Bull City Rising

Bull City Riding: The wrap-up

Last Thursday was intended to be my final day riding the bus to work, the last day of the bus commute. But I ended up rolling into American Tobacco’s parking deck on wheels, not under pedestrian power.

The reasons were two-fold. In the morning, I got a call from my wife asking me to pick up something urgently needed at the pharmacy.  I could have made it up to the Eckerd’s on Broad St. on the #1 bus okay, but given the 30-minute head times on DATA, I couldn’t have made it back down on the #1 in time for my first work meeting of the day.

I wondered over coming in a bit late, but on the back end of the day, I had to be home by 5:15 pm in order to meet my wife and leave for a work event out in Zebulon, of all places. Which also meant needing the flexibility to be at the office until 5, but then to leave right at 5 to come home.

In the car.

It was a slightly disappointing end to the Bull City Riding week. Still, the three-and-a-half days I spent riding DATA sent me away with a new perspective on transit in Durham, and the Triangle.

First, although the bus system disproportionately serves a lower-income population, I didn’t see the signs of disinvestment that sometimes accompanies those services, as governments sometime take a ‘race to the bottom’ in service offerings to discourage their use. On the contrary, DATA buses were uniformly clean, had professional staff, and were relatively timely.

Quick update: No posts Friday/Saturday

A quick update: I'm out of town most of Friday and Saturday, so BCR will be quiet the next couple of days. I have updated this week's Symposium Cafe post with thoughts from a visit this week, though.

In the interim: check out two new web sites over from the east side of the Bull City: a new blog celebrating the Cleveland-Holloway Neighborhood, which is fighting to keep the City from violating its own stated policies on economically-integrated housing, and the new Uplift East Durham blog, focusing on the group of the same name's efforts in the Angier/Driver St. area.

Lost your cool? Major's got it, Friday at noon

So there's been some gnashing of teeth generally about the new "Find Your Cool" slogan for Downtown Durham, from the grit-filled typeface to the quasi-authenticity of any 'hip' marketing campaign.

Personally, I'm not among those that dislike the new slogan and new visual identity. Actually, I'm glad to see Downtown Durham, Inc. push something that resembles a little more closely the identity many have come to associate with Durham. Without question, an improvement over the DDI logo, which practically screams, "The 80's are back!"

Interestingly, when the new "Where Great Things Happen" slogan emerged last year from the Durham CVB, complete with the five-people-at-a-seance star-logo thing, one of the complaints that emerged, in the Indy and elsewhere, was that it didn't relate in any way to the Bull City (outside of celebrating diversity.) One of the suggestions floated by an Indy reader was "True. Grit." -- not half-bad, to my mind, and one that has stuck with me as a good idea ever sense.

"Find Your Cool" is a bit closer to that thread of thinking than the "Where Great Things Happen" slogan is, and I think a better fit for downtown. Looking at the kind of businesses that have recently opened or are soon to open downtown, from West Village to Golden Belt to the Farmer's Market area, this branding is probably attractive at best, non-offensive at worst.

In the end, I'm just glad to see someone taking the time to do some marketing for downtown. DDI does not always have the deepest fan base among many of the non-business interests in the city core, for reasons that I think have one foot in well-grounded reasons, and the other in the sheer fact that Durham attracts lots of bright, creative people who have their own approach to how they would, say, brand the city.

Anyway, if you have lost your cool and want to "Find" it, DDI and WTVD "School Bus Avengers" TV 11 are going to be filming a commercial exhorting Triangooligans to find their cool in downtown Durham. Noon tomorrow, Friday June 20 is the date, and the status of Major the Bull in the CCB Plaza downtown is the place. No word as to whether DDI and 'TVD will be making sure that crowd members are strategically placed to mask Major's anatomical correctness.

Hog Heaven & Indy Week: A match no longer made in heaven

As Joe and Barry have both noted, the Indy Weekly mysteriously disappeared but quickly from area Mellow Mushrooms recently after the establishment's management complained about the cover of the June 27 issue, which showed the picture of a transgendered (in-transition) person changing clothes.

