For much of this month, I've tweeted my commuting patterns as a way of trying to take notes for research I am doing into how we as a community can work toward building a place where people can have alternatives to getting in their car. I believe it is important in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but I also want to build a better place.
To do that, sometimes I need to stock of what's around.
To do that, sometimes I need to stock of what's around.
I am not planning on taking a bus today. Instead I am on an urban hike and hope to wander around looking at interesting things, like the waterways you never notice as a driver. pic.twitter.com/RkHU26Cvzm— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
Somewhere in the back of my head, I have this memory that there is a plan to put a pathway along this route above an easement the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority has. I think that might be somewhat expensive, and I have no idea where that ranks as a priority. I wonder if this sits in a plan at all, or of it's just one of those things I remember without command of knowledge.
Still, I tweet these threads because I want other people to think about how the landscape in which they live. I believe that most of us don't think about these issues. We don't think about the natural world that interacts with our built environment.
Still, I tweet these threads because I want other people to think about how the landscape in which they live. I believe that most of us don't think about these issues. We don't think about the natural world that interacts with our built environment.
Somehow I've been at this for a long time. At one point I was a reporter who covered land use issues, but before that I was just a person who lived in Charlottesville, and in the Fry's Spring neighborhood.This stream eventually leads to Moores’ Creek, which I may or may not get to later depending on what choices I make while walking. This used to be my neighborhood and I am thinking of the change I have seen since 2003. pic.twitter.com/O6X4dNxVzI— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
A quick check of my Gmail brings up this message from the president of the Fry's Spring Neighborhood Association dated February 6, 2007, two months before I would begin work at Charlottesville Tomorrow. The author is John Santoski, who will go on to serve on the Planning Commission shortly afterward.This little patch of green is the remnant of a traffic calming exercise the city tried about a dozen or so years ago. Many in the neighborhood opposed it and the four way stop was installed. I don’t remember what it was like before the “thumb.” pic.twitter.com/JLpRTAN0xD— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
"During the past two years the issues confronting the Fry's Spring neighborhood have escalated in number and intensity (as you all know from our well attended neighborhood meetings) but thanks to your determination and perseverance we have seen results such as the initiation of traffic calming on Robertson/Highland, the removal of the "thumb" at Cherry/Cleveland/Willard (CCW), the drainage and safety needs being addressed on OLR and the reconsideration of the width of the JPA bridge."
It's strange to live here, and to have this blog, which now covers so much of my adult life. And to remember things like this, things that most of us have now forgotten. When I began this blog, I wanted to use the power of blogging and what would become social media to find a way to get people to talk about local issues.
Soon after that email from John Santoski, Charlottesville Tomorrow recorded a meeting of the Planning and Coordination Council, which is the forum in which UVa officials talk with their counterparts in Albemarle County and Charlottesville. Many residents of Fry's Spring were concerned about the proliferation of apartment complexes across the line in Albemarle County. Many felt that this was causing traffic issues, and for a while, this rose up the ranks.
At the time, I did not work for Charlottesville Tomorrow. I was married and trying to figure out how to make podcasting work to boost my career. I was a freelance general assignment reporter, and land use was just one of the many things I thought I could write stories about. Brian, though, saw the organization as a way to help transform how people in our community talked to each other about the impacts of growth and development.
He was hiring in February 2007, and so I helped boost the signal for the PACC meeting on my website. I wanted to be useful so I cross-posted the audio on my Charlottesville Podcasting Network.
Anyway, back to the hear and now. I decided not to post several pictures to Twitter, pictures I thought were interesting to me.
Sunset Avenue in the city, a very narrow road with no sidewalks and not too much room to build any more. |
The Huntley neighborhood caused a lot of concern for many like John Santoski, who did not trust that a zoning mechanism called Planned Unit Development would address their concerns. |
A small pathway allows people who live in Huntley to cut through two homes to get to the pathway to Moores Creek. |
I am always amazed at how satisfied I am when I walk to this bridge at Sunset Avenue. The roar of the water is soothing. There is a bench here and I am going to take advantage of it! pic.twitter.com/u67Dnpj2Ny— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
Connectivity between Albemarle and Charlottesville has been an issue for a long time, and was very active 12 years ago when I began work at Charlottesville Tomorrow. There were many in the Fry's Spring Neighborhood who wanted to close Old Lynchburg Road to vehicular traffic. At some point, I believe Sunset Avenue carried vehicular traffic, but I believe that was restricted to cyclists and pedestrians. Some want to make this issue alive again.
