also, why can’t there be a high-speed train link between cities in louisiana. i’ve heard people talk about this, before, and no one has a good reason why it hasn’t gotten a lot of action. lamar, you wrote about this on this website about a year ago. what’s happened since then?

btw, here in Delhi, they just opened a light rail 2 years ago, which has been enormously successful. there is a great deal of construction going on all over the city, as they are expanding the system in 4 phases until 2018. eventually it will link up many small towns in the delhi state with the city. it is quick, cheap, clean, air-conditioned, efficient, and good for the environment.

Thanks

Protection of historic trees can be handled one of two ways. They can be added to the design / preservation guidelines within a specific overlay district….I believe we call then DUCS. For instance, large Live Oaks and Magnolias in the Garden District could be protected from indiscriminate removal except under limited circumstances such as a tree that is dead or poses a hazard to property owners or the public. The other mechanism is to incorporate the protections into our existing tree ordinance.

Due to gas prices, there are more cyclists out there and many times no sidewalks or lanes for them to utilize. I have seen many a near miss due to no place for people to ride their bike safely. Great, great idea!

Paul, I’d love to go to Portland and see what you folks are doing first-hand. It’s really crazy how many people I know from Alexandria who have moved to Portland. You guys are obviously doing something right– attracting and retaining a young and civic-minded workforce. I am certain there are lessons we can learn from Portland as well.

Andrea, Chuck Fowler actually introduced the idea of more bicycle lanes in the last Council meeting.