Comments on: “Circulator Shuttle” Makes Decatur’s Strategic Plan Project List

By: karass

karass — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 01:27:58 +0000

449 is way inside Decatur limits. The condos I’m thinking of are something like 1105 Clairemont, 30030. I’m not even sure the YMCA itself is inside city limits but it does have a 30030 address.

By: Nightowl

Nightowl — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:58:15 +0000

I am very excited about this and bummed to be working tomorrow night. DM please keep us updated on this!

By: Deanne

Deanne — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:58:14 +0000

I shop Aldi a lot, and customers who are on foot generally bring sturdy totes, duffle bags, or backpacks with them. Most shoppers who walk to the store planning to buy more than a couple of items probably do. Even doublebagged, plastic bags are too iffy. And they cut into your hands!

By: Cubalibre

Cubalibre — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:30:19 +0000

The 449 condos are actually a few blocks before you get to the “Y”. 449 Clairemont condos are definitely in the City– not so sure about those across from the “Y”…

By: karass

karass — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 21:02:25 +0000

As we biked to church today, I realized that a shuttle could work out fantastic for transportation to church. By my count, and I could be missing some, there’s 11 churches on the northside and 5 churches on the southside of the tracks. They tend to have set times for Sunday school and services, e.g. 9 AM, 10 AM, 11 AM, and/or noon, and set times that they end, have refreshments, and folks go home, e.g. noon, 1 PM, 2 PM, maybe as late as 3 PM. Folks are crossing town in both directions every Sunday to attend church and a shuttle could work real well. We’d gladly walk or bike to a shuttle stop because it’s not every Sunday that time, mood, and the weather permit us to bike the whole way. If churches supported the idea and promoted the shuttle to their congregations, I’d bet a group and social effect would increase and maintain ridership.

By: LA

LA — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 20:12:41 +0000

I think a shuttle might be a really useful thing for folks for whom the cost of cars is too high or people who cannot drive for some reason. Serving these groups meets a greater good than can be measured by economic demand for the service from a dollars standpoint. It might allow our community to retain more diversity so people don’t have to wastefully spend money on cars if they don’t really need them other than for a weekly run to the store.

By: Decatur Metro

Decatur Metro — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:06:54 +0000

Thanks for asking these questions and making these points on DM, KC.

We’ve talked about plastic bags a lot on this site over the years, starting back when many people first started using reusable bags in late 2007.

While at first, I saw no reason NOT to ban plastic bags in the name of “the environment”, discussions here over the years have mellowed my position a bit. For one thing, the research surrounding how bad plastic bags are for environment is confusing. For instance from a Nat Geo article…

“Compared to paper grocery bags, plastic grocery bags consume 40 percent less energy, generate 80 percent less solid waste, produce 70 percent fewer atmospheric emissions, and release up to 94 percent fewer waterborne wastes, according to the “Film and Bag” federation. ”

Is that true? I don’t know. But I’m very aware that the popular environmental mindset is anti-plastic, just like it is anti-car. So that gives me a bit of pause, because popular mindsets have a tendency to paint with too broad a brush. And if the car conversation has taught me anything, it is that none of these trade-offs are as cut and dry as we think they are. I can certainly see how – through efficiencies – a plastic bag could consume less energy than a paper bag. Does that make up for the fact that they don’t biodegrade like a paper bag? I don’t know, but no one’s having that conversation, so I won’t even delve into that.

Ultimately though, I’d like to see this decision made first-and-foremost through the eyes of “community” before anything else, including the generalized “environment.” One of the anti-bag folks made a great point in the earlier post when they mentioned that most small businesses in Decatur already don’t use plastic bags, because they know a large number of their patrons appreciate that. That’s first-hand community responsiveness at its finest.

CVS and Kroger are probably the two main culprits in using a large amount of plastic bags inside the city limits. And the environmentalist in me initially has a problem with that. However, if I take a step back and think about how banning plastic bags in Decatur would affect the community as a whole, I begin to have second thoughts.

Why? Because while plastic bags may be made out of hated plastic, they are just plain better at holding your groceries. This might not be apparent to many of us, who still drive to the store and quickly transfer our groceries to the trunk in paper bags, but I would think that a change to paper by Kroger or CVS might make it a lot more difficult for someone to walk with a couple days worth of groceries from either of these locations to Swanton Heights or Allen Wilson.

Sure they/we could all use reusable bags, but that’s not what we’re discussing. We’re talking about making paper the only option. Is that good overall for Decatur’s community?

To me it seems anything but cut and dry.