19 Comment

• Matt Mystery January 30, 2013 at 9:24 am

  A rather curious position by Ellen Cohen with regard to Alexan Heights given the fact she lent her name, and her position on City Council, to “Stop Ashby Hirise.”
• coconutbutter January 30, 2013 at 9:59 am

  The fact that the governor keeps vetoing a texting ban is reprehensible.
  I cannot even express just how much rage I feel towards jerks who refuse to put down their damned phones while driving. Even with information out there, people *know* they shouldn’t text while driving, but they flat-out don’t care and will continue to do so.
  It’s against the law to not wear a seatbelt, but it’s totally okay to text while driving? Give me a break.
• caneco January 30, 2013 at 10:53 am

  jeez do Heights residents complain about every single thing that gets built in the neighborhood. I also hate how a few people get together and say “what we want”… hey I live in the neighborhood too, so don’t speak for all of us. A majority of this block was freaking overflow truck parking and there are often some rather seedy looking people hiding in the shadows around there at night.
• Lost_in_Translation January 30, 2013 at 11:39 am

  Coconutbutter,

  The more bans the less active enforcement can happen the more people just ignore the law the less effect laws have. Many states have banned talking on a cell phone and its completely ineffective. A text ban would merely be a symbolic gesture, not a real effective policy. Now I know how mug everyone loves symbolic gestures, but mostly they are a waste of police resources.
• John (another one) January 30, 2013 at 12:47 pm

  Oh, my fellow Heightsians, you say want to live a cool urban neighborhood, but when more people want to live there because it’s a cool urban neighborhood, you get all cranky. It’s not attractive.
• coconutbutter January 30, 2013 at 12:48 pm

  @Lost Recent University of Ilinois study suggest that bans are effective in urban cities: http://news.illinois.edu/news/12/1115cellphone_ban_SheldonJacobson.html

  I do agree that if law enforcement don’t enforce the laws that are passed, any laws are pretty much useless. I’ve encountered so many frightening drunk drivers near the Washington bars – including one that was literally 3 car lengths from hitting me head-on. So I see where you’re coming from.

  I frankly don’t care if people kill themselves as a result of their stupidity, but I have a huge problem when their selfish actions start affecting innocent people.
• Jerry January 30, 2013 at 1:06 pm

  @John (another one)
  How do you presume that people living in the Heights want to live in an “urban” (or more urban than it currently is) place? Where did you get this generalized notion?
• Spoonman. January 30, 2013 at 1:46 pm

  coconutbutter, I’ve also seen studies claiming that text bans don’t stop people from texting while driving, but does lead to more panicked crashes when people are texting and see a cop.

  Very few problems are so simple that laws can fix them, or even make them better.
• John (another one) January 30, 2013 at 1:53 pm

  @Jerry

  If you bought a house in the Heights in the last couple of years, you knew you were buying in a neighborhood that had become a destination. If you buy into a hot neighborhood with the expectation that it won’t change then you’ve made an error.
• coconutbutter January 30, 2013 at 2:29 pm

  @Spoonman At this point, I give up on people actually being responsible and considerate of others. Obviously, any laws we have in place won’t stop anyone who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the consequences of their actions.
• jgriff January 30, 2013 at 2:58 pm

  Also, if you buy a house in the middle of an almost empty block as these people did and don’t expect change you are very naive. One of the first things I consider when buying a house are the surroundings and how it could be developed. There’s a large empty lot near me now that would be perfect for apartments. I harbor no grand illusions that I should be able to decide what happens on that lot. I just have plans to move.
• Old School January 30, 2013 at 4:44 pm

  Yeah, there is nothing worse than people who care about their neighborhood and are willing to take their free time to use the democratic process to try to effect some change for what they believe is in their best interest. Anyone who isn’t a developer cannot possibly have any right to have their voices heard on development issues because they do not know what they are talking about. Just like when residents railed against a Walmart and wanted a mixed use development with a combination of retail and residential. They obviously had no idea what was going on in the real estate market. It was just some lucky freak coincidence that rents increased in Houston by almost 20% last year due to lack of construction of new multifamily housing. Better not let these idiots complain about traffic. They aren’t developers and cannot possibly have any right to complain about how this complex will affect the largest investment they have ever made in their life.
• John (another one) January 30, 2013 at 4:59 pm

  I have no problem with people complaining. It’s their right. I just think it’s silly to think that vacant lots in a very popular central city neighborhood aren’t going to attract development that brings a lot more people there. (In a lot of cities, people buy near such spots *hoping* for that.)
• ZAW January 30, 2013 at 6:19 pm

  It’s stupid to think that zoning is the way to avoid unwanted development. If anything, zoning will just make things worse for neighborhoods. Developers will get variances to do whatever they want, and neighborhoods will have even less a say than they do now. The response from developers will be “oh, the zoning commission says it’s OK, so pooh-pooh to you.” Doubt what I’m saying? Look at what’s going on with the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn New York – despite (or in part because of) The Big Apple’s 3000 page zoning ordinance.
• John (another one) January 31, 2013 at 5:38 am

  On the other hand, in a city where appropriate use is taken seriously and the city government actually pays attention to what neighborhood residents want, you can get the best of both worlds. Look at the development around Columbia Heights in DC, where big box stores like Target and Bed Bath and Beyond are in a great urban-style complex that’s completely revitalized the area and made it a much safer and more appealing place for residents and visitors alike.
• Cody January 31, 2013 at 8:50 am

  The txt ban is a bad law because we don’t need more laws. Ditto the seatbelt law and several others.
  .
  The only law I want passed is one that states for every new one you have to remove an old one.
• Spoonman. January 31, 2013 at 8:56 am

  But cody, people will just stop making bad choices if we make laws against them! When’s the last time you heard about somebody smoking pot?
• coconutbutter January 31, 2013 at 9:50 am

  With that logic, killing people is also illegal but that doesn’t stop people either.
• joel January 31, 2013 at 12:50 pm

  just because a law is hard to be enforced doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be a law, that’s just ridiculous. for instance, if someone is txting and rear ends someone killing a child, that no txting law at least stacks up with other laws to serve it’s purpose and justify the driver was being reckless. i’d admit we could revise reckless driving laws to include txting, but Perry our legislature ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed.

  the issue is with laws that are enforced sporadically and erratically like speeding, window tinting, obnoxious headlights (here’s looking at you RO) and etc.

  we don’t need laws if they’re not effective, but that has nothing to do with not needing to pass more.