Hello everyone! Here’s what’s going on:
Most Important Items First
Council Member Arlis Reynolds is hosting her monthly Costa Mesa Community Ride this SUNDAY (8/18) at 2:00pm. Meet at Heller Park (239 E 16th St in Costa Mesa); arrive at 2 for a departure from the park at 2:30 (should be back by 4). The ride will head to six Costa Mesa parks, a county park, the community gardens on Del Mar, and Newport Back Bay all in less than 8 nearly-flat miles; we'll wrap up with FroYo. EVERYONE is welcome on this casual ride - bring a friend and support bicycling in Costa Mesa while getting a tour of the eastside!
On MONDAY, August 19th we’ll be having our monthly meeting. The topic this month is tactical urbanism - a technique wherein neighbors identify problem spots in the city and figure out how we might improve things, or at the very least, get people to think outside the box (e.g., painting crosswalks with spray chalk; using planters to put in a temporary bike lane; put in a temporary traffic circle). The meeting will be on the OCC campus in the Ronnenberg Center for Sustainability, room 101 (located at the north end of the Adams parking lot). We want to hear from you! Come with ideas, and bring a friend! Starts at 7:00pm.
In Case You Missed It…
CITYLAB. If you read only one article this week, be sure to check out Andrew Small’s excellent piece on Why Speed Kills Cities. There are enough links embedded to keep you busy learning about Woonerfs, “20 is Plenty” campaigns, and plenty more.
The WAR ON CARS podcast released a summer special: an interview with comedian, podcaster, and TV personality Adam Conover. It’s clear, compelling, and very funny. Find it wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here. If you enjoy listening to Mr. Conover, you can find his recent interview with LADOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds here. (Seriously, these interviews are way more entertaining than you’d imagine.)
Bad news
While Senate Bill 127 had been making its way along handsomely in Sacramento, it has finally hit its inevitable speed bump. See here and here if you need a refresher on what the bill is and why it’s important. In a nutshell, the California Director of Finance has written in opposition to the bill, claiming that it will place too much of a financial burden on the State. As always, Streetblog does an excellent job of covering this painful story so the rest of us can understand. See here.
Upcoming Events
The first public outreach meeting for the proposed Newport Blvd roadway widening is rumored to be scheduled for the end of September. Keep that in your head and stay tuned for updates.
The first public outreach meeting for the proposed Paularino Channel bikeway improvement project is rumored to be scheduled for September. We’ll let you know more details when we hear!
Schedule
Board meetings occur fourth Mondays at 7pm. Anyone is welcome to join, but they are more bureaucratic. Drop us a note if you’d like to join us.
General meetings occur third Mondays at 7pm. These meetings are when the whole group gets together to go over relevant updates in the city, discuss big ideas, and strategize about when, where, and how to act next in furthering our mission.
Website
As always, these news blasts are catalogued on the site: CMABS.ORG (under News). Check it out!
This Email Blast
Feel free to forward this to your friends and neighbors! If you would like to receive an email like this one every other week, please let russell@cmabs.org know. Twice a month we’ll try to provide a quick rundown of everything happening in the city that relates to the quality of our streets so that you can stay informed. If you have any ideas or suggestions as to how this email blast might be better or more useful, please let us know.
-The CMABS Team