Last week I walked along MLK Jr. Boulevard to go from my house off Piney Mountain Road to Harrington Bank. Schools had a delayed opening that day, and I passed several groups of high school students waiting along MLK for the school bus. Presumably they lived in the modest rentals and mobile homes in the [...]
All posts in category Lifestyle
The bleaching of Chapel Hill
Posted by Nancy Oates on May 6, 2013
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/05/06/the-bleaching-of-chapel-hill/
It’s only a slice
Don and I live simply. Because we are so focused on paying our high property taxes (purportedly the highest in the state), we rarely go out to dinner. But once in a while, we’ll pick up a pizza to go. Last night, Don called Tedesco’s, our favorite Italian joint, to place an order, but the [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 22, 2013
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/04/22/its-only-a-slice/
A new day
This morning, RAM Development announced it planned to convert all 140 condominums at 140 West into workforce housing. RAM chairman Peter Cummings said the idea came to him like an epiphany as he was driving along West Rosemary Street one afternoon. “I saw this bright light,” he said. “Maybe it was a sign from Heaven, [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 1, 2013
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/04/01/a-new-day/
Unintended consequences
We’ll give Jim Ward the benefit of the doubt that his heart was in the right place when he directed Loryn Clark to focus affordable housing funds on the people who make 30 percent of the Area Median Income. At the March 18 Town Council meeting, Clark, the Planning Department’s neighborhood and community services manager, [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 25, 2013
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/03/25/unintended-consequences/
What’s another $50 million?
Watching Parks & Rec director Butch Kisiah and various paid consultants and volunteer committee chairs present the master plans for Parks & Rec and Greenways, I learned that I’m not the only one with Lexus tastes on a Civic budget. The plans looked great: adding 10 miles of greenway trails to the town’s existing 13 [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 19, 2013
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/02/19/whats-another-50-million/
Our box of chocolates
Don and I sometimes think about retiring to a rural town where our retirement dollars will go further. But when it comes time to act, we stay put. What keeps us in Chapel Hill is not the public art, the state-of-the-art transportation center or even the lovely indoor swimming pools and library (the limited hours [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 18, 2013
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/02/18/our-box-of-chocolates/
Driving us crazy
Terri Buckner works, walks and drives in Chapel Hill. Here’s her take on Chapel Hill drivers learning the rules of the road: At last week’s Chapel Hill Town Council meeting, a resident petitioned the town to remove 3-way stops on Umstead Drive. His request launched a discussion about how many drivers don’t know what to [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 23, 2013
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/01/23/driving-us-crazy/
A sense of place
Bonnie Hauser, president of the grassroots organization Orange County Voice, sends this holiday greeting from New England: This year, and every year, I spend Christmas in western Massachusetts (“the Berkshires seem dreamlike on account of their frosting…”). A few inches of snow, a little sun, and a brisk 30 degrees – warm for the area, [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 1, 2013
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2013/01/01/a-sense-of-place/
Partyless
Good thing I got my very own set of Bananagram tiles for Christmas this year. Looks like that’s what I’ll be doing New Year’s Eve, unless I want to leave Chapel Hill to celebrate. Perhaps befitting a college town, Chapel Hill has no New Year’s Eve events other than going to a bar. Ever since [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 31, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/12/31/partyless/
Accidental free speech
Jim Ward admonished Chapel Hill: No talking on the bus. The issues to be decided by the six council members who made it to Monday night’s Town Council meeting were whether a Chapel Hill Transit bus is a public forum, and if not, what sorts of ads, if any, could be displayed. In June 2011, [...]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 7, 2012
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/11/07/accidental-free-speech/