Planning Commissioners Journal

Taking Liberties

I'm taking the liberty of sharing a couple of photos -- and an interesting story -- with you.

Above, Lady Liberty in Dubuque, Iowa's Washington Park.To the right, another replica Lady Liberty that I photographed -- in this case, in front of the Finney County Courthouse in Garden City, Kansas. (Incidentally, this Courthouse has another claim to fame, it was the location of the 1960 murder trial of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, recounted in Truman Capote's remarkable book, In Cold Blood).

But back to the Lady Liberties. What's the story about the origins of these 8 foot 4, copper-clad replicas?

Will the Electric Grid Fuel our Vehicles?

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

One of the most intriguing aspects of the arrival of plug-in electric hybrid vehicles in large numbers is their potential for bringing about a radical change in the relationship of the transportation and utility sectors of the economy.

That was a key theme at a conference on the future of plug-in electric hybrid vehicles, sponsored by the University of Vermont (UVM) Transportation Research Center this past December 11th. See also my previous post, Plug-In Your Car and Save Dollars (and the Environment).

Plug-in electric hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) have the potential to dramatically shift the landscape in which transportation and utility companies operate. As vehicles "fueled" from electricity start to increase in number, utility companies will play a much more important role in the world of transportation.

Nancy Gioia, Director of Sustainable Mobility Technologies and Hybrid Vehicle Programs at Ford Motor Company, who also spoke at the UVM Conference, indicated that there's plenty of off-peak electric capacity available for PHEV growth -- in part because the 6 to 8 hours needed for recharging the battery would most often be done overnight, when electric demand is lowest.

Plug In Your Car & Save Dollars (and the Environment)

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

"Climate change is real ... we need to be part of the solution ... that's a significant shift for us."

That's part of the message Nancy Gioia (pronounced "joya") brought to a packed ballroom at the University of Vermont last month.

Gioia is head of Sustainable Mobility Technologies and Hybrid Vehicle Programs at Ford Motor Company. One of her priorities has been getting out a commercially viable plug-in electric hybrid car (PHEV, for short). In fact, Ford is in the process of delivering a fleet of its new "Escape" PHEVs to Southern California Edison for extensive testing and evaluation.

According to Gioia, Ford is firmly committed to these rechargeable vehicles that run on batteries, with the ability to shift to gas when the battery is drained (hence, the "hybrid" nature). Gioia cited J.D. Powers research indicating that by 2013, hybrid sales will exceed one million/year (about 254,000 hybrids were sold in the U.S. in 2006, over 25% in California).

Ford is not alone in rushing to PHEVs. General Motors is scheduled to roll out its "Volt" PHEV vehicle (GM, for reasons explained on their web site, doesn't call the Volt a "hybrid") in 2010/2011 -- and

Real Time, Real Value

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

Residents of Richmond, Virginia, have immediate access -- via their personal computers -- to two remarkable sources of information:

• RichmondCrime: a crime information resource that allows anyone to see the location of crime reports and learn the nature of the crime.
• Vacant Richmond, which allows anyone to see the location of vacant properties and find out who owns them.

What's perhaps most amazing is that this resource was developed by concerned citizens, not by city government or a large organization.

Above map is posted on the Oregon Hill web site -- Oregon Hill is one of Richmond's neighborhoods; when you go to their site and click on one of the "flags," the nature of the crime is indicated; you can also choose whatever time frame you want for viewing crime reports. And, you can zoom in or out.

Ross Catrow, who helped put together RichmondCrime and Vacant Richmond, is co-owner of PharrOut, a Richmond-based web design and development company. Why put together this information, I asked? Catrow's reply: "We love Richmond, so projects like RichmondCrime are exciting for us." Catrow's interest grew out of his seeing what he believes was the first web site of this kind: ChicagoCrime.org.

How's it done? One key is that Richmond City has freely available crime incident reporting data. This