Is Council about to sell us out to cover for an impending financial crisis? We seem to have a Borough Council that relishes controversy — or is perhaps clueless about how they cause it. The latest tempest to thunder into our fair borough comes on the back of a chihuahua, that despite our laws against it, sports a drive-through window. My experience has taken me down dozens and dozens of […]
Latest News / Policy
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Jenkintown’s Pocket Park: Buy now, ask permission later
It took nearly six months, but the Borough finally decided to let us in on their quarter-million-dollar secret: A park no one asked for. On Wednesday, we received like many of you the official email from the Borough announcing this transaction. As we know now, the ink has dried on the purchase. The two plots now belong to the Borough, or more appropriately, to you and us whether we want it or […]
Policy
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Let’s consider Ithaca’s sidewalk plan for Jenkintown Borough
Ithaca’s program results from a government that listens to its constituents Now that we have our own sidewalk ordeal behind us, we can concentrate on the ordinance and getting it changed. So many other other communities have better, more equitable and predictable methods. Ithaca, New York is one such place. Can Ithaca’s sidewalk plan work for Jenkintown Borough? Last week, we dropped our toes in the water at the Jenkintown Community […]
This Meets Code
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Poor construction on Jenkintown’s Greenwood Ave
We missed a few examples on Greenwood that show Jenkintown needs a more pedestrian-first policy.
Policy
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Paying for steak, getting McNuggets
According to George Locke, Jenkintown residents pay double what it would cost the borough to repair our sidewalks and curbs on a wholesale basis. Despite the hardship to our family, we have applied for our permit to repair our sidewalk. The borough marked off four blocks, but we will do six in order to have a more uniform look to our walkway. That leaves three blocks and our driveway apron for the […]
Policy
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Minneapolis suburb takes action to be more like Jenkintown
We already have (and promote) a walkable community. However, the traffic volumes on Old York Road stand to erode our downtown’s last vestiges of charm. Because no one wants to walk on Old York, no business that relies upon foot traffic will establish themselves there. It will all become about setbacks and allowances for parking. At a late November city council meeting, local officials voted 4-1 to impose a six-month […]
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Walking Away
We have made our case. Either the citizens of Jenkintown will accept and embrace the concept of public responsibility for public assets, or it will continue to allow the status quo to molder on and degrade our walkable environment. The facts are these: The public financing of roads but not of sidewalks amounts to a subsidy for automobile usage. In an age of climate change and an obesity epidemic, it […]
Latest News / Policy
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Jenkintown 2035: Wishing and hoping and planning
The Jenkintown 2035 Visioning Workshop turned out an impressive attendance last Thursday night, which included several Borough Council members, Mayor Ed Foley, and Jenkintown Borough Manager George Locke. The overall group seemed to represent a cross-section of Jenkintown society that didn’t have to commute long distances to and from work. For anyone who’s never attended these exercises, think of it as a big brainstorming session. Organizers distribute the attendees into […]
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This could be Old York Road, Jenkintown
This video comes from our new friends at Strongtowns.org, an organization that we recommend for everyone in Jenkintown and in Jenkintown Borough Hall.
Policy
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Jenkintown Congestion = Jenkintown Revival
For automobile flooding (congestion), the only way to deal with it and still have a successful economy is to address it at the source. We need to absorb those trips locally before they become a flood. Instead of building lanes, we need to be building corner stores. We need local economic ecosystems that create jobs, opportunity and destinations for people as an alternative to those they can only get to […]
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If at first you screw up…
Around 2008 or so, Jenkintown Borough embarked on a round of construction to make its sidewalk corners compliant with ADA regulations. We remember when the corners at West and Walnut and several in the commercial district were rebuilt. And then, the Borough did them again. We wish we had inquired earlier why the Borough found it necessary to spend even more tax dollars to redo the work. Perhaps someone forgot […]
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Bunker’s Mentality on Better Sidewalks
I attended the Council’s Administration and Finance Committee hearing meeting last Monday to discuss the budget, PennDOT’s Multi-Modal Fund, and to present this blog’s $25 Sidewalk proposal. First, the committee’s explanation as to why the projected 2014 $2.2 million budget carryover didn’t necessarily constitute a “surplus” did not clarify things much. As it was explained to me, Council budgets money so that they need to buy stuff for the next year. “So the […]