• Cyburbia is a friendly big tent, where we share our experiences and thoughts about urban planning practice, the built environment, planning adjacent topics, and anything else that comes to mind. No ads, no spam, and it's free. It's easy to join!

RTDNTOTO 🐻 Random Thoughts Deserving No Thread Of Their Own 19 (2024)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Things to do this weekend

Watch the following movies:
Fast and Furious but without all the senseless car chases and races
Titanic but without all the mushy romantic scenes
300 but skip all the sword fighting battle scenes
 
TOFB said:
I never got any calls but those BAS's were way more confusing than they should have been.
Click to expand...
Never a problem in NH...there's no unincorporated area and the boundaries never change. :)
 
I was watching this video and my dog got all excited because he thought I was playing with a squeaky toy.

 
luckless pedestrian said:
I always laughed when the Census people would call me to ask if we had any annexations - as in "you know you are calling New England, right?"

Annexation would equate to civil war in New England
Click to expand...

When I first started here we had one annexation to report for the 2010 Census - a tiny sliver of a tiny, dense, unincorporated inner-ring suburb had been annexed a couple years earlier by another small, dense, inner-ring suburban city. We haven't had an annexation since then.

We do have a bunch of unincorporated townships here in our county that could theoretically see some portions annexed by their neighboring cities, but I've never seen any sort of effort to make that happen.
 
ursus said:
I hate the census. So many numbers. Why are there so many numbers!?? It's very confusing to a colors and shapes person like me.
Click to expand...
Simple -
shapes are tracts, block groups, blocks which are equal to GIS polygons
tract, block group, block number are their file names for attribute tables.
 
We used to be able to annex (we are decidedly not New England), but the state has an extreme rural bias and so there have been so many minimum requirements (read: roadblocks) put in front of cities that it is hardly worth the effort anymore. Ease of remonstrance, minimum contiguity, existing municipal services, population density, detailed fiscal plan, notification, repayment of capital outlays to rural fire departments, you name it - if you screw up at any point in the process you go all the way back to square one to start over (even if you did the previous stuff correctly). Cities are the fiscal lifeblood of the state, but they are loathed in the capitol and everything that can be done to harm them is a-okay.
 
Involuntary Annexation has become very difficult in NC & there's a case which involves this little town which is often used as to why the legislature has made it more difficult.
 
Planit said:
Involuntary Annexation...
Click to expand...
This is pretty easy in IL.

In my county, the county actually encourages annexation by the munis as they don't want to provide the EMS/Police/Permit services to such far flung parts of our large (by area and population) county.

And IL has weak township government and not much rural bias politics.
 
luckless pedestrian said:
I always laughed when the Census people would call me to ask if we had any annexations - as in "you know you are calling New England, right?"

Annexation would equate to civil war in New England
Click to expand...
Some greedy developers figured out they could leave subdivisions in the County, build houses under County building regs (next to none), and require the purchasing homeowner to sign the annexation petition. 75% were clueless or resisted.
 
mendelman said:
This is pretty easy in IL.

In my county, the county actually encourages annexation by the munis as they don't want to provide the EMS/Police/Permit services to such far flung parts of our large (by area and population) county.

And IL has weak township government and not much rural bias politics.
Click to expand...
My Illinois stint was 1989-2004. Townships were much stronger then. The township association was run by some good old boy who pulled a lot of weight.
 
Last edited:
TOFB said:
My Illinois stint was 1989-2004. Townships were much stronger then. The township association was run by some good old boy who bulled a lot of weight.
Click to expand...
And that may still be the reality in the other ~90% of the state, but here in most of urbanized Chicagoland, the townships are pretty much completely covered by incorporated munis or have barely any unincorporated occupied land.

The townships continue to exist as they get to stay around as another layer of property taxing districts we really love here in Chicagoland.
 
TOFB said:
I never got any calls but those BAS's were way more confusing than they should have been.
Click to expand...

Just hit continue with each tab.

Gedunker said:
We used to be able to annex (we are decidedly not New England), but the state has an extreme rural bias and so there have been so many minimum requirements (read: roadblocks) put in front of cities that it is hardly worth the effort anymore. Ease of remonstrance, minimum contiguity, existing municipal services, population density, detailed fiscal plan, notification, repayment of capital outlays to rural fire departments, you name it - if you screw up at any point in the process you go all the way back to square one to start over (even if you did the previous stuff correctly). Cities are the fiscal lifeblood of the state, but they are loathed in the capitol and everything that can be done to harm them is a-okay.
Click to expand...

That process is very similar to California. We were trying to annex an area a number of years ago, but had to deal with amending our pre-zone (why we prezoned what we did in the first place I'll never understand) which made the effort way too controversial. Since then, state law has limited agencies from downzoning residential capacity without replacing that capacity - the existing County designation is a higher density residential (but most of it is in a river), so if we tried it now, we would get stuck replacing all of these units that technically could never have been built in the first place. So, I won't have to worry about an annexation here.
 