On the walk today, I mostly wanted to get to the Rivanna Trail so I could go north. The idea had been to walk along the trail up to Barracks Road Shopping Center and beyond. But, unfortunately, I came across a waterblock.Lot of folks (especially the Redfields Neighborhood) want to see Sunset Avenue connect to the Fry’s Spring Neighborhood at that bridge. It would alleviate a lot of traffic issues. This briefly came up on The I ❤️ CVille Show with @CvilleDede. She’s opposed to this connection.— Jerry Miller (@JerryMillerNow) April 21, 2019
I appear to have hit an obstacle. I don’t think I can make this crossing. The path continues on this side of the bank so I will try that. pic.twitter.com/2lLsIT4alZ— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
At this point, I tried my best to find another place to cross the stream. There appeared to be a pathway, but it didn't exactly work so well. There were no signs telling me not to trespass, and there was a pathway for some of the journey. I'll just let the tweets tell the story.
I appear to have hit an obstacle. I don’t think I can make this crossing. The path continues on this side of the bank so I will try that. pic.twitter.com/2lLsIT4alZ— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
I did not turn back. I found this amazing meadow that slowly drains intro the chasm you can see in the bottom right. This is a beautiful sight. pic.twitter.com/bES3qLOg2q— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
I am at another confluence. Still trying to figure out how to cross. I think I have an idea. pic.twitter.com/Ey6YeHDgag— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
Using GIS now, I know where I was. At the time, I wasn't consulting anything except geography. I could hear a highway in the distance, and I knew if I walked toward it, I'd likely come to something I'd recognize. For a bit it was so nice to be in the wilderness, and feel safe. Of course, someone did remind me to be careful.The idea didn’t work out. Alternate idea now in play. Walking along a major highway to get back to the actual trail. pic.twitter.com/pgAmmYRFUK— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
Dude you we’re right below me. Was cutting grass just up the road. Be careful hiking we had a bear sighting on my neighbor back porch. It ran down and back though the creek.— gentlemanjackva (@gentlemanjackva) April 21, 2019
Back to Sunset Avenue
I eventually found my way back to the crossing, and I walked back down the trail from where I had come, back to Sunset Avenue. For some reason, I got confused and thought I was on Old Lynchburg Road. I should have kept walking down a trail that I'll talk about in a little while. Today, I ended up walking up Sunset Avenue, thinking I was walking to Azalea Park.
But let's first go back to what Jerry Miller raised earlier. Sunset Avenue is a road that used to cross Moores' Creek at some point. I don't know when that happened, exactly, but if there was a street there now, it would end up hitting this street here.
In person, this was much steeper and much more narrow. |
Now is not the time to answer that question fully, but instead, to relay the journey I had going forward. After getting back to Sunset from my wilderness experience, I headed up the road. Note the error in my tweet.
As a driver, I have no reason at all to be on Sunset Avenue, but hundreds and hundreds of people live in the apartment complexes and subdivision for which the road is the major access point. Rather than try to convey the actual number, I'll just show this map from Albemarle's GIS service to give you a sense of scale. Albemarle has expected this level of development here for many years.Currently walking up Sunset Ave toward Azalea Park. I am going to try that way. This part of the journey is my least favorite so far pic.twitter.com/MKCpkiWaGY— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
In the above map, you'll see a double line cutting through the center right of the image. That's Interstate 64. Toward the upper middle, you'll see there's a vertical line that leads has a number on it. That line is Sunset Avenue. The following tweets are some of my thoughts along the way.
I am actually not even close to where I thought I was. I really don’t want to walk up this road anymore, but this is a good way to understand recent land use patterns. pic.twitter.com/irqgdTYXb5— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
So many rental units have been built in this section of Albemarle. It’s interesting to explore it on foot pic.twitter.com/fVHITeJuqX— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
Realizing I had made a mistake and was not on the way to Azalea Park, where I hoped to ford Moores Creek, I turned onto Country Green rather than walk all the way out to Fifth Street Extended. I didn't want to walk on a four lane highway. I wanted to get back to an urban trail.There are a lot of homes here, a section of Albemarle designated for development. But as you can see, not much for pedestrians. pic.twitter.com/qWaPDzcpbT— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
Along the way, I saw for the first time a location of a new housing development called Brookdale, which will feature 96 units of affordable housing. I wrote about this in the past few years, and you can read all about it on cvillepedia. I'm still updating that site on a regular basis, and hope to add my pictures from there at some point. But for now, I note that I noted the pedestrian conditions here aren't optimal. I need to look up the plans to see what's happening here.
