In 2003, as a taxpayer I voted against spending more than $16 million to expand and renovate the Chapel Hill Public Library. The town had a small but functional library, surrounded by the woods and trails of Pritchard Park, and while the demand would only grow as the town grew, it seemed to me we […]
All posts in category Lifestyle
Park, Housing: Not an Either-Or
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 4, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/12/04/park-housing-not-an-either-or/
Will we always have Paris?
Maybe Town Council’s next intercity visit should be to Paris, a city that Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane cited as her favorite because of its low buildings. At council’s Nov. 15 meeting, we reviewed a concept plan for a 5-story building of apartments, offices and retail, with 68 parking spaces on less than 4 acres at […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 27, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/11/27/will-we-always-have-paris/
Sitting on the Historic District Commission
In an interview aired on National Public Radio recently, Magazine Editor Hall-of-Famer Tina Brown described her desk-on-a-treadmill, noting, “Sitting is the new smoking.” That shot a little dart of fear in my heart, because my role as a Town Council member requires me to sit a lot. Council meetings, work sessions, committees, task forces and […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 23, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/10/23/sitting-on-the-historic-district-commission/
Economics of affordability
A council member told of going to dinner at a new restaurant in town and having to wait a half-hour for a table. Initially, he took that as a good sign of how well the new business was faring. But once he was seated, he noticed that several tables had been removed since the last […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 9, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/10/09/economics-of-affordability/
What’s driving driverless cars?
As we plan for autonomous vehicles, bear in mind that the car, not the driver, causes the demand for infrastructure. At our Sept. 18 council work session, town planning director Ben Hitchings presented some futuristic ideas of the day when everyone owns, or at least uses, a driverless car. Our starry-eyed discussion focused only on […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on October 2, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/10/02/whats-driving-driverless-cars/
Light Rail at Our Own Risk
Alex Cabanes, the founder of SmartTransitFuture.org, has done in-depth analysis of the proposed Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit project and has explored its implications and transit alternatives. He shares his insight into the latest plot twist of the DOLRT saga. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approved moving the 17.7-mile light-rail project into the engineering phase — […]
Posted by NancyDon on July 31, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/07/31/light-rail-at-our-own-risk/
Managua, N.C.?
Recently a homeowner requested, through his lawyer and architect, permission from the Historic District Commission to build a combination iron and chain-link fence around his large acreage, ostensibly to keep the deer out of his garden. The commissioners, familiar with the challenge of planting anything that deer would not eat, were sympathetic while trying to […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 24, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/07/24/managua-n-c/
High-Rent District
I sat on the stoop of my 1940 Cape Cod and surveyed the view — one-bedroom brick-ranch duplexes and frumpy 1930s bungalows, SUVs spilling off gravel driveways onto lawns of hard-packed red clay tufted with weeds — and thought, “Wow, I’ve made it. I now live in the high-rent section of town.” According to a […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 17, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/07/17/high-rent-district/
A Blast on the Fourth
I would like to say that my choice of where to live has been motivated by work and family, but you could make a case that fireworks factored in. Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. From the time I was a kid, I woke up every July 4 knowing it was going to be […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 10, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/07/10/a-blast-on-the-fourth/
I know a guy …
With the new travel ban in effect, the U.S. has moved a step closer to the elitist mentality that Donald Trump admires. As of last Thursday night, if you come from one of six Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — your ability to visit the Land of the Free depends […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 3, 2017
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2017/07/03/i-know-a-guy/