The cover was bold, and in many ways moving. And, apparently, highly inappropriate for a restaurant that uses drug metaphors to try to sell fattening pizza. Apparently, ganja- and stoner-related gags on the menu are fine, but don't you dare bring sex into the mix!

The Indy's July 4 issue hinted that the 'Shroom wasn't the only business to sweep the Indy out with the trash. Well, we've found another: Hog Heaven, the good-tasting 'cue joint up Guess Road near Carolina Duke Inn (new slogan: "free Wild West show with every night's stay!") I noticed it missing during a recent visit, and according to a source, the Heaven indeed heaved the Indy Week rack out after the "offensive" cover made it to the rack.

Personally, I find it more offensive that they carry a Realtor-slobbering Raleigh-based "New Homes" glossy magazine that this month has a paean to Johnston County developer Sen. Fred Smith that's so pandering, it should be examined for violating campaign funding rules. Meantime, the Indy Week -- which has an excellent piece by Fiona Morgan on the ways in which Realtors have sabotaged the much-needed real estate transfer tax -- is out the door.

Then again, not surprising a place specializing in sliced pork keeps the periodical that celebrates the pork, no? And too bad, I liked Hog Heaven better than Bullock's, too.

Bull City Riding: Day #3

Morning commute:
Left home: 7:48 am
Arrived, Knox & Gregson: 7:51 am
Bus arrived: 7:52 am
Reached downtown terminal: 7:56 am (scheduled: 7:55 am)
Arrived at work: 8:25 am

Earlier this week, I was thinking of the Beatles song in referencing getting up each morning to catch the bus. Today, it actually happened -- I was running late for my bus, and had to hoof it to the stop to get the 7:30-hour bus. Initially, I figured the bus would be running five minutes late, as it had the previous two days. Not so! it was nicely on time. One more traffic cycle at Gregson and Club and I'd have been out of luck.

Predictable and fine ride to the downtown terminal; the morning bus commute is generally like that, mostly folks on their way to jobs, as you'd expect, while the afternoon bus has a different mix of commuters, shoppers, and teens. Only complaint this morning was that the bus's time display on its LED sign was running an hour ahead -- which nearly gave me a heart attack, given that I had a 9 am meeting.

Oddly, I also noticed that the Herald-Sun boxes I was so pleased to see on the first day of my rides were empty, again. I realized that though I've seen a couple of riders reading the daily fishwrap, I've yet to see a real, live Paxton Media paper sitting in the little plexiglass box. What gives?

Five Points Cafe closer to opening?

Looks like downtown's Five Points Cafe may be a little bit closer to opening, though the June 23 date originally spec'ed out to coincide with Durham Rising didn't exactly seem to pan out.

That said, there is now an official website for the Cafe, which seems to double as the Durham School of Culinary Arts. The lettering on the door promises a focus on soups and sandwiches, and with the web menu listing prices that from $1.50 for a cup of soup up to $6.50 for a sandwich and chips, the menu is decidedly more in tune with everyday lunch prices than, say, the Symposia of the world. Limited breakfast items, including bagels, are also promised.

A selection of pies is also promised. One could only hope these would come from the much-vaunted "Pie Lady" of Moore Square in Raleigh -- a Durhamite who apparently bakes the world's most scrumptious desserts, only to turn around and display her wares only in the City of Oafs. Ah, no matter.

The Cafe promises to be open 7 am until 3 pm weekdays, with the possibility of evening hours as West Village and other projects come on-line.

On the one hand, I really hope this works out and comes together. Since the W. Main St. Deli closed under mysterious circumstances earlier this year, downtown has lacked for a place like this. On the other hand, the delayed opening, the misspelling of the web site address that's screen-lettered to the Cafe's door, and the sometimes-bizarre history between Steven Matherly and the Durham Food Coop put some question marks on this one.

Bull City Riding: Day #2

Morning commute:
Left home: 7:43 am
Arrived, Knox & Gregson: 7:47 am
Bus arrived: 7:56 am
Reached downtown terminal: 8:01 am (scheduled: 7:55 am)
Arrived at work: 8:11 am

Another morning #1 bus running late, by almost the same amount as yesterday. Objectively, running six minutes behind schedule doesn't seem like the end of the world. On the other hand, when I was walking down W. Chapel Hill St. to work -- perhaps three minutes after disembarking -- a stampede of DATA buses on their way to points across the city rushed past me. It's a tight timeframe to make a connection.

