Shreveport, Yay!

Yesterday was a big "civic" day for me.  I spoke in front of the City Council and attended a Shreveport Park fundraiser.  Each of these was in an attempt to make Shreveport a better place. 

Speaking to the City Council, mayor included, was to show support for a bike and pedestrian plan for the future of the city.  I got connected with an urban planner who moved here from New Orleans.  She and her organization has big plans for a bike path and Greenways which would make it easier to navigate Shreveport by foot and bike.  And speaking as someone who tries to commute as much as possible by bike, this is needed.  I have been yelled at, honked at, passed by way too close, and almost scared off the road by vehicles as I commute/travel.  It's scary and I take the needed precautions, wear bright colors and follow the laws, but both the majority of vehicle operators and bikers don't know the laws and regulations.  This lack of knowledge leads to increased accidents and angry folks.

One of the best commuting articles I've read came from this months Outside Magazine .  The article, entitled Rage Against Your Machine, talks of a Manhattan Psychotherapist who commutes from his upper New York Suburb to his office, a 3 hour tour.  He does this only twice a week and has a place in the city he sleeps between rides, but still, that's some biking!  The author of the story had a great statistic, "65% of trips in a car are less than 1 mile."  Less than a Mile!  For lots of people, car is the only way to travel, but for many of us...a bike or our own two feet would suffice.  More than that, it would affect our mood, our pocketbook, our fitness, our earth...I'm trying to find the negative aspect of this, but I can't.  So my challenge to you all is a small, simple one.  Twice a week, for a trip you would make by car that would fall into this category, don't drive.  Walk, Ride a Bike, take the bus, do it for two months and see for yourself the benefits of your new "green" travel.  I'm betting the extra time you take for yourself to do this, will be worth it alone.  Also, check out this site for reference WalkScore.org

The Fund Raiser I attended was for the Shreveport Dog Park Alliance. This ongoing project to bring/build Shreveport's first ever off-leash, dog park has been in some sort of phase, conceptual or theoretic, for 4 years now.  I believe there was some miscommunication and some confusion on some of the ideas at the beginning, which accounts for the dragging of the feet.  But, now we are in the "FUNd raising" portion!

The park is currently planned to be built and established at Hamels Memorial Park, at the most southern end of Clyde Fant Park Way...HERE. The park will be 8.7 acress with both a small dog and a large dog area.  There will be a 1.7 acre pond (on the current plan) for dogs to swim and play.  It's being touted as the "Central Park" of Dog Parks.  Personally, I'll take a "Highland Park" of Dog parks, over no park at all.  But, you do what you can.

The cost of constructing this park is...take a breath....$250,000.00.  Yeah, that's a big doggy butt load.  I'm not too sure why it will cost that amount, but I know I'm going to try and raise as much as possible so we can at least get some of this going.  This would be a great addition to Shreveport both for current residents and as an allure to bring in new people.  Louisiana has dog parks in cities not as large and not as capable as Shreveport, what they have that we don't is more support from citizens and government...for now. 

Sometimes  I'll be walking around at the trails next to downtown, or sitting outside and listening to some live music at the riverfront, or even enjoying a movie at the Robinson and I think to myself, "Shreveport really has some good things going for it."  This is a change from where I use to be, and I'm happy with my attitude towards my place of residence, but it could always be better.  If you wanna donate to the park, let me know.  It you wanna get involved with the bike plan, let me know.  I can get you connected. As Gandhi says "you must be the change you wish to see in the world."  This is my way of trying.