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Old Town Newhall has received quite the facelift thanks to the city’s streetscaping project. Phase 1 is complete and the city will hold something we used to see a lot of in this town: a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Today at 5pm Mayor Dude will pull out the giant novelty scissors and make available these beautiful new sidewalks for your happy feet to walk upon:

Shamelessly ripped from City Briefs where all images are public domain (click for original)

Sidewalks aren’t the only new thing in OTN. This is afterall, a streetscaping project, not just a sidwalkskaping project. The city put in some nifty gas lamps, new trees, benches, hitching posts (!!) and more as well.

Nice!

Back in May I covered some of the other neat features of the streetscaping project, like ped-friendly sidewalk “bulb outs” that reduce the distance a person has to walk to cross the street.

The city has made Old Town Newhall look so good with this project, it’s amazing to me that there was some controversy abuot it just a 12-18 months ago.  Some didn’t want the city paying for this; they wanted private developers to, but look at OTN now, who can argue with the results? (my wife was even impressed!) This is the best kind of local government project: direct spending on well-designed infrastructure, infrastructure, I might add, that will support and encourage commerce.

OTN has always faced a chicken-and-the-egg problem. People wouldn’t go down there because the businesses didn’t attract many customers. Good businesses wouldn’t move down there because people weren’t coming.

Now with the new sidewalk, and hopefully the soon-to-come library, I think OTN’s future is brighter than it used to be.

Of course, this recession is sucking things up all around town, so it will probably remain largely vacant and uninteresting in the near term, but overall, this is a Good Thing

For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud to be a Santan Claritian.

Why?

Well you see, yesterday, in a humble multi-room school house in Northbridge, mountains were moved, seas were parted, and bicyclists, motorists and pedestrians all came together to compromise on the lane design of Decoro.

Hope ‘n change baby, hope ‘n change.

Now when the meeting started, it looked as if the Northbridgers were going to confirm all my worst fears ‘n dreads about life in Santa Clarita. City Manager Ken Pulskamp artfully started the meeting by welcoming everyone, telling the 200+ people there that he was their BFF, that he was there to listen to them and do what they wanted.

He then said what was obvious: the city didn’t maliciously decide to restripe Decoro from four vehicle lanes to two in order to screw with people’s commutes; this was actually part of a master plan City Hall had worked on for years.

Then someone shouted: “Well you need to get outta yer office down thar at City Hall and come down here during rush hour!!!1!” to which the crowd responded with a Summer of the Town Hall style, “YEAAAAH!!”

Then someone called Andrew Yi, the City’s Traffic Engineer, “criminal” for restriping Decoro, and I thought to myself, “The die has been cast and I’ll be lucky to get out of here with my skin intact.”

But then, peace came upon the crowd, and we reasoned together.

Hello Progress & Compromise, it's good to talk to you!

Several cyclists spoke their familiar refrain: we are taxpayers too. We have a right to the road. Cycling is healthy and environmentally friendly. The bike lane is a positive asset for your community, and we want you to share the streets with us.

To which the motorists retorted: For decades or longer, this street was four lanes. Now it’s two. You’re messing up our commute. Why can’t you bikers ride the sidewalk like children? Oh yeah, we hate when people speed on Decoro. But we also hate this traffic calming measure you installed.

And pedestrians chimed in to: I feel unsafe walking the sidewalks when cars drive by at 60mph, so I like the bike lane and wish to use bicyclists as the buffer between me and the cars. K THX!

Pulskamp asked each speaker to select his/her choice for the three alternatives for Decoro: 1) Keep it as is with one traffic lane and one bike lane, 2) revert it to the way it was with two high speed traffic lanes and no bike lane or 3) the Lions ‘n Lambs option, where cyclists get a 5′ lane, cars get two, and the median shrinks just a bit.

After an hour of comments, Pulskamp asked for a vote. In order to be consistent and to maintain my cycling street cred, I voted for option #1 along with one other person, Jim Farley. About a dozen people voted for option 2. But 90+% -plus many of the cyclists- voted for option #3, and thus the Grand SCV Bargain of 2009 was struck.

