That’s right. Start your New Year’s Resolution off right by biking to work one day a week. And if you make it Friday, you can join the other dedicated folks who will be riding around the downtown on Jan 6 and 6pm. Check out the details here: http://www.getdowntown.org/programs/events/Ride_Around_Town_Jan_08
Hello all,
I’ll be out of town for a bit so posting for the next week might be a little light.
Have a great Holiday season and Happy New Year!
From Ed Vielmetti, a blogger, techie, and bus rider (Check out his blog for even more info on snow removal)
While walking to work today, I listening to a mellow mix I created on my MP3 player.
The song “The Tourist” by Radiohead came on as I was huffing my way past Seventh on my way downtown. I couldn’t help but appreciate the lyrics, especially during this busy time of year:
“Hey man, slow down, slow down,
idiot, slow down, slow down.”
Apparently, Radiohead wrote this song after seeing American Tourists in France who were running around frantically trying to see all the sights in 10 minutes.
In a society of instant messaging and speedy cars, where do you go to just slow down?
That’s where Slow Society comes in. Thanks to the WBWC, I now know about this group.
On their website, Slow Society tells us what it’s all about:
“The purpose of Slow Society is to inspire and to provide guidance in slowness and sustainability related issues, in cooperation with creative partners facilitate long-term decision making and action. There is a need for strategies and practices for slowness and sustainability in all types of organizations, on all levels of society. ”
I especially like their page on Walking to Work and how it contributes to a Slow Society.
It all gives you pause to think . . . at least for a second or two.
We’re #25! We’re #25!
That is, according to the Carfree Census Database, which compiles Census Data of the commuting habits of employees in various cities.
When you search by Small Cities (population 50,000-250,000) with the most number of non-car commuters, Ann Arbor Michigan shows up as #25 on the list. This is out of a total of 597 cities.
The numbers are as follows (according to the 2000 Census):
Ann Arbor City
Population: 114110
% of Bike Commuters: 2.39%
% of Pedestrian Commuters: 16.52%
% of Transit Commuters: 6.89%
% Total = 25.8%
% of Households without a car: 9.55%
Yeah to us! And that’s just for the City of Ann Arbor. When you look at the numbers of people commuting to the downtown, the figures are also positive:
Downtown Ann Arbor (2005)
% of Bike Commuters: 4.2%
% of Pedestrian Commuters: 15.1%
% of Transit Commuters: 14.7%
% Total = 34%
This info is from the 2005 Evaluation of the getDowntown go!pass program by the Urban and Regional Research Collaborative, A.
All of this is very heartening and make Ann Arbor a nice place to live that will be getting even better in the next couple of years.
I know for a fact that:
That’s just a bit of what I know right now. So let’s keep up the good work.
It’s a little cold outside these days. Time for a new hat or Yak Tracks or Mucklucs
Did you know Downtown has a lot of unique and standard winter gear?
Check out our resource guide with some of the products businesses recommended to us and then it’s time to go shopping!
Who needs super-malls when we have downtown Ann Arbor! And better yet, many of these locations offer a discount with your go!pass or by working downtown:
Name: Acme Mercantile
Website: www.acmemercantile.com
Address: 111 W.
What type of winter gear they sell: hat & scarf sets, gloves
go!pass or other discount? 10% off clothing
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Scarves, gloves, Leopard and zebra fezes
Name: 16 Hands
Website: www.16handsgallery.com
Address: 216 S. Main
What type of winter gear they sell: hats, scarves and gloves
go!pass or other discount? 10% off for downtown workers
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Local artists working with fleece and knitwear, Neat winter hats, Messenger bags
Name: Bivouac
Website: www.bivouacannarbor.com
Address: 336 S. State
What type of winter gear they sell: boots, jackets, hats and scarves, gloves and mittens, high visibility gear, fleece and long underwear, socks, grips you can wear on your shoes
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Balaclava-covers head and neck, Merino wool base layers for tops and bottoms, Yak Tracks (grips for shoes)
Name: Downtown Home and Garden
Website: www.downtownhomeandgarden.com
Address:
What type of winter gear they sell: grips for your shoes so you don’t slip on the ice, hot coffee and hot cocoa
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Stabilicers (shoe grips), Muck Co. water-proof flexible boots, Winter work gloves
Name: Elmo’s Mainstreet T-Shirts
Website: www.mainstreett-shirts.com
What type of winter year they sell: Hats and gloves
Name: Footprints on Main
Website: www.shopfootprints.com
Address:
What type of winter gear they sell: boots
go!pass or other discount? 10% for go!pass users
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Merrill boots and Clogs, Encore Stitch boot (warm and stylish for women), Keen Newport Trail for Men, Baffin Winter Boots
Name: Footprints on South U
Website: www.shopfootprints.com
Address: 1200 S. University
What type of winter gear they sell: boots
go!pass or other discount? 10% for go!pass users
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Keen Boots
Name: Fourth Ave Birkenstocks
Website: www.birkenstock.com
Address: 209 N. Fourth
What type of winter gear they sell: boots
go!pass or other discount? 10% for go!pass users
Staff recommendations for items they sell: This is a good time to get summer shoes repaired, Smart Wool socks, Smart Wool full-zip sweater jacket (several colors), DigiWalker Pedometers, Sheepskin boots from Warmbat, Finn Comfort boots
Name: Kiwanis
Website: www.myannarbor.net/kiwanis/
Only open Saturdays from 9am-12pm
What type of winter gear they sell: a used clothing store with all sorts of winter weather gear from hats to jackets to boots
Name: Middle Earth
Website: www.middleearthgifts.com
Address: 1209 S. University
What type of winter gear they sell: See staff suggestion column.
