Gary Kavanagh
Recent Posts
Santa Monica’s First Kidical Mass A Success
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Santa Monica’s first Kidical Mass (with support from Safe Routes to School grant funding) successfully drew in quite a a crowd of young kids, toddlers in seats or trailers, and their parents, for a distinctly different vibe than the typical social rides. I absolutely adore efforts like this because they renew my faith that perhaps […]
Santa Monica Bike Update: Pedicab Ordinance Passes, Kidical Mass This Weekend, & The SMC Bike Club Goes Camping
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In Santa Monica becoming a little more Portland (without the rain):the Santa Monica city council just approved an ordinance on Tuesday to regulate pedicab operators interested in setting up shop in town, this Saturday is the first Santa Monica Kidical Mass (a concept I first saw roll by in Portland OR and originated in Eugene […]
Parking Ordinance Timeline Not Deferred, & Thoughts On Future Of Parking
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This Wednesday, the Santa Monica Planning Commission deliberated on whether or not advise the City Council to push back the updates to the parking ordinance of the zoning code a full year, and after other land use zoning changes are completed. During testimony, I personally testified against delay and was glad that amongst the back […]
They Paved Paradise, Parking In Santa Monica
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Parking has been dominating the public policy debate in Santa Monica the past few weeks, ever since the local lobbying group Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City (SMCLC) made transportation consultant Jeffery Tumlin into a target. Unfortunately they subsequently succeeded in having him removed from Santa Monica projects after years of great work with […]
Santa Monica: Public Process Begins For Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway
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This past Saturday marked the beginning of the public process for a proposed Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway in Santa Monica (a video of the concept for the unfamiliar). This is one of the more high profile projects called for in the early scope of Santa Monica’s Bike Action Plan, although the greenway concept goes far […]
Santa Monica: Defining Sustainability
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One of the ways I’m often reminded I’m really a Santa Monican first, Angeleno second, is when I see Styrofoam as a food container . It makes feel a little ill inside. We pride ourselves on environmental stewardship as a core value in Santa Monica, and take protecting the coast and the ocean seriously. Always […]
UCLA Advancing the Complete Streets Dialogue
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Last Thursday UCLA hosted its third annual Complete Streets Conference in Downtown Los Angeles. I was excited to have had the opportunity to attend with such a packed line up for the all day event, with a few big names in the mix including the esteemed Janette Sadik-Khan. During the opening presentation UCLA professor Anastasia […]
Transportation Impact Fee & Climate Policy Actions Adopted By Santa Monica Council
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At Tuesday night’s council session at Santa Monica city hall, it was a clean sweep toward making progress on multi-modal transportation goals and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (for areas not dependent on outside decision making like the federally regulated SMO airport). The big item that most of the public was in attendance for was the […]
Bringing #ClimateForward Back Home
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I’m currently rolling out (on Amtrak) of Washington D.C. following what has shaped up to biggest rally ever held specifically to confront global warming and climate change as an issue in the United States (the estimates I find most likely were that there were around 35,000 marchers in the street). I made a last minute […]
From Sprouting Rail Bridges to Complete Streets, Santa Monica Advancing On Multiple Fronts
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For those who didn’t know, some commitments came up that demanded nearly all of my time the past few weeks so I took a break from the blogging. For my first post back I thought I’d quickly go through a few of the recent or developing Santa Monica stories I caught word of or have […]
Big Blue Bus Still Behind The Curve On Digital Tools
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One game changing advancement to help users navigate public transit websites is the proliferation of smart phones, apps, and map services catering to public transit. While we shouldn’t assume everyone has access to these tools, it is foolish to not embrace the opportunities these new tools make possible. However, Big Blue Bus remains behind with […]
New Signage Discourages Sidewalk Riding In Santa Monica, But It’s An Issue That Defies Simple Resolution
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This past week I first noticed signage and stenciling in Santa Monica telling cyclists not to ride on the sidewalk. This new stencil signage is at present only on 2nd St near Arizona, and is inconsistently implemented with one intersection with a walk your bike icon (2nd & Arizona), and another with a bike crossed […]