Health
Truth, thoroughness needed in reporting on tragic traffic crashes
Dec. 5 was a dangerous and deadly day on local streets. A construction worker was killed and others injured as they worked on a Skidaway Island roadway. On Waters Avenue, a business got an unwanted window display in the form of a Toyota SUV. If you read nothing more about these incidents than what appeared … Continue reading
Lawmakers propose disastrous, job-killing, backwards-looking transportation plan
In a July 5 article called “How the Great Reset has Already Changed America,” for the Atlantic, Richard Florida describes how our elected leaders are lagging behind and even moving in directions that suggest a disconnection from our current reality. He writes, “… our political and business leaders continue to look backwards, wasting precious time … Continue reading
Deadly epidemic rages on, right before our eyes and windshields
The image above reflects the Savannah Morning News website as it appeared yesterday morning. Look at the headlines on the right side. Is there a common thread? The individual descriptions of death and injury just wash over us as we read journalists’ accounts of automobile “accidents.” But consider how we would react to these stories … Continue reading
When trends converge: Boycotts, bicycles and a car culture in decline?
In recent days, I’ve heard a lot about boycotting BP to punish it for the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Boycotts against companies have in many ways become the default American reaction against behavior we don’t like. Perhaps we have become resigned to idea that our main role in our economy and society is to consume. American … Continue reading
If you ride your bike to work only one day this year, make it this Friday
Over the last several years, I’ve had the opportunity to talk with elected officials, community groups and individuals aboutthe tremendous benefits the city could accrue from encouraging more citizens and visitors to take to our streets on bicycles. While I think most people can get their heads around the general idea, there’s a disconnect for … Continue reading
Local journalist makes the connection between street design and danger to pedestrians. Almost.
Local media outlets, over the last several years, have published and aired scores of stories about the dangers faced by pedestrians on our streets. These accounts usually follow the death or injury of a pedestrian and almost always include quotes from law enforcement officials warning pedestrians to use crosswalks, even when doing so would require … Continue reading
The usual blaming of the victim follows latest pedestrian death
This sequence of events is becoming awfully easy to predict: Pedestrian is killed or injured on a local street that’s dangerous by design. News media coverage of the incident uncritically repeats law enforcement warnings that pedestrians should use crosswalks. Readers and viewers of news media coverage jump at the chance to share stories about “stupid” … Continue reading
Study links walkability and access to healthy food in Savannah
Mary Landers’ story, Savannah examines making healthy food an easier choice, in the Jan. 6 Savannah Morning News describes a study commissioned by the Healthy Savannah Initiative, which documents the problem of food deserts in Savannah. Landers describes the study’s methodology, which uses a variety of data sources “to come up with a block-by-block analysis … Continue reading
Project DeRenne “preferred concept” to be unveiled Dec. 3
On Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. the “preferred concept,” produced by the recent Project DeRenne charettes, will be unveiled in a former auto parts store at 131 W. DeRenne Ave. I’m interested to see what the folks from Kimley-Horne, working with city officials and citizens of all walks of life, have created. In a … Continue reading
As jaywalking saga continues, public safety and public health questions remain unanswered
Readers of Bill Dawers’ City Talk column in yesterday’s Savannah Morning News might presume that he wrote about two completely different issues under two separate headings. I’d argue the topics are more closely related than is immediately apparent. First, Dawers’ accurately describes the recently reduced jaywalking fines for what they are: a distraction from the … Continue reading
