“I have found repeatedly that the person that takes their bicycle on an inhospitable street is trying to do the very thing that many complain those in poverty don’t do: get to and from their job.”

You can read the whole post here.

“The Total Mobility Plan is an in-depth planning effort which will emphasize sustainability, Complete Streets, Context Sensitive Design, non-motorized transportation and transit. The Plan will address the transportation network and specific facilities, but also the interaction between transportation and the community as a whole.  The thoroughfare planning component will address facilities for auto traffic, bicycles, pedestrians, and public transit vehicles, including intersections.  Workshop attendees will map context areas, creating a vision of the desired character in each community. The thoroughfare standards will then be shaped to achieve that vision.”

It’s encouraging to hear the phrase Complete Streets used in this context, as many of the area’s most important streets are woefully incomplete when it comes to safely accommodating pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders. The meetings will be held at the following times and locations from 5-6:30 p.m., and will use a “Drop in when you can!” format.

Tuesday, Jan. 10
Islands High School Career Counseling Center, 170 Whitemarsh Island Road

Tuesday, Jan. 17
Armstrong Atlantic State University – Armstrong Center, 13040 Abercorn St.

Thursday, Jan. 19
First Presbyterian Church, 520 Washington Ave.

For more information, contact Mark Wilkes at (912) 651-1451 or wilkesm [at] thempc.org

• With My Own Two Wheels: “The story of four people whose lives have been deeply changed by bikes.”
• One Plastic Beach: A pair of artists “have collected plastic trash along a one-kilometer stretch of beach near their home in Northern California”. They make art from the debris, which they collect at a rate of up to “35 pounds per hour.”
• Chasing Water: “Photojournalist Peter McBride sets out to document the flow of the Colorado River from source to sea.”

More information is available on the Festival tour website.

“Put in place an SBC Bike Restoration and Education Center, to serve as a center of cycling activities in Savannah-Chatham, to provide a physical presence for SBC and to allow for collection and rehabilitation of discarded bicycles to be put into safe operating condition and distributed to members of the community who have limited means for transportation and often resort to dangerously ill-fitted, poorly maintained bicycles. Distribution of these bikes  will be a means to improve mobility for this at risk community and to allow us to deliver basic bike safety education and equipment.”

Tax deductible donations will be matched at 100 percent for the first $4,000 raised. For more information, visit the Savannah Bicycle Campaign website.

Volunteers should be sure to wear long sleeved shirts, long pants and closed-toe shoes with socks to help protect from sun, bugs and plants, and may bring work gloves, bypass pruners and pruning shears if they have them. Refreshments, community service hours, gloves and tools will be provided. Please park at the east end of the shopping center parking lot at 2150 Bonna Bella Ave. For more information call 912-233-8733 or visit the Savannah Tree Foundation website.

“Volunteers are needed to help young trees as they mature into an urban forest at the Westlake reforestation site by  staking and mulching. This afternoon event will entail some hard work, but promises to be a fun afternoon and will help Savannah’s newest urban forest. Refreshments and community service credit provided. Tools and gloves also provided for volunteers who don’t have them. Please wear closed toe shoes, long pants and long sleeves. Gloves and eye protection are helpful, too. Meet at the Westlake site by the service road at the south end of Oriole Road at 2 p.m.”

Call 912-233-8733 or email karen [at] savannahtree.com to RSVP for this volunteer opportunity.

“Topping the list is the Ogeechee River where a textile manufacturing plant in Screven County is blamed for a fish kill earlier this year in which 30,000 fish perished. Rayonier’s pulp mill in Jesup, the proposed Savannah River Harbor deepening project…”

The  group identifies a lack of regulation as a key cause of pollution in Georgia Rivers:

” The Coalition blames continuing funding cuts to Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD) and a lack of political will to aggressively enforce state and federal environmental laws and implement state policy that better protects and manages Georgia’s water.”

This is the first year the list has been compiled. The complete report can be viewed here.

Well Fed Savannah is sponsoring the Savannah Food Day Festival Saturday, Oct. 22 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Mother Matilda Beasley Park on East Broad Street. What is Food Day? Organizers describe it as “an Earth Day for Food.”

“Aimed at promoting healthy, sustainable, affordable, and just food systems in America, Food Day is a national grassroots mobilization backed by some of the most prominent voices for energizing the food movement … people will gather at events big and small and from coast to coast in homes, schools, colleges, churches, city halls, farmers’ markets, supermarkets, and elsewhere to raise awareness about food issues and advocate for change.”

The Savannah event includes live music, vendors, exhibitors and workshops. The festival is free and open to the public. The Savannah Bicycle Campaign will provide valet bike parking throughout the event.

There are cyclists on Savannah’s streets at all times of day and night, of course, but the spectacle of 700 or more people riding bicycles as night falls is something else altogether. As I wrote in this week’s  Savannah “News Cycle” column, “It’s sociable and empowering at the same time. The sight of hundreds of bicycles with blinking lights and other decorations makes it more like a parade than anything else.” This year’s event has moved to Forsyth Park and expanded to include a concert cospresented by Savannah Stopover. Back again are the popular costume and best lighting rig contests and raffle.

While the event is certainly fun, it also allows import efforts to make our community better. Funds raised through registration and other event activities help the Savannah Bicycle Campaign toward its mission:

“Our primary objectives are education for cyclists and motorists about the best ways to share the road, advocacy for improved bicycle facilities in Chatham County, and promoting bicycling as a healthy, safe activity for recreation and sustainable transportation. Ultimately, through an inclusive approach, we will make our communities more livable, connected & safe. These are our goals, and we hope that you will join us.”Our primary objectives are education for cyclists and motorists about the best ways to share the road, advocacy for improved bicycle facilities in Chatham County, and promoting bicycling as a healthy, safe activity for recreation and sustainable transportation. Ultimately, through an inclusive approach, we will make our communities more livable, connected and safe. These are our goals, and we hope that you will join us.”

Does that sound like something you support? If yes, you know where you should be on Saturday night.