John, Your message just reached me - not the list. So I am forwarding it to the list for you.
For future reference, to send to the list make sure that [EMAIL PROTECTED] is in the "To" field of your email message. (I'm betting that others have had the same question which is why I am sending instructions to the list.) Thanks for joining the conversation! Ann -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 1:41 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [TCMetro] Jobs & Homes Grow Further Apart I am John O'Neal - New Member If you are reading this, I have finally figured out how to post messages. I have lived in Minnesota since 1975 and Northeast Minneapolis since 1986. I worked for the State of Minnesota in the Energy Agency/Divisions from 1979 to 2003. I am now retired. I am interested in improvements in energy and the environment, health care, transportation, and a host of other topics. I have always been someone who investigates information and events, breaks them down into their parts, and reassembles them in a way that make sense to me. Hopefully, the new parts make sense to others as well. I have been following the recent discussions on housing, snow plowing and transportation. I have some initial thoughts. The basic purpose of roads is to move commerce and military units. That was why the Romans created their roads. That is how the Europeans gained the knowledge of gunpowder, printing, and silk. That was a reason the Incas had post roads.That is behind President Eisenhower signing legislation to establish the Interstate Highway System for Interstate Commerce and National Defense. We can't build enough roads to accommodate every possible driver. We want to work smarter. We need to ration road use. I noticed that Senator Dick Day's sane lane picture on the news Wednesday had a lot of trucks stuck in traffic. Licensed and labeled commercial vehicles should also be allowed to travel in the sane lanes. We could allow free access to the sane lanes for commercial vehicles, car and van pools, mass transit buses, and military vehicles. Anyone who drives alone would have to pay a toll and drive in the snail lane. There are several hi-tech devices that will automatically take tolls. We need to decide why we are using them before we worry about what to use. Snow plows could first clean the sane lanes. If the budget allows, then the plows could hit the snail lanes. If we make a mistake and deserve a ticket, I hope that Joe Friday and not Big Brother will issue the notice. We can become so high tech that we lose our humanity. On the other hand, many people really don't even need to go to the office to go to work. A high speed connection to the net at home should cost a business or organization less than a furnished cubical. However, employers need to be held harmless on work comp claims from work at home. Otherwise, employers usually reserve the right to pop into your home to check your ergonomics. Various studies that I have seen over the years have indicated that telecommuting could reduce traffic by up to 20% with no other behavioral changes. We probably will need to change the way we live and work. John O'Neal [EMAIL PROTECTED] Northeast Minneapolis On Thu, 6 Mar 2003 11:51:56 -0600 "Ann Treacy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > I can't believe that people will go through such commutes to go to > work, > it speaks highly of the jobs they have! Like Tim, I work from home. > I > have worked at least one day a week from home since 2000. I am a > big > advocate of telecommuting and have to wonder by other workers and > businesses haven't jumped on the bandwagon. > > There are plenty of studies that have shown that telecommuters are > just > as - if not more productive - than their on-site counterparts. (Here > is > one such article: http://www.mite.org/FAQ/faqgenl/faqgenl.html) > > For this discussion I think the impact on traffic is most > interesting. > Here is a snippet from a 2001 report ITCA Telework America: > "For those interested in the impact that telework can have on > issues > such as traffic congestion and urban sprawl, teleworkers, on > average, > drive 5.7 to 18.6 miles per work day to run errands. Not > surprisingly, > those who are working on the road drive the most miles running > errands. > About thirty percent of teleworkers move their residence. Of those > who > relocated, 52% moved closer to their place of employment, 29% moved > farther away, and 19% moved to a new residence that was the same > distance from their employer." > http://www.workingfromanywhere.org/telework/twa2001.htm > > It seems as if telecommuting might help ease some of the traffic > woes > and it lets people choose their homes for reasons other than work - > so > long as they have access to the technology they need - which might > be > another issue entirely. Ann > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On > Behalf Of Tim Erickson > Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2003 10:32 AM > To: TC Metro > Subject: [TCMetro] Jobs & Homes Grow Further Apart > > An interesting article in today's StarTribune (see below for quote) > > ut how the distances that people are having to drive is > increasing. This is very important in our discussion about > Transportation. > > Metro area's big mismatch: home, job now farther apart > http://www.startribune.com/stories/1507/3736624.html > > The article suggests that the population center of our region might > > now be downtown Mpls - but in 20 years it is likely to be Edina. The > > center is shifting to the Southwest. > > This is interesting, and hit's home for me. Because my wife and I > specifically chose to live in the city, partially to avoid suburban > > life and also to avoid long commutes to work. We chose to live in > St. > Paul. While I have worked (or at least faked it) from my basement, > most of that time - my wife has held jobs in Eagen (the close one), > > Bloomington (the far end), and two jobs in Chaska. She now commutes > > from the MIDWAY area of St. Paul, over 45 minutes each way to her > job. > > Now clearly, there were personal choices involved in this. But I can > > also say, that of the other 5-10 companies that she has interviewed > > with over time - almost all of them have been in the southwest > suburbs. None in St. Paul (that I can recall). > > Is this drift to the southwest inevitable? It makes sense, that the > > more people that live here, the further apart we will get from our > jobs. But, is that distance growing faster than it needs to? > > This is a very interesting question to me, one that impacts many of > > our metropolitan issues and policies. > > Any comments? > > Tim Erickson > St. Paul, Minnesota > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --------------------------------------------------- > > Metro area's big mismatch: home, job now farther apart > David Peterson and Laurie Blake, Star Tribune > http://www.startribune.com/stories/1507/3736624.html > Published March 6, 2003 > > "A density map of jobs in the Twin Cities area would probably today > > be centered on downtown Minneapolis," said Gary Barnes, a > transportation expert with the University of Minnesota's Humphrey > Institute of Public Affairs. "But 20 years from now it will be more > > like Edina. It's all shifting to the southwest. > > "So living in Woodbury not only puts you on the edge, but an edge > whose center is going away from you. We're leaving half the metro > area totally hung out." > > > -- > ================================================= > Tim Erickson http://www.politalk.com > St. Paul, MN - USA 651-643-0722 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] ICQ: 105978430 > ================================================= > > > > _______________________________________________ > Twin Cities Metropolitan Issues Forum > http://www.e-democracy.org/tcmetro > Rules: Sign posts with real name. You may not post more than twice > a > day. > > _______________________________________________ > Twin Cities Metropolitan Issues Forum > http://www.e-democracy.org/tcmetro > Rules: Sign posts with real name. You may not post more than twice a > day. > > _______________________________________________ Twin Cities Metropolitan Issues Forum http://www.e-democracy.org/tcmetro Rules: Sign posts with real name. You may not post more than twice a day.