Inspired by my elementary school surroundings and this great compromise, I took the time to draw this accurate illustration of what Decoro version 3.0 will look like:

My Northbridge friends may live way up there in the hills, but I was so proud of them for supporting our rights to the road. We have done here what the parties to Mayo Expansion, the MRF, and other Great SCV Controversies have failed to do: we compromised and made almost everyone happy.

As if that wasn’t enough, several of the motorists (and pedestrians) asked that Pulskamp increase the size of the bike lane from 5′ to 7′ and decrease the size of the median to 10′, which was the absolute minumum it could go according to Andrew Yi. This was like icing on the cake.

To commemorate this special day, I’d like to play a song for my motoring friends.

and maybe they can indulge me and take a trip back to the 70s with Queen

As for me, my faith in the goodness of the people of the SCV has been restored, and I have shelved my wicked satire piece on Northbridge for another day.

Thank you to the City staff and everyone who went to the meeting. Be safe out there!

but I’d like to ring up Mother Nature and order up some fresh Santa Ana winds targeted at the SCV right about now. The smoke has seemingly settled into our valley and it’s giving me an awful headache.

Some powerful Santa Anas out of the north west would blow all that down to Fillmore & Santa Paula, where it belongs.

I think a lot of this smoke is actually from the controlled burns they’re doing in Sand Canyon today. Here’s the City’s emergency blog:

Los Angeles County Fire Department has notified the City of Santa Clarita that while the Station Fire remains “quite a distance away from Santa Clarita,” residents in the Sand Canyon area may see smoke and fire due to various fire suppression efforts going on today. The Fire Department is “going direct” with hand crews to help “tie in” the fire so it doesn’t escape. Possible “back burns” may occur as needed.

If there are any changes, the City and our residents will be provided with information immediately. Thank you for your support of our amazing fire fighting personnel.

Far be it from me to question the FD but this smoke sucks!

That and other awesome facts from Brian Charles’ excellent article on the mobile fire command camp set up at the closed Central Park:

Fifty-three buildings were set up in Central Park to support thousands of firefighters battling the Station Fire along its northern front…
Rows of portable toilets, showers and tents line Central Park. The camp has 10 administrative buildings where senior fire officials plan how and where to attack the fire, Simpson said.
…
“We have 2,400 firefighters to feed. We also need to make sure they have access to showers,” Simpson said Tuesday afternoon. “All this boosts morale and makes their jobs easier.”

But feeding, caring for and keeping that many firefighters in relative comfort is no easy task.

“We’ll go through 900 pounds of chicken and 700 gallons of water at dinner alone,” said Kirk Jensen, manager of Port-a-Pit food services. Tuesday night’s meal included barbecue chicken, rice pilaf and scalloped potatoes, he said.
“We feed each firefighter more than 13,000 calories a day to sustain them during the long days on the fire line,” Neth said. The camp also features 130 portable toilets.

Incredible!

I was near Central Park on Monday and snapped this picture from afar:

They have truly built a city within a city there.

There are so few things to like about this situation, but I enjoy seeing all the out of town and out of state fire engines, or “fire apparatus” as they are called in the industry.

Turns out there’s an entire Flickr photo group devoted to photographing California fire engines. I’ve seen engines from as far away as Sacramento, like this one:

Image courtesy of Flickr user El Cobrador, click for original

and Palo Alto:

Image courtesy of flickr user davidstea, click for original

most of the trucks are red, but some are white, flurouscent or green:

Image courtesy of flickr user phil/las, click for original

Graphic design afficionados ought to like this: the logo on the side of the engine is called a “Herald” and there’s an entire Flickr set for those as well.