Perhaps that explains why it felt like we were rocketing down Gregson on the way to the terminal, then. I can't tell for sure because I couldn't see the speedometer, but it certainly felt like we were doing in excess of 35 mph. On the other hand, it's difficult to judge speed given the sheer mass of the bus and the general noisiness these vehicles make it hard to judge for sure.

Again this morning, the bus was mostly full with commuters. After I boarded, all but two seats were taken. The quiet crowd continued until I reached downtown.

Street performers in downtown: a real community effort

Glad to see the Herald-Sun pick up on something that's been buzzing around the ABCDurham listserv: the idea of bringing street performers and musicians downtown.

Other cities that have tried this have seen it as a two-pronged success. First, it can help draw more foot traffic downtown, which in turn helps to support local businesses and restaurants. Just as importantly, it provides a guaranteed eye-on-the-street, helping to deter petty crime and unwanted elements.

What's really impressed me about the effort on the part of downtown advocates to make this happen is that this is, like Third Friday Durham and other activities, a project being driven from the bottom up, as opposed to something that groups like Downtown Durham Inc. or Durham's city government are sponsoring. In the City of Oaks to our east, these kind of activities generally fall to such organizations as opposed to such a groundswell of interest from the community.

It says something great about the passion and commitment of those who love downtown Durham that they pony up their time and their own money -- several have committed to funding one day's performance a month, following Center Studio Architecture's initial promise -- to make something like this a possibility for the Bull City.

Here's hoping Joy Mickle and Parks & Rec can jump the right hoops to help make this a reality.

Traffic alert: I-85 closed 2-4pm today, Duke St. to NC 147

From the DOT-WTF department: all lanes of I-85 will be closed in both directions from 2pm to 4pm today... so that Verizon can install fiber optic cables, according to the N&O.

Besides wanting to give a quick heads-up to Bull Citizens on this, I have to say I'm shocked. Closing down one of the major north-south interstates, for two hours, in the middle of the day... for fiber optic cables? Huh?

More on the reasons why as they become available. But for now, expect a nightmare traffic scenario in northern Durham this afternoon.

UPDATE: See the links in the comments -- this small bit of roadway-telecom idiocy was called off for the time being. Thanks to Barry for the updates.

Bull City Riding: Day #1

Monday morning, I rolled out of bed, shaved, hit the shower, got dressed, then -- walked to the bus stop.

Yes, it was time for day #1 of my week-long adventure riding Durham's DATA buses. Today through Friday, I'll give a rundown of what it's like riding the bus in the Bull City... what's good, what's not, and why.

Morning commute:
Left home: 8:10 am
Arrived, Knox & Gregson: 8:15 am
Bus arrived: 8:22 am
Reached downtown terminal: 8:29 am (scheduled: 8:25 am)
Arrived at work: 8:39 am

In terms of sheer time, the interesting thing to me about this morning's commute is that -- once I factor in the time it takes to park in Ambacco's ever-busier South Deck -- if I measure my bus commute simply from the time I boarded the DATA #1 bus until the time I walked through the door at American Tobacco, my commute was about the same. It's generally 14-15 minutes to get from my house to the ATC, given the time it takes to navigate the garage and make my way across the courtyard.

Of course, the rub of it all is, you can't measure from that time. Door to door time makes it a clearly longer commute, given the ability to walk out one's door and (if you're among Durham's socioeconomically privileged) hop into your personal automobile for a self-chauffeured ride to your school or place of work.

That said, this morning's ride was actually quite pleasant. About twenty people were on board when I got on (along with a fellow passenger, a distinguished-looking gent in a Princeton t-shirt carrying an imposing hardcover book.) Three additional passengers stepped on further down Gregson. At the risk of making assumptions on merely the slightest heuristics, it looked like most of my fellow passengers were commuting in to jobs -- a mix clearly leaning towards medical/healthcare jobs, their scrubs giving them away, and blue collar employ.