go!pass or other discount? 10% off for go!pass users
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Hats and gloves and scarves, Smoking Mitten, (holes for a cigarette), Moxies (moccasin slipper), Coffee and tea mugs
Name: Moosejaw
Website: www.moosejaw.com
Address: 327 S. Main
What type of winter gear they sell: jackets, fleece, mittens and gloves, hats and scarves, warm socks
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Arc’teryx covert scarf, Marmot Randonnee gloves, Patagonia big mountain beanie, Wind proof and water resistant clothing, Water proof, gore-tex boots, Hard shell and a couple of layers
Name:
Address: 419 E.
What type of winter gear they sell: hats, scarves, mittens, sweaters
Staff recommendations for items they sell: -hats, gloves-Mucklucs (slippers made by a co-op), winter jackets, wool sweaters, slippers.
Name: People’s Food Co-op
Website: www.peoplesfood.coop/
Address:
What type of winter gear they sell:Maggie’s tights
Name: Red Shoes
Website: www.redshoeshomegoods.com
Address: 332 S. Ashley
What type of winter gear they sell: See Staff Suggestions.
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Winter wool scarves and gloves made out of recycled sweaters, Baby hats
Name: Running Fit
Website: www.runningfit.net
Address: 123 E.
What type of winter gear they sell: See staff suggestion column.
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Yak Tracks: helps to walk on ice, Hats and gloves, Wool socks
Name: Sam’s Store
Address: 207 E. Liberty
What type of winter gear they sell: boots, jackets, hats and scarves, gloves and mittens, fleece and long underwear, socks
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Waterproof and breathable rain jackets by Columbia, Duofold long underwear, Hats, face masks, and gloves of all prices.
Name: Sweetwater’s
Website: www.sweetwaterscafe.com
Address: 123 W.
What type of winter gear they sell: Hot Coffee, Tea and Hot
go!pass or other discount? 10% off your order with your go!pass
Name: Suwanee Springs
Address: 306 S. Main
What type of winter gear they sell: sweaters and more
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Rebecca Beeson tops, Level 99 Jeans, Hobo Handbags
Name: Tortoise and Hare
Website: www.tortoiseandhare.com
Address: 209 E.
What type of winter gear they sell: see suggestions.
go!pass or other discount? 10% for go!pass users
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Nike Sphere Dry Hoodie, Winter run mits, Smart Wool Socks
Name: Van Boven Shoes
Address: 17 Nickels Arcade
What type of winter gear they sell: boots , warm hats
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Boots, gloves, hats, Ugg
Name: Vintage to Vogue
Address: 407 N. Fifth
What type of winter gear they sell: see staff suggestions
go!pass or other discount? 10% off after 4pm with go!pass
Staff recommendations for items they sell: Hats, gloves, scarves, and jackets (huge assortment)
Do you have bikes you’re storing for sentimental reasons? Could you use a little extra space in your garage? Here’s a couple of solutions for you!
1. Donate Local: The Red Cross is looking for new, used, or damaged bikes to be restored and distributed to youth in Washtenaw County. Contact Jared Meldrum at (734)971-5300 x208 or jared.meldrum@wc-redcross.org or deliver bikes to to the Red Cross Chapter at 4624 Packard Road.
2. Donate to Detroit: Check out Back Alley Bikes http://www.backalleybikes.org/, an organization helping youth and adults learn bicycle maintenance skills and earn a bike.
3. Donate international: Check out Pedals to Progress at www.p4p.org, an organization located in NJ that repairs bikes and sends them overseas. On the website they have directions on how to package bike to be sent. They also ask for a donation to cover shipping costs.
4. Reuse: Drop your bike off at the Recycle Center Reuse Store, located at 2420 S. Industrial Highway. www.recycleannarbor.org/reuse/reuse.htm
5. Recycle: If your bikes just beyond a point of repair, you can drop it off to be recycled at: Town and Country, Washtenaw County Regional Drop, or Dyer’s Auto Parts and Metal Recycling.
Just think, now you can clean out your garage and feel good about it, too! Feel free to respond with any other handy bike donation and recycling suggestions!
From the Michigan Business Review: http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2007/12/congress_approves_auto_fuel_ec.html
FYI:
Ravi Gajendran and David Harrison conducted an analysis of 46 studies on telecommuting and published the results in the Journal of Applied Psychology as The Good, the Bad, and the Unknown About Telecommuting (18 page PDF).
They found that small amounts of telecommuting have small but mainly beneficial effects on perceived autonomy, work-family conflict, job satisfaction, performance, turnover intent, and role stress, with no detrimental effects on the quality of workplace relationships.
Apparently there’s a lot of buzz about this bike: https://www.ktrakcycle.com/index.html
Looks like you can put a ski on it and some crazy studded tires.
Anybody have one of these?