A trip over to Wikipedia reveals some other interesting facts about engines:

The fire engine may have several methods of pumping water onto the fire. The most common method is to pass water through hoses to the fire, from an array of valves. It may also have a fixed pumping “cannon” (called a “fire monitor“, “deck gun”, or “deluge”), which can direct the water as pointed by the operator. The horizontal and vertical range of the monitor arrangement usually is limited and appropriate only for specific tasks, such as airport fires. Monitors can also be used as water cannons for crowd control. A fire engine may have an onboard water reservoir, allowing it to fight a fire immediately upon arrival, or may be completely reliant on external sources, such as fire hydrants, water tenders, river, or reservoir by using draft water suction. A development is the use of an impulse fire-extinguishing system (IFEX), in which the water is highly pressurised into a vaporous mist, creating a cooling effect that is more efficient than that of water alone.^[1]

A modern fire engine is usually a multi-purpose vehicle carrying personnel and equipment for a wide range of fire-fighting and rescue tasks. Therefore, most pumpers also carry equipment such as ladders, pike poles, axes and cutting equipment, Halligans, fire extinguishers, ventilating equipment, floodlights, hose ramps, breathing apparatus (BA) and general tools. In some areas, a ladder truck may carry some of these tools as well.

While sentimental people like me might have a romantic connection to the big, shiny, loud fire engines, Wikipedia (and common sense) says they are of limited use in fighting large scale brush fires in hilly terrain, like the Station Fire. That’s why you see so many of these, called brush trucks:

Image courtsy flickr user MR38, click for original

Of course the coolest piece of equipment has to be those two jets that have been used to fight the fire. We’re already familiar with the DC-10:

but this is the first time I’ve heard of a bonafide 747 being used as well. I took this screenshot yesterday from a Fox broadcast. The 747 was dropping retardant near Ravenna, which is just west of Acton on Soledad Canyon Road:

The 747, owned and operated by Oregon-based Evergreen Airlines, can carry up to 24,000 gallons of water or retardant, according to Wikipedia.

It’s unfortunate that all these firefighters have to travel so far (and it seems like they’re in Central Park almost every year now) but of course we’re all thankful for the work they do.

Following complaints from some of my dear readers, I have purposely refused to talk about all the developments pertaining to the Decoro bike lane issue. Since I last wrote about it, there’s been quite a bit of activity.

First of all, City Manager Ken Pulskamp has scheduled a Decoro Bike Lane Summit (dueling Summits tonight, only in the SCV!) tonight at Helmers Elementary to discuss the bike lane with Decoro people and “concerned residents” like me:

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the changes made recently to Decoro Drive. At the request of the Santa Clarita City Council, City Manager Ken Pulskamp will be leading a community meeting on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 7 p.m. at Charles Helmers Elementary in the Multi-Purpose Room (27300 Grandview Drive). The meeting will serve two main purposes: (1) allow residents living near Decoro Drive who wish to express their views regarding the changes and provide an opinion as to how the City should move forward and (2) City provide an explanation on the restriping of Decoro Drive. As a concerned resident with interest in this issue, I would like to cordially invite you to attend this meeting. No RSVP is required to attend the meeting. Thank you again for your participation in this issue.

Interesting that Pulskamp is leading the meeting instead of the City Council. Why? Well, there seems to be a perception that City Staff simply decided to take away one traffic lane and install a bike lane. Nothing could be further from the truth; the City Council approved this plan on June 24, 2008 on a 5-0 vote (minutes) (including Ender and Ferry!) yet it’s the city staff who’s going to bear all the abuse from motorists tonight.

And abuse it shall be, if reading the Signal’s LTE section is any indication. So far the LTE section has been flooded with complaints about Decoro. Letters run the gamut and include comparisons to gross bodily functions:

I was told that it was set up to accommodate the Amgen bikers during their tours through Santa Clarita. What’s wrong with the old way of putting up cones for them? Did someone get hurt on the last tour because they didn’t have designated bike lanes? Can we picket City Hall or maybe hold signs on Decoro that say, “Honk if you think this is a brain fart?”

to passive aggressive-ness and sarcasm:

Terrible idea. Ranks among the worst in the twenty years I have lived here. Thank you …. not!

to a mild case of sexual insecurity:

Is someone’s personal bike fetish managing our city? It’s bad enough we turn our city over to a road race that inconveniences our population once a year, but to make travel more difficult on a daily basis really crosses the line.

I’m not sure, but I think it’s time to check City Hall and find out who is showing up to work in Lycra shorts.