I don't exactly get how it works, but this one here in Michigan has always amused me. Villages exist as a place within a township (so both the township and the village have some taxing authority and offer certain services). There are three villages just to the south of me that are all part of Southfield Township.
  • Beverly Hills village has a population of 10,584 (the most populous village in Michigan!)
  • Bingham Farms village has a population of 1,124
  • Franklin village has a population of 3,139
Added together, those villages have a population of 14,847. The population for all of Southfield township is 14,886. There are only two sections of the township not covered by one of those villages: one is a large cemetery on the eastern end of the township and the other is a tiny sliver of land on one side of a curve in the road (that otherwise makes up the northern border of the villages) in the extreme NW corner of the township, so all 19 of the township residents who are not residents of a village live in that tiny little 8-parcel corner. That's one of those spots that I've always wondered why it wasn't ever annexed into the village.

1705600929840.png
 
Did the Lions change the old silver-blue in their uniform color to a bolder blue? Sure looks different to me.
 
Gedunker said:
Did the Lions change the old silver-blue in their uniform color to a bolder blue? Sure looks different to me.
Click to expand...

www.freep.com

How the Detroit Lions got their iconic Honolulu Blue uniforms

Check out the Detroit Lions' uniform history over their nearly century in the Motor City and how they picked Honolulu Blue and silver.
www.freep.com

detroitsportsnation.com

Detroit Lions may have just teased a new uniform for 2024 - Detroit Sports Nation

The Detroit Lions recent tweet has many fans thinking it is a tease for a new uniform.
detroitsportsnation.com detroitsportsnation.com
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I don't exactly get how it works, but this one here in Michigan has always amused me. Villages exist as a place within a township (so both the township and the village have some taxing authority and offer certain services). There are three villages just to the south of me that are all part of Southfield Township.
  • Beverly Hills village has a population of 10,584 (the most populous village in Michigan!)
  • Bingham Farms village has a population of 1,124
  • Franklin village has a population of 3,139
Added together, those villages have a population of 14,847. The population for all of Southfield township is 14,886. There are only two sections of the township not covered by one of those villages: one is a large cemetery on the eastern end of the township and the other is a tiny sliver of land on one side of a curve in the road (that otherwise makes up the northern border of the villages) in the extreme NW corner of the township, so all 19 of the township residents who are not residents of a village live in that tiny little 8-parcel corner. That's one of those spots that I've always wondered why it wasn't ever annexed into the village.
Click to expand...
And then there is the City of the Village of Douglas...
 
Reading
These are the key takeaways from the US Justice Department’s review of the Uvalde school shooting response

5 takeaways from the DOJ’s scathing Uvalde report
thehill.com

5 takeaways from the DOJ’s scathing Uvalde report

On Thursday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released its long-awaited report on the devastating 2022 shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, painting a sharply cri…
thehill.com thehill.com


for those of us who have had NIMS training - the failures -
No incident command
No Unified command
Communications
Training - Procedures

Do you know what your role / dept role is in an disaster response & afterwards ?
This lack of knowing was mentioned in Uvalde report.

This report is gong to have ripple effects.
 
Late to the game, but . . .
20 Cool Things You Can Do With Your Property (and 30 Things You Can't)
 
Gedunker said:
Did the Lions change the old silver-blue in their uniform color to a bolder blue? Sure looks different to me.
Click to expand...
Big Owl said:
It's still Honolulu blue as far as I know.
Click to expand...
The uniform has gray numbers with slightly darker gray trim, and blue pants with gray trim.
1705632582650.png


Versus white numbers with gray trim, and gray pants with blue and white trim.
1705632697220.png

Which changes the apparent hue of the more dominant blue color.
 
Last edited:
Doohickie said:
The uniform has gray numbers with slightly darker gray trim, and blue pants with gray trim.
View attachment 61660

Versus white numbers with gray trim, and gray pants with blue and white trim.
View attachment 61661
Which changes the apparent hue of the more dominant blue color.
Click to expand...
It will show my age, but give me the blue/white/silver, especially those YUGE numbers over the current kit any day.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I don't exactly get how it works, but this one here in Michigan has always amused me. Villages exist as a place within a township (so both the township and the village have some taxing authority and offer certain services). There are three villages just to the south of me that are all part of Southfield Township.
  • Beverly Hills village has a population of 10,584 (the most populous village in Michigan!)
  • Bingham Farms village has a population of 1,124
  • Franklin village has a population of 3,139
Added together, those villages have a population of 14,847. The population for all of Southfield township is 14,886. There are only two sections of the township not covered by one of those villages: one is a large cemetery on the eastern end of the township and the other is a tiny sliver of land on one side of a curve in the road (that otherwise makes up the northern border of the villages) in the extreme NW corner of the township, so all 19 of the township residents who are not residents of a village live in that tiny little 8-parcel corner. That's one of those spots that I've always wondered why it wasn't ever annexed into the village.

View attachment 61653
Click to expand...
If you knew those people and their ways, you wouldn't ask :epic:
 
I am not sure I have it in me to do this all day today. Fridays around here go one of two ways:

1) TOTALLY dead, and I can catch up on reviews, etc.
2) EVERY idiot in this town will be here asking all day long where they can build a shed. And telling me I have no right to tell them where they can build a shed.

