I managed four miles today in just under 36 minutes, which should make me happy given my recent track record. But it's that track record that makes me unhappy and the fact that my weight is up over 200 pounds for the first time in probably six years. I need to get serious again — perhaps a goal (LBI 2009?) is in order.
iPod: A mix including the Fleet Foxes and Yael Naim
———-
Sent from my Verizon Wireless LGVX9900 device.
I got back on the treadmill yesterday and did three while listening to a fine album by Airborne Toxic Event (you have to love a band that takes its name from a Don DeLillo novel).
———-
Sent from my Verizon Wireless LGVX9900 device.
The folks with the Dayton Village Coalition have been trying to get South Brunswick’s local government to focus on efforts to create a more pedestrian-friendly village area — a goal that is certainly worth pursuing.
As I’ve written a number of times in the past — both in columns and in editorials — the area surrounding Five Corners (shown in the video above, which was shot at about 11 today) could serve as a perfect “downtown” for South Brunswick. The office/local retail mix already is in place and, with a little work, the area could be transformed.
First, sidewalks need to be extended — not only on Georges Road, but on Ridge Road, as well. And public parking needs to be added (this could be accomplished by gaining an agreement from the individual strip malls allowing people to park and walk).
Most important, though, is taking a broad enough view of the area so that its boundaries include the library, the two middle schools, Pierre’s, Indian Fields, Wetherill and the Stop & Shop on Route 522.
The work done so far by the Coalition has been positive, bringing as many of the stakeholders to the table as could be arranged. That has to be the first step. The next step is to bring the Township Council and Planning Board along, to make them understand that modest changes in thinking will allow the Dayton village to be everything it should be.
(Jump in on this one, either by commenting here, at The Blog of South Brunswick or on our South Brunswick Post Forum.)
Just as an FYI about my earlier post on gas prices — from AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report: Prices are falling fast.
AAA Mid-Atlantic says the dropoff is due to a falloff in demand:
Gasoline consumption is down again, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The rolling four-week average is nearly 3% below the same time last year. Demand has fallen every month from March through September and vehicle-miles-traveled have dropped for 11 straight months, falling 4.4% in September.
The drop in price is straight out of Econ 101 — it is about supply and demand. The failihng economy
If there is more supply than demand, then prices fall. The GOP — more specifically, the McCain campaign and the Bush administration — view the supply side as the more important one, with the idea being to increase the supply of crude oil. More crude oil, which in turn means more gasoline for drivers, would then force prices down.
In theory, this makes sense. In practice, it ignores limitations on supply — crude oil is a finite resource that is becoming increasingly expensive to obtain — and burgeoning demand. As anyone who drives on New Jersey’s crowded highways knows, there is no shortage of drivers.
As the last six months have shown, the key is to reduce demand. The most current shrinkage in demand, however, is tied to the economy, with people cutting ack on their driving to save money. I would hope this would lead to a permanent change in driving habits, but we all know that’s unlikely.
The reality is that, as gas prices fall (or the economy improves), people will start driving more and more and prices will level and start to rise. If we want to do something about gas prices — and, more importantly, about the damage that fossil fuels do to the environment — we need to do more than talk about reducing demand. We need to boost fuel economy standards and create alternative fuel sources, while also encouraging consumers to opt for more fuel-efficient cars (hybrids, plug-ins, etc.) through tax incentives.
While conservatives are pointing to the economic meltdown as a reason to scrap some of President-elect Barack Obama’s environmental plans (in favor of, yes, you guessed it, tax cuts), the reality is that the kind of changes in thinking his plans would entail (including research and development into fuel-efficiency and new fuels) fit nicely with the kind of stimulus needed to get things going.
The headline to this post — “It’s Official: We’re in a Recession” — from The Washington Post’s Ticker blog may be accurate, but it really isn’t very surprising. The economy has been sputtering like an over-stressed engine for a long time and most of us in the working world have been feeling stuck on the highway for a long, long time already.
