Archive for the 'Gainesville' Category

Ohio State, So easy a Caveman could beat em….

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on April 3, 2007
in Florida Gators, Gainesville, Gators, March Madness and NCAA
. 1 Comment

Ok, nothing to do with Transit, but here are some Florida (titletown) celebration shots for all my Gator Fans:Technorati Tags: , , , , , ,

Florida Vs. Ohio, Take 2

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on April 2, 2007
in Basketball, Florida Gators, Gainesville, Gators, March Madness and NCAA
. 0 Comments
It’s amazing that in the life span of this blog (1 year), I’ve had the opportunity to root my Gators on in three championship appearances. Tonight, my beloved Florida Gators Basketball team will once again devour the Ohio State Buckeyes. Last time the Basketball teams met, in December, we decimated them by 26 points…Odds are I’ll be out late tonight, but, I’ll be back at some point tomorrow…Go Gators!

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Small City Sprawl

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on February 1, 2007
in Gainesville, Sprawl and University of Florida
. 2 Comments
Think sprawl is something that is affecting only large metropolitan areas? Well think again. Sprawl is degrading the quality of life in nearly every city across the country. The rate of sprawl may be slower than larger cities, but, even then residents are beginning to quickly feel the effects of such rapid and uncontrolled growth. One such city which I’m quite familiar with is Gainesville, home to my University of Florida. Recent rapid growth has caused the city to sprawl out in every direction possible. The rate of this rapid growth is now being felt by area residents with unbelievable traffic crowding nearly every roadway. The city is also taking an aggressive approach to become ecologically sustainable which as we all know, severely conflicts with sprawling growth trends.
Held back by limited economical resources, implementing public transportation in most small cities is fairly difficult. Gainesville’s public transportation would essentially not exist had it not been for the subsidized funding provided by each student’s tuition. Now, the city bus system attracts 25,000+ daily trips, which considering the population is just over 100,000, is pretty darn good for a city this size. Despite the wide use of public transportation (largely by the student base) the city is still suffering from major traffic issues due to years of unchecked growth. The city is aiming to fix the congestion issue by revamping the traffic signalization which has been neglected for over 15 years and which alone should increase roadway capacity by 15%. I wrote into the Independent Florida Alligator in response to an article published yeterday on the growing concerns of the traffic. The original article can be found here and my reply is reprinted below.
Letter to the Editor High-density development best way to cure traffic woes By GABRIEL J. LOPEZ-BERNAL 4EG

I’m writing in response to Wednesday’s article “SG, City Commission talk transportation.” If the city of Gainesville is actually intent on reducing traffic and creating a pedestrian-friendly urban environment, then they need to concentrate on improving the existing options and limiting the city’s footprint. Traffic signal improvements will only improve roadway capacity and will do little to discourage residents from driving daily.

The city should aim to severely curtail its urban sprawl by creating higher-density developments that encourage citizens to walk or seek alternative forms of transportation. Creating a sustainable environment is more than conservation. It involves careful urban planning to reconstruct a city that is readily accessible to human beings rather than vehicles.