There is a neighborhood store that people could go to from all of these houses, but I suspect most people drive here.Under construction here is Brookdale, with 96 units that will be rented to families below a certain income threshold (can’t recall if its 60 or 80 below AMI). How will the people who live here get to work and the store? Not on foot and the roadway from here does not seem safe. pic.twitter.com/cjbEQ8k7sn— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
The fun about communicating with people on Twitter while I'm out doing these hikes through the city is that they can communicate right back. Rory Stolzenberg, a member of the Charlottesville Planning Commission, pointed out that this store has changed in recent years.This is the first commercial establishment I have seen in my ambling journey so far. If I lived in this neighborhood, it would be the only thing to walk to. pic.twitter.com/VWrvTAlHuP— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
I pressed on and got to Old Lynchburg Road and decided to walk back to Azalea Park. I really wanted to get back to some section of the Rivanna Trail. I was glad that there at least was some accommodation for pedestrians here, and I thought maybe the overall situation was better than I had expected.Wow, that place has gotten an upgrade since Google's last pic in 2016. pic.twitter.com/mPXDWjGmGY— Rory Stolzenberg (@RoryStolzenberg) April 21, 2019
There is an asphalt sidewalk on this section of Old Lynchburg Road. I finally have my bearings again and i am learning more about this area. I was reviewing it with @RexLinville at work the other day. pic.twitter.com/Un3d9waVKc— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
The new Timberland Park Apartments appears to have built this section of sidewalk. But it ends as I walk closer to I-64. pic.twitter.com/I0GOTnfsmG— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
Within a few hundred feet or so is a park. If I lived here, I would have to drive there. Would you walk under this bridge? pic.twitter.com/fjPcxfRXkF— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
There are discussions about how to get this link to work, and I look forward to talking to my colleague Peter Krebs at the Piedmont Environmental Council because he has worked on this issue. We're working to ensure that plans for these areas are turned into reality, and walks like this are a big part of that. I'm so fortunate that I have a job in 2019 that builds upon all of the work I've been doing for the community. I'm part of a team that's devoted to helping us build a better community.
After about two hours of trying, with a lot of false starts and covering a good deal of the hillier portions of the Granger property, I finally got to cross Moores Creek again.
I crossed over to Azalea Park, and thought back to all of the times I went there with my children when they were very young. At that time, all of the amenities were in different places than they are now. The playground is where the dog park was. The dog park is on a field where nothing was. The open space just moved around.Finally managed to cross Moores Creek again! pic.twitter.com/aOx4IHBOpp— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
I spent so much time in Azalea Park when I had a dog, and when I had young children. These days, it's just a place I pass through when trying to get to one of my favorite parts of the Rivanna Trail - the crossing at the southeast corner of the park. For years, there has been a cable that helps guide people making the crossing over Moores Creek. It's not for everyone, and a bridge would be nice, but I've taken those steps so many times. Today, though, was a different experience.
Finally managed to cross Moores Creek again! pic.twitter.com/aOx4IHBOpp— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
I didn't know what to do, but I didn't want to stay in one place so I kept walking, and walked again past all of the allotments in Azalea Park. There were so many stories in there, and I had so many questions. There were only a handful of people spending time there, and I thought how amazing it would be to have my own space there, to grow things. Or, to be able to meet up with the people there and barter for vegetables.
Anyway, I walked up through the park, wistfully looking at the spot where the old playground used to be. Somewhere I have photographs of my children there. I went past the new dog park, and one of them ran up to the gate as I approached, hoping I brought someone new for them to play with. I hadn't, and I reflected how much I miss having a dog in my life.
If I had had a dog, though, I could not have executed the next phase of community mobility plan. Is it possible to use transit on a Sunday afternoon, in any meaningful capacity?
To get to that destination, I had to race, and so I briskly walked up towards Jefferson Park Avenue, passing along Jefferson Park Avenue Extended. I have so many old memories of that space, of a time that's long gone, but still with me. And I'm glad to see some of the changes that have happened. I remember when Fry's Spring Station was an actual service station.My journey once again isn’t quite what I thought it would be. So now I find myself racing to get to this spot so i can take the trolley style bus. I am hungry. pic.twitter.com/rorwItVLxm— seantubbs (@seantubbs) April 21, 2019
I've only eaten here once because I don't live around here, but the one time I did eat there, I got there on the trolley-style bus. |
I'll be adding and correcting this and those will be noted below this line:
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