It’s no longer a purely hypothetical question, reserved for Tom Cruise movies.  Self-driving cars are here.  Thanks to Google.

Google?

According to this morning’s New York Times, Google is already driving – or should I saw “testing”? – robot-controlled cars on trafficked U.S. streets and highways.  And while such cars are “years from mass production” and involve countless legal issues , the real possibility of autonomous autos could change their relationship with their urban environment forever.  How?

The engineers say the technology could double the capacity of roads by allowing cars to drive more safely while closer together. Because the robot cars would eventually be less likely to crash, they could be built lighter, reducing fuel consumption.

…There is even the farther-off prospect of cars that do not need anyone behind the wheel. That would allow the cars to be summoned electronically, so that people could share them. Fewer cars would then be needed, reducing the need for parking spaces, which consume valuable land.

In an age of New Urbanism, the cry for fewer cars on the road has never been louder.  The demands on infrastructure from wide-spread car use are well-documented.  The only real alternative currently is denser communities in order to make public transit a viable and convenient option.

Problem is, today most people don’t live in dense neighborhoods.  So, is a safer and more efficient car another potential alternative to a world of gridlock and smog?

From near yesterday’s Oakhurst Arts and Music Festival (pic submitted by Angie)

With the help of “GSU partners”, a City Schools of Decatur sub-committee has come up with seven different redistricting options, all of which are available to the viewing public HERE.

Along with the color-coded maps, you can also view grade and race population totals for Decatur’s four K-3 schools, based on a model that assumes the next incoming kindergarten class will be the same size and come from the same areas as the current class.

In Superintendent Phyllis Edwards’ letter to the Board of Education (pdf), she lists out 10 assumptions that were made in the creation and evaluation of these maps, and ultimately recommends Option #7 for adoption, with the caveat that Glennwood keep trailers for Pre-K and that Oakhurst keep a trailer “in order to allow for the possibility of opening Westchester in 2012-2013, lessening chances that families on the west side of town would need to be zoned differently three years in a row.”

The school board will hold a public work session about the redistricting on Tuesday at 5:30p in the Westchester Auditorium.  Additionally, the Superintendent’s note states that blow-up versions of the maps will be displayed at all the K-5 schools and that the public will be able to comment about the proposed options online or in person over the next month or so.

The Superintendent has stated that she’d like to get a vote on redistricting before the school board in November.

“Option 7″ in the map above.  Red = Clairemont, Yellow = Glennwood, Green = Oakhurst, Blue = Winnona Park