Santa Clarita was not founded to satisfy the whims of a few; at least it wasn’t supposed to be. And whoever the parties are who have this fascination with bikes and stretchy material, there are magazines for both desires which you can enjoy in the privacy of your own home without inflicting yourselves on the general public that trusts you to make decisions for the greater good.

I just checked this morning and the needle on the official SCV Outrage Meter (housed in the SCVTalk Headquarters, orbiting high above the SCV) is thoroughly pegged to the right:

so I’m not sure cyclists will be able to save the Decoro bike lane.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give it the old college try, right? Here’s my own LTE:

Some have complained that the new lane is a waste of taxpayer dollars.

On the contrary, the city receives money from state and federal sources on the basis that new road projects accommodate both bicycle and vehicle traffic.

Others complain that vehicle traffic has been slowed, but is this really a valid complaint? Do Northbridge residents really want vehicles to travel 50 or 60 miles per hour in their neighborhood?

Finally, Northbridge residents should consider that having a well-marked bike lane in their community is something that may increase the value of their homes and the attractiveness of their community.

Booyah, take that!

Anyway, however you come down on the Decoro bike lane issue, I hope we can all agree that both cyclists and motorists deserve space on local roads. We can peacefully coexist in this era of hope ‘n change.

So see you at the meeting tonight and please don’t hit me with your car!

I have visited the new Trader Joe’s and am prepared to render my verdict.

The first time I visited the store’s new location at Bouquet and Newhall Ranch road in my car:

and the second time was by bike:

so I feel have a good beed on the traffic situation at that intersection.

So just how is the traffic?

Not that bad!

When us Newhallians first learned about the move from Cinema to Bouquet & NRR, many of us practically despaired. Getting to Cinema road was a quick and easy shot down Railroad Avenue, whereas getting to the Best Buy area required us to run through Santa Clarita’s own American Gladiator-style gauntlet of Bouquet Canyon & Soledad and then Bouquet & Newhall Ranch Road.

But for Valencians, I’m afraid the situation is still quite distressing. They have to drive east on NRR and then perform two left turns to get into the Trader Joe’s parking lot.

For cyclists the situation is reversed. If you’re coming from Newhall, you have to ride the sidewalk on Bouquet (Nooo!!!) then take the crosswalks to TJ’s. But if you’re riding from North Valencia, you have almost a straight shot up the bike paths/sidewalks on the north side of NRR. Sadly, no place to lock your bike in front of TJ’s or Best Buy.

Speaking of parking, how is it?

Well, I heard a few blasts of the horn as impatient (and hungry) Santa Claritans jousted for parking spots in front of our new store:

and there’s no doubt that the extra capacity that shopping center has is being used. Despite the honks, the angry gestures, and the mad rush of shoppers, I think this parking lot is a lot easier to navigate and find space in that the old one. I will say that this parking lot will be a nightmare during the holidays as foodies and gadget geeks battle to score sweet holiday deals.

So how is the inside of the store?

I risked being banned from the store for taking these spy camera shots, but in the end, I think you’ll agree the risk was worth it:

It’s so spacious! No more rubbing elbows with Trader Joe’s devotees, the new store has room to breath, discover, and explore!

The wine section has expanded to take up almost the entire south wall!

And I’m happy to report that the famous Trader Joe’s murals don’t dissappoint. This store has lots of artistic merit, not to mention mad SCV Credibility, as in this shot showing Heritage Junction above the dairy section.

They even have a mural celebrating our local high school collectives:

No love for Golden Valley High? Also I don't see room for the mythical Castaic High

Other grocers merely support our town with sales tax and scrip; not Trader Joe’s! They paint stuff on walls for us. Give me an S! Give me a C! Give me a V! What’s that spell?

Remember how the checkout area in the old Trader Joe’s was as packed, crowded and smelly as a Middle Eastern Bazaar?

Well no longer!

It’s wide open now with two more checkstands populated by the same smiling, Hawaiian-shirted clerks! Major improvement.

mmm beefy.

So overall, how would I reate the new TJ’s?

