In the Neighborhoods: Morningside, Highland, and Social Distancing

At the Morningside Neighborhood Association meeting last month, they got an update on a new Fairview project:

[A developer] is currently developing 72 lots on 34 acres along Reed Road for single family units. Application has been submitted to the City but not yet approved. Property is in the process of being cleaned up. Trees will be delimbed to allow for better sight lines and to discourage homeless encampments. Goal is to do grading in the fall and begin building in the winter. Lots will go on sale in 2021. Minimum Density requirements by Code are being met (6 units per acre) but not as dense as the original plan. These lots will be approximately 5000-8000 square feet. 5-6 builders will be subcontracted to do the work.

Discussion then led to the importance of funding sidewalks, bike lanes, and modernization on Reed Road.

The Morningside Neighborhood Association meets at Pringle Creek Community Painters Hall,  3911 Village Center Drive SE on Wednesday the 11th at 6:30 PM.

Enhanced crosswalk on Pine at Maple - March 2018

At Highland, there are two transportation items. ODOT will talk about a "zone change," which must be a speed zone, on Hickory Avenue. The City of Salem will also talk about the enhanced crosswalk on Pine Street at Maple, where a driver struck and killed Caroline Storm in 2015.

The Highland Neighborhood Association meets Thursday the 12th at 7:00 p.m. in the North Neighbors Resource Center, 945 Columbia St NE.

A Digression on Prudence and Gathering

At this point it seems nearly impossible that we too will not have some kind of mandated social distancing in the near future. The news out of Northern Italy is very concerning. Nearer to home, Seattle is also concerning. As you think about your own strategies for "flattening the curve," not just for personal health but for herd and community health also, it is reasonable to think about participating in public meetings. I blog about them supposing you might find them of interest, but we are at a point now when it might be prudent to cease attending. With Our Salem meetings coming up in particular, this is bad for public process and policy, and very bad in an election year, but if we are serious about getting in front of a pandemic, there are real reasons to think we might need to curtail our in-person social lives more severely now, more than just frequent hand-washing, while we can make an actual dent in early transmission rates, and not wait for the spike in illness and deaths that will trigger the City or State to make formal announcements.

The first closure order in the 1918 pandemic
October 12th, 1918
(see more on that here)

Addendum

I'm seeing a lot more talk like this today. Maybe a consensus is emerging. The linked piece at The Atlantic is "Cancel Everything."

On staying home - via twitter

Addendum 2, March 23rd

via Twitter

And here's not just a recommendation, but an order with jail time or fines attached.