A 9/30/07 letter to the editor in The Daily Times proposed using remote parking lots and shuttle buses to Maryville High School as an alternative to paving over the neighborhood surrounding the high school in order to expand the school's capacity.

While I respect this forward-thinking transportation solution, I think we need to refocus the conversation. I am dismayed that we are talking about transportation solutions before education solutions. We need to pull these issues apart.

We exhaust ourselves planning for our cars. We seem unable to separate conceptually human beings from the steel that transports them. We conflate cars and citizenship, and we build communities that require people to have access to cars in order to fully participate in the community. We plan as if hospitality to cars in our downtowns or high schools or neighborhoods is the same as hospitality to people.

The truth is that too often we build spaces and host activities that aren't worth much of a commitment. We'll only participate or shop or eat when it is easy...when the commitment requires little more than the time it takes to navigate our cars through drive-through windows or into curbside pick-up spaces.

On the other hand, there are spaces and activities that are worth our commitment, and we participate even if car access isn't easy. We figure out how to get there because we want to be there. As a community we need to focus on building spaces and hosting activities worth caring about...worth committing to. Transportation to those spaces and activities will follow.

Let's make the Maryville High School expansion discussion about education. When we figure out the best way(s) to educate our children, there will be myriad ways of dealing with transportation. The transportation solution should follow and fit the education solution.

No rain for several weeks and no rain predicted. We are now required to conserve water.

Update: City of Aloca and City of Maryville Press Release for Phase II Mandatory Water Restrictions.

Link

According to Maryville City Manager Greg McClain, the water level of the Little River has dropped to 40 cubic feet per second, forcing authorities to ban watering lawns or gardens as well as prohibiting car washing and filling swimming pools. Residents with automatic sprinkler system also are being asked to completely turn off their timers.
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“I think both cities will take a soft-handed approached at first,” Wiggins [City of Alcoa] said. “If a homeowner is found to be watering a lawn the first call may be a warning. Maybe they don’t read the paper or watch the TV.

“But if there are a numerous violations they could be cited, with each day being an additional citation.”