Location: B-

Ease of Access/Parking for Newhallites: B

Ease of Access/Parking for Valenciavillains: D+

Ease of Access/Parking for Saugusians: So good the value of their homes have probably gone up overnight

Size of Store: A+

Selection: Well duh, it’s a Trader Joe’s

Overall:

Sarah says this is a store Real Americans and all others can love!

If you read Sunday’s Signal editorial about the forthcoming SCV Economic Summit, you’d think the conference held the answers to solving all of the problems local businesses face during the recession. Here’s just a sample of the gushing from that editorial:

In short, it’s got the makings of the economic summit of the decade and the backing of enough major players to make it representative of the entire valley – and informative enough for every one of our valley’s 11,000 businesses to get something meaningful out of it.

If you think you already have all of the answers, fine. We wish you luck.

But if you have even a smidgen of uncertainty about the future, then come and participate. No business is too big or too small to gain from this.

Tim Myers, the local election handicapper, Valencia High football fan, and all around man about town, thought the editorial looked a bit funny. So too did his son, Timothy Myers Jr, who weighed in all the way from UCSD  on the matter in an exclusive rebutal posted here on SCVTalk:

What to Make of SCV Economic Town Hall Meeting:  Does the Signal Editorial Board or the Chamber of Commerce Board Know Nothing About Economics?

Timothy Charles Myers,  Jr,

I made the decision recently to study abroad during my senior year in college with the encouragement of my father and mother.  They felt that since I grew up in a Southern California suburb (Valencia) and went to University in a Southern California suburb (La Jolla) it might behoove me to broaden my horizons.  Nothing could make that clearer than the Signal Editorial published on August 30, 2009 concerning the SCV Economic Town Hall Meeting scheduled for September 2 at CalArts.

When reading this editorial online I decided to give the SCV Chamber the benefit of the doubt, but I cannot do so with the Signal editorial board.  The Signal seems to believe that something exists called the “SCV Economy.”  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Make no mistake.  The SCV economy has many businesses that are fully integrated into the state, regional, national and in come cases world macro economy.  Its largest local employers, namely Six Flags and the public school districts, rely heavily on regional and national travel and leisure patterns in the case of the former and state revenues in the case of the latter.

Going further, for those retail and service businesses primarily serving the SCV, their fortunes rely heavily on a commuting workforce whose jobs depend on the macro economy and whose willingness to spend, even locally, is dictated by their belief in income growth, the value of their investment portfolio (particularly the value of their homes) and their confidence in even continued employment.  Therefore, ideas like “ThinkSCV” certainly don’t hurt but can only marginally help the SCV cope with the current Great Recession in the best of circumstances.

If I could pry myself away from the mild temperatures of La Jolla to bake in the SCV for this meeting, only two speakers would appeal to me:  Craig Peters of CB Richard Ellis and Kevin Leahy of Candleman.  CB  Richard Ellis’s stock price sank to 20% of its 52 week high in the first quarter of 2009 but has nearly recovered in the run up since then and they recently renegotiated nearly $1 billion in debt in a clear indication of unfreezing credit markets.  Thus, Mr. Peters could share insights on the macro economy from the viewpoint of his company’s leadership.

As for Kevin Leahy, I would guess that while scented candles would not be the first thing people stop buying in a consumer spending downturn they would have to be in the top 10.  How Mr. Leahy maneuvered his business successfully through the downturn would be nothing short of genius, and if business has recently picked up it would be a good indicator of a general turnaround.

But with the other speakers and participants, if they really believe there is such a thing as the SCV economy discrete from the rest of the world, I will think of them as quaint when I go abroad.

Timothy Myers, Jr. is a junior studying economics in residence at Eleanor Roosevelt College at the University of California-San Diego, recently ranked 14^th along with UCLA in the top 25 Economics programs by US News and World Report.  He is a 2007 graduate of Valencia High School.

All around me yesterday, I could feel anxiety. Anxiety among coworkers, anxiety at the grocery store, anxiety at the masseuse (okay maybe not there, but you get the idea).

What was Santa Clarita anxious about?

This man had escaped:

from Pitchess “Hole in the Wall” Detention Center in Tesoro del Valle Castaic.

People get anxious whenever someone escapes the old PDC. Sirens go off, the cops make a big show of it, the media gets into it and all around town, rumors are exchanged and passed on.

