dkSez : : : : : : Don Kahle's blog

Quips, queries, and querulous quibbles from the quirky mind of Don Kahle

Why do people say 'after dark' when what they mean is 'during dark'? After dark would be when it's light again, right? * There are 10 types of people in this world -- those who read binary, and those who don't. * I'm rethinking the whole brown rice thing. What if it's just more white liberal self-hatred? Whole wheat, honey, unbleached flour. All better. Sez who? * Eugene should be HQ for White People for Diversity. We'll fight for diversity to be included in books, which is where we know to look for it. * Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, but give a man a pillow, and he'll dream of steak. * What can you say about a state that puts the town of North Bend 225 miles southwest of Bend? We rely on visitors for entertainment.

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Planning a Street Requires Measuring Pain More Than Time

April 26th, 2013 · No Comments

Removing those vehicles waiting to turn left eliminates most of the “luck” we currently rely on when we navigate Willamette Street. Bad luck is experienced as stress, and that stress is not divided equally among the drivers affected.

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Tags: Arr-Gee published · Psycho · Urban Design · You-gene

If We Keep Adding Parking Lots, It’ll Be Our Own Asphalt

March 8th, 2013 · 1 Comment

If we declare as a community that we will no longer support or subsidize surface parking lots in our city center, we’ll get there that much quicker. We’re already close.

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Tags: Arr-Gee published · Civic · Urban Design · You-gene

City Hall and EWEB Riverfront Taken Together

February 1st, 2013 · No Comments

When citizens see value in what’s been built with their tax dollars, everyone wins. The challenge now moves to the designers. Teach a dime to sing like a dollar.

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Tags: Arr-Gee published · Civic · Urban Design · You-gene

Perception, Proof, Prevention, Public Policy

October 13th, 2012 · No Comments

“Perception does not make fact,” said Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy. Except when it does. Mayor Piercy wrestled aloud whether she would support extending the Downtown Exclusion Zone for another two years, as requested by Chief of Police Pete Kerns. The complete quotation, as recorded by Register-Guard reporter Edward Russo, shows the complexity of the mayor’s [...]

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Tags: Arr-Gee published · Civic · Deep · Psycho · You-gene

EmX Promise Includes Less Waiting

September 28th, 2012 · No Comments

Let’s make a bus that looks all the world like a train and see if it will attract private development capital. If “bus rapid transit” can attract even one quarter the investments we see with light rail, we’ve more than doubled our leverage of public monies.

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Tags: Arr-Gee published · Civic · Urban Design · You-gene

An Un-Embarrassment of Un-Riches

February 26th, 2012 · No Comments

It wasn’t exactly “American Idol.” If anything, our goal was to make one Oregonian less idle.

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Tags: Arr-Gee published · Civic · Deep · You-gene

Economic Development is Catching up to Malsin’s Vision

November 3rd, 2011 · No Comments

Attainable is the new sustainable. Economic development has shifted its focus from attracting merchants to cultivating employers and entrepreneurs.

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Tags: Arr-Gee published · Civic · Urban Design · You-gene

Celebrate the Street

September 23rd, 2011 · No Comments

For four hours, a downtown street will be open to traffic but closed to cars. The commons will be taken back from automobiles and reclaimed by the people who drive them.

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Tags: Arr-Gee published · Civic · Urban Design · You-gene

Downtown Eugene: MIllions Swerved

May 13th, 2011 · No Comments

The recipe that drives franchised restaurant growth has very little to do with the food they serve. Their first formula has everything to do with real estate negotiations.

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Tags: Arr-Gee published · Civic · You-gene

What’s All the FFFFUFFF About?

April 29th, 2011 · 1 Comment

It must be great to be an auspice. You’re never alone and everything is always under you.

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Tags: Arr-Gee published · Grins · Quips