiest. Turning into a neighborhood from a busy street that has a 40-mph speed limit, it’s hard to maintain a slower 25 mph for the first couple of blocks.
People assume that since they’re on a “main road” that shoots straight through the neighborhood, they have the right of way all the way through. I think we should regulate this better by putting in a couple of yield signs. If we don’t, accidents are bound to happen and it will be harder to determine who’s at fault.
Can the Man in the Klan
The case of Former Nebraska State Patrol Trooper Robert Henderson is fascinating to me. Long story short, Mr. Henderson is a member of a group associated with the Ku Klux Klan. The State Patrol didn’t think that was consistent with its principles, so it fired him. Now, Henderson has also been fired from the Nebraska Safety Council.
The fascinating part, to me, is the question of where the line is drawn regarding which organizations a person can belong to, and which beliefs he can profess, before it is OK for the government to act against him. There are easy cases: a person who has expressed a desire to kill the President probably shouldn’t be allowed to work with the Secret Service, no matter how qualified he may be. Henderson’s case is somewhat fuzzier. He hasn’t broken the law, he hasn’t been accused of failing to properly do his job. Instead, he was fired only for his association with an organization.
It’s easy to understand why the Patrol wouldn’t want a person associated with the Klan among its ranks. The missions of the Patrol and the Klan are, shall we say, inconsistent with each other. I don’t think I would have any problem with the Patrol not hiring a person like Henderson. But firing him for his association with an organization feels very wrong.
I don’t expect many of you agree with me, and that’s fine. But if you don’t, I ask this of you: Where is the line? Who gets to draw the line? Which organizations and beliefs are OK, and which are not?
Student On Board
I always used to think it was an innocent accident when bus drivers left a student on board. Although I still consider it an accident—albeit occasionally with tragic consequences—I’m now more inclined to think of it as an act of negligence rather than an accident. Why? Because it happens all the time, and bus drivers (and others responsible for helping with buses) ought to know better. The latest such incident in Lincoln happened on Monday. LPS procedures require bus drivers and bus aides to check the bus to ensure this doesn’t happen; they didn’t, and it did. Checking the bus ought to be as automatic as stopping at railroad tracks. Why isn’t it?
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