Policy

Surgeon General: “Walk More”

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And research is starting to show the health consequences. Communities designed around more compact, walkable street grids — places that have what the Surgeon General calls “connectivity” — have been correlated in research with reduced rates of obesity, high blood pressure and heart disease (they also have fewer fatal car crashes, another public health problem). One study of a million residents in Toronto found that people in less walkable neighborhoods were more likely to […]

Policy

Goals for Jenkintown’s pedestrian infrastructure

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Anyone who thinks that this blog is devoted to the mere rantings of a disgruntled resident is wrong. This blog represents only the first step in getting this policy changed, because I believe that not only can we change it with minimal impact to our already-high property taxes, but that we must change it for the sake of our property values and for public safety. We recognize that the current […]

Policy

The Heavy Jenkintown Tax Burden: Cost vs. Value

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Most people who live in Jenkintown will tell you they love living here, but they won’t tell you that taxes are reasonable. Most I’ve spoken with will express a sentiment along the lines of “they’re already too high”, especially when we start talking about paying for sidewalks. The question then becomes, do we get good value for our money? The heavy Jenkintown tax burden might not pay for sidewalks, but it does fund one of […]

Policy

How do we pay for this? A few suggestions…

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I would hazard a guess that if you polled all twelve of Jenkintown’s volunteer councilors about finding a better way to pay for sidewalk and curb repair, to a person, they’d likely respond, “but how do we do this without raising taxes?” Indeed, Councilor Laurie Durkin said just that via email, following with, “Residents must pay one way or another.” Maybe, but a one-time, four-figured, out-of-the-blue financial broadside hurts far more than a long-range, pedestrian-focused […]

Policy

Proposing a better way

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Last week, I reached out to Dan Burden of Walkable.org about our situation. Here is his response: Here is my take: Creating the right policy to assure improved walking and property values, improved community health, greater social life, spaces supportive of play and related benefits to key streets is important. Community policy should not be punitive to those trying to maintain the quality of their properties. Likely, this policy and […]

Policy

Affordability is not the point

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Despite everything I’ve so far written on this issue, I clearly have to work harder clarifying my stance. During my conversation with Mr. Conners yesterday, I had to explain more than a few times that though this issue presents a hardship for me and my family, to me the real problem here if two-fold: First and foremost: I do not own that property. It is not an easement. It is […]

Policy

Walkabout: No reason we should keep tripping over rough sidewalk issue | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Diana Nelson looked into this issue back in 2013, and conveyed some alternative ideas for funding sidewalk reconstruction: Throughout the country, sidewalks are commonly the adjacent property owner’s responsibility, but there are creative ways to deal with the realities of citation after citation without response, lien after lien that just adds to someone’s eventual burden — maybe even the city’s. Source: Walkabout: No reason we should keep […]

Policy

Cars win again

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Doing some homework on the issue. This from the PennDOT site: Q. Why does PennDOT not replace curbs and sidewalks? A. By Pennsylvania State law, the local municipality or property owner is responsible for the maintenance or installation of curbing and sidewalk [emphasis mine]. Furthermore, it is District 8-0 policy to use betterment funds for roadway improvements and not curbing and sidewalk. However, in certain unusual circumstances, the Department has replaced curbing […]