The only way there is a third option for my Friday is if I quit my job or phone in a bomb scare. Not doing either of those. Probably.
 
michaelskis said:
And then there is the City of the Village of Douglas...
Click to expand...

We've got a couple of those here too. The tiny town of Clarkston used to be a village. Everybody always just called it "Clarkston" back then. I don't recall anybody ever calling it Clarkson Village or the Village of Clarkston, but after they changed over to a city form of government (maybe 20 years ago?) they officially changed their name to The City of the Village of Clarkston. In meetings with folks from the council and commissions they get peeved when we just call them "Clarkston" or the city of Clarkston.. :r:

We also have the city of Lathrup Village. They started out as a large subdivision 70 or 80 years ago, eventually became their own legal village, then a few decades back became a city but always just kept the moniker of Lathrup Village through it all.

Maister said:
If you knew those people and their ways, you wouldn't ask :epic:
Click to expand...

Oh we know some folks in that area and I don't think you're far off in your inference.
 
Raven said:
Madonna is being sued for starting her New York concert over two hours late.


I was at her concert in Detroit on Monday and it too started two hours late. Maybe we can turn it into a class action lawsuit and I can get some of my (way too much!) money back!
Click to expand...
My friends saw her in Cologne and she was 2 hrs late. Must just be her M.O. these days.

I don't think I have ever been to a concert that started on time unless it was the philharmonic. You just kind of expect to wait.
 
I find it highly disrespectful to the audience to start late. It rarely happens for us but if it does, get somebody on the mic and explain why.
 
I was extremely surprised when Jackson Browne walked out onstage - solo - at exactly 8:00PM - the posted showtime - for his show this past summer. Then I thought, well, he's not a spring chicken anymore and he probably wants to get to bed a decent hour, so I guess it makes sense. I certainly wasn't complaining - looking around the audience, there weren't very many spring chickens at the show, myself included.
 
Gedunker said:
I was extremely surprised when Jackson Browne walked out onstage - solo - at exactly 8:00PM - the posted showtime - for his show this past summer. Then I thought, well, he's not a spring chicken anymore and he probably wants to get to bed a decent hour, so I guess it makes sense. I certainly wasn't complaining - looking around the audience, there weren't very many spring chickens at the show, myself included.
Click to expand...

I missed the Jackson Browne concert but Air Supply came out on time last summer as well. Not on Jazzy scooters yet. :) A lot of older people at those shows, but it's fun to meet young fans at them as well. My wife and I were at Air Supply in back of a group of 5 guys in their 20s who knew every word to every song. We had a good time with them. It makes me believe in the world a little more. Goldie can introduce me to Olivia Rodrigo as a return favor for her discovering Jackson Browne while I was listening to Jamaica Say You Will.....
 
Raven said:
Madonna is being sued for starting her New York concert over two hours late.


I was at her concert in Detroit on Monday and it too started two hours late. Maybe we can turn it into a class action lawsuit and I can get some of my (way too much!) money back!
Click to expand...
This is standard for Madge. When I worked as a stagehand I did several of her shows. She literally takes the stage when the crew for the load out shows up to work. So she does her whole show with hands sitting around on the clock doing absolutely nothing. It's insane the amount of money her tour throws away because she's such a diva. Say the show is over at midnight most places the contract says the pay is time and half after midnight and now you're paying probably between 120-140 local stagehands OT for a minimum of 4 hours and sometimes longer. I know for a fact she went on at 10:45 and 11PM when she was in DC a few weeks ago. The Metro stops running at midnight and her tour pays $100K to keep it running so people can get home. It's so incredibly disrespectful to her fans. People have sitters, get up very early whatever and she just completely disregards the steps people take to even go to her shows. The suit will get thrown out but I'm glad it's at least making her look bad in the public eye.
 
And the Lord spake, saying, ''First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it. Amen.
 
Last edited:
JNA said:
Never been nor want / pay to go to a Madonna concert.
Click to expand...
Back in her heyday I would have liked to see her sing. I have the album Immaculate Collection, which is a greatest hits compilation. I used to play it all the time, although beyond that I don't feel like I'm missing anything. And now when I play it I think of the past instead of just enjoying the music so I guess you could say it hasn't aged well like Pink Floyd, Bob Seger or Rush (to me at least) have.

Gedunker said:
I was extremely surprised when Jackson Browne walked out onstage - solo - at exactly 8:00PM - the posted showtime - for his show this past summer. Then I thought, well, he's not a spring chicken anymore and he probably wants to get to bed a decent hour, so I guess it makes sense. I certainly wasn't complaining - looking around the audience, there weren't very many spring chickens at the show, myself included.
Click to expand...
Oh man that would be a good show to see. Running on Empty is one of my fave albums.
 
Doohickie said:
<snip>
Oh man that would be a good show to see. Running on Empty is one of my fave albums.
Click to expand...
He did a 2.5 hour show with his "small band" - drums, bass, synth, and two back-up singers. In the second set, he pretty much abandoned his playlist and did songs the audience yelled out for. Outstanding show and I'm glad I shelled out for "near the front" seating. Well worth it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top