Me? Well I have to admit that old college revolutionary in me comes out whenever there’s an escape, and I’m secretly like “Alright, you go man! Escape the SCV! Go go go! Fight the man! Don’t stop till you get to the border!”

Yeah I know that’s a bad impulse to have, but sometimes we all secretly root for the escaped convict, don’t we? Whether it’s Clint Eastwood in the Alcatraz movie or Tim Robbins in Shawshank Redemption, there’s that side of us.

Knowing better than to express that feeling in public though,  I immediately cover it up with feigned concern and, well, anxiety. “Oh dear! Are we in any danger??”

Our burglary inmate, Adrian Mitillica, however, was shortly caught (he made it all the way to Simi Valley, which is pretty much like escaping hell in order to get to hades, so I question his entire escape plan at this point) thereafter and the SCV let out a loud sigh of relief.

Life went back to normal.

That is until today, when Adrian Mitillica looks positively prescient in his desire to escape the Santa Clarita Valley.

Why?

This:

which has made the skies over Santa Clarita a nasty combination of ash and smoke, clouds of which block the sun, resulting in a disgusting orangish/brown light in 100+ degree heat.

My poor wife is sneezing to beat the band, my eyes itch, and I hear schools have gone on something called a “heat schedule” and are keeping kids inside.

So yeah, Adrian obviously saw this coming and wanted to get the hell out of town before this perfect storm of ash, heat and smoke descended upon us. He had the right idea as far as I’m concerned. But whereas if he leaves town, a bunch of black and whites follow him, when I leave town this evening, I shouldn’t have any pursuers.

It’s too bad. I had so many plans to Think Santa Clarita Valley this weekend. Top of the list was to ride to Bear Divide with my friend Kevin Korenthal, but the heat and smoke have ruled out that activity.

Next I was hoping to visit the new Trader Joe’s store and make fun of all the Newhallians and Valencians (myself included) trying to U-Turn, curb-hop, and angrily fight their way into the parking lot.

And finally, I hoped to go up Decoro way again and drive it, like in a car, and film said automotive adventure to see what it is like to be on that “nightmarish” road.

Alas, I must bid SCV adieu for the weekend. We’ll be chilling out in Long Beach or Ventura or some city with water nearby.

Have a good wekeend wherever you choose to spend it!

a passing resemblance to:

?

Anyway, here’s my entries for the caption contest.

Roboferry patrols city streets, keeping you safe!

or

*in the voice of HAL, the robot from 2001* I’m sorry Frank. I can’t let you do that.

or

Bad Boys, whatcha want, whatcha gonna do! These are the stories of the men and women of Law Enforcement with your host Mayor Dude.

Dear City Council:

Welcome back from your long, hot summer recess. What did you do on your summer break? Can’t wait to see you tonight!

There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.

We promise not to abuse or filibuster the Public Participation segment of the City Council meeting if you promise to move it back to the top of the agenda.

There. I said it. It’s on everyone’s mind and it’s time we brought it up.

We know, we know, we upset you in year’s past with how we used PP. We used it to fight the MRF, to whine about the skate park, and to stretch hospital expansion business into the midnight hours. All of us got three minutes, one after another, for hours on end. It was no way to run a meting for either the opposition or the proponents.

What. A. Drag.

But listen- the good news is there’s nothing so controversial in the forseeable future that’s going to line up people who have never been to City hall for hours on end. So you really have no reason to push it into PrimeTime.

Besides, you have to admit you enjoy PP sometimes. Just a little right? I mean, in the summer of the Town Hall, where else can local political junkies like you and me go for pure, unadulterated fun? Certainly not the school boards or CLWA! And certainly not Buck McKeon, he knows better than to get in the same room with us.

As it stands now, you’re going to make all the decent speakers (and the crazy ones) wait until 8, perhaps 9 pm. On a weeknight. During the fall sweeps. And House MD looks really good this year.

So do us all a favor. Move Public Participation back to the top of the Council Agenda and we promise to not abuse it* with our Crazy.

Forever your’s,

Santa Clarita

*well maybe just a little