INFORMATION AND URBAN DESIGN

Data is something given or admitted. Information is something intelligent we communicate. News hits us constantly; we need a dynamic display that shows us information as it happens. My desire is to acquire knowledge through this process. This web page is only a start.

One wants one unified urban design information stream — the electronic story for stimulating ones professional life. The stream needs to come from a variety of sources to stimulate and inform all those disciplines involved in the formation of city building.

One also wants an actual family computer, which makes it simple and natural to share family information (photos, calendar notes, addresses, music, Web sites) and keep private information private. So every family member gets a customized view of the shared stream; anyone can tune into this information beam from any computer in the house.

The professional business information stream however doesn’t flow the same way. It looks like a daily receding parade of electronic documents. When a new e-mail message, photo, schedule reminder or news update arrives, it appears up front in the present.

This information stream has a future, too, where ones notes plans and appointments; the future flows into the present, which flows into the past. By glancing at this information stream, one glances at ones life passing by.

Time spent in absorbing these bits and pieces has value as some of this information forms the character and spirit of the urban designs one forwards into the hand, through the pencil to the paper drawing. After this action the most important result is to experience the design in reality.

BY Graham Kaye-Eddie – Master Urban Designer.

Makabusi Inc. – Bakersfield – California

Email – makabusi@pacbell.net

FTA, FHWA: No change in CMAQ eligibility for high-speed rail

U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Jan. 16 published their final decision not to alter Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) eligibility for high-speed rail projects.

LAX-Palmdale High Speed Ground Access Study

"This Milestone Report on Capital and Operating Cost Estimates is the seventh in a series of eleven. It provides cost estimates for a high-speed ground access system from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Palmdale Regional Airport (PMD). The three finalist alternative alignments are evaluated, the Airport Connector, Maximum Coverage and the Transit Hubs.

The intent of this milestone is to provide a conceptual cost estimate for the alignment alternatives. This information is to be used in determining and comparing the cost effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed alternatives. It is important to note that the costs are planning-level estimates and reflect a 5% level of conceptual engineering. This milestone report provides cost information for both Very High-Speed Maglev (VHSM) and High-Speed Rail/Very High-Speed Rail (HSR/VHSR) systems for comparison purposes. The VHSM technology has been selected by the SCAG Maglev Task Force as the preferred technology in the LAX-PMD corridor."

A good read for all those folk interested in high speed ground transportation in California and what it means to do a good study. Please read this report to find out what is really going on with the SCAG Maglev activities between the LA Basin and Palmdale. Contrast this study with the California High Speed "Rail" Authority's study. Compare the approach and then ask what's right and what's wrong with the reccomendations presented?

Millennial architecture, Traditionalism, and the American luxury home

This is a must read for urban designers and our entire interdisciplinary team.

KERN ROADS FACE BUMPY FUTURE

Well here we go again -- a argument for a sales tax to repair our roads. We need this money but will citizens comply?

DEVELOPERS, CITY WARY OF WAGE LAW

The Bakersfield politburo will now have to move carefully on downtown redevelopment projects.

A Fiscal Fantasy

I want to share a fantasy with you. Trust me: it will explain everything you need to know about the budget debate.

TODAY IN HISTORY

On this day in 1946, the Central Intelligence Agency is founded

On this day in 1984, one of the most talked-about commercials in history, the Macintosh "1984" ad, aired only once, during the Super Bowl.

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Grant Cross our artist and cartoonist can be reached at his studio in Bakersfield at 661-323-3181