gdp's Comments

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder, county prepare for breakup on ambulance agreement - Boulder Daily Camera

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 14:22:09 +0000

People in cities and in the unincorporated county both pay for county roads. Which is as it should be, just like we should share an ambulance district.

Daily Camera.com: : Bike safety concerns continue on CU-Boulder campus - Boulder Daily Camera

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:32:54 +0000

Right now transportation on campus is a free-for-all. The university could help solve this problem by bringing back dismount zones during high-traffic times of day, and providing alternative designated routes for bicycles through the most traveled sections of campus. If these alternatives were well thought out, they would be faster than cutting across dismount zones, and cyclists would use them. At the minimum, two or three north-south routes and one or two east-west routes should be implemented. The split bike/pedestrian lanes just to the north of the biology complex are an example of a good start; however, in my experience, the lane markings are often ignored by cyclists and pedestrians alike. Also, these markings end abruptly at the plaza near the fieldhouse. Ideally, designated bicycle routes would be continuous, dropping out onto a street with a bike lane, and there would be a campaign of education and enforcement until their proper use became commonplace. From the user side, all users, no matter what the mode of transportation, should remember that a crowded path is just like a road: travel to the right, and pass to the left.

Daily Camera.com: : Closure of Casey Middle School\'s soccer field, sledding hill angers Boulder neighbors - Boulder Dai

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:00:08 +0000

I haven't personally done a comparison between grass and artificial turf, but keep in mind that turf grasses are completely unnatural in Colorado.

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder approves stricter snow-removal rules - Boulder Daily Camera

Wed, 6 Oct 2010 12:24:24 +0000

There seems to be a group of people who bring this up every time snow shoveling comes up in the paper. I'd love for my street to be plowed, too, but I'm worried about how much it would cost the city to plow all the side streets. Has anyone come up with a cost estimate for this?

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder approves stricter snow-removal rules - Boulder Daily Camera

Wed, 6 Oct 2010 12:19:04 +0000

If you leave town, or are sick or injured, ask a friend or neighbor, or hire someone to shovel in case it snows. The snow removal laws are enforced on a complaint basis, so if you want the city to "go after" someone, just take down the address and call them in.

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder approves stricter snow-removal rules - Boulder Daily Camera

Wed, 6 Oct 2010 12:13:24 +0000

Hire someone to do it, ask a neighbor to do it, or use this city program (from the city website): "Senior citizens and physically disabled persons who are unable to clear snow from their sidewalks may receive assistance through the ICEBUSTERS Program. For more information, or to be a volunteer, call Retired Senior Volunteer Program at 303-443-1933"

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder leads nation in bike commuting, according to American Community Survey - Boulder Daily Camer

Fri, 1 Oct 2010 14:48:45 +0000

I don't have a quick way to come up with a number (you could maybe come up with one by looking at commute distances), but my gut feeling is that there's no fundamental reason it couldn't be as high as the 30-40 % quoted for many European cities in the article. We'd have many hurdles to overcome to get there, the greatest of which, in my mind, is infrastructure that allows cars, bikes, and pedestrians to coexist better. And maybe squeezing every last bike commuter onto the road isn't our priority, but I think that the success of Community Cycles points to the fact that people are eager to get out on bikes once they have the proper equipment and knowledge.

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder leads nation in bike commuting, according to American Community Survey - Boulder Daily Camer

Fri, 1 Oct 2010 14:09:17 +0000

As a lifelong bike commuter, it's neat to see that Boulder tops the list, and it would be great to see our percentage of bike commuters increase even more! As it does, I hope that the city is looking at how some European cities with lots of bicyclists handle sharing of paths between pedestrians and cyclists. For instance, on a visit to Goettigen, Germany, a college town about the same size as Boulder, I noticed that most paths had red concrete sections for bikes and white concrete for pedestrians. I also saw cyclists being ticketed. The correct system, properly enforced, helps make getting around faster and safer for everyone. Also, kudos to Community Cycles for getting more knowledgeable cyclists out on the road!

Daily Camera.com: : Organizers plan Boulder event geared around \'street liberation\' - Boulder Daily Camera

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:36:00 +0000

It says bike taxi. I wanted to link through to one, but a quick google search doesn't turn up any company that appears to be currently functioning in Boulder. I feel like I've seen them around- anyone know more?

Daily Camera.com: : Vehicle collisions with pedestrians in Boulder increasing - Boulder Daily Camera

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 15:33:34 +0000

You're right, I was being sloppy. In counting experiments, the uncertainty on any one measurement is the square root of the number. The standard deviation of a set of numbers is the deviation from the mean, averaged by adding in quadrature, which, in this case, also works out to be about 7. My point stands, though: these data don't show an increase in pedestrians being hit by cars in Boulder.

Daily Camera.com: : Vehicle collisions with pedestrians in Boulder increasing - Boulder Daily Camera

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:06:23 +0000

The reminder not to drive distracted is an important one. However, there's absolutely no upward trend in the data shown- the variation in the numbers can be completely explained by random noise. When you count events, if they are truly random, the standard deviation is the square root of the number of events. In this case, there are about 46 +/- 7 pedestrians hit by motorists in Boulder per year. This includes an approximate extrapolated number for this year, which is 48. Notice that the number of accidents falls within this range for all years but 2006. The probability of having a year like 2006, which was more than one but less than two standard deviations from the mean, is about 1/7. So one low year is not unlikely, and is a poor baseline for the assertion that the number of accidents is rising. Therefore, while it makes a great headline, the assertion is simply wrong. For an excellent introduction to thinking about data, check out the textbook "An Introduction to Error Analysis" by CU's own professor John Taylor. (Great picture on the front, too!) http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Error-Analysis...

Daily Camera.com: : Mountain and Southern Suns present a slice of Boulder - Boulder Daily Camera

Sat, 22 May 2010 14:34:45 +0000

Yep, I keep a check in my wallet just in case I find myself at the So. Sun. My favorite food item is their nachos! (Which Ms. Smith appears to be carrying in her right hand.) It's true that service can be spotty, but whatever. It's worth it. I take it as a lesson to chill.

Daily Camera.com: : A week of \'stooping\' at CU-Boulder brought to an end - Boulder Daily Camera

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:48:00 +0000

Aw, that's too bad. I walked by the stoop a couple of times this week and it looked like a great use of a boring concrete space to me. The concept of the stoop made it clear that the intent was for people to stop and visit, like in a neighborhood. I hope it does remain an informal hangout place, where people can strike up a conversation with a stranger.

Daily Camera.com: : Obama hails \'shared spirit of humanity\' at Easter - Boulder Daily Camera

Sat, 3 Apr 2010 22:04:48 +0000

The NYT reports that "nearly a third," not "most" of the new jobs are with the census. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/business/econom...

Daily Camera.com: : Mountain Sun resurrects the Pre-Prohibition Pilsner - Boulder Daily Camera

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:43:25 +0000

You can get a growler for take-out, though. I'm looking forward to February: Stout Month!

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder County coroner: Record number of death reports in 2009 - Boulder Daily Camera

Fri, 1 Jan 2010 16:35:40 +0000

Exactly. It's impossible to draw any conclusion from the numbers quoted in this article. A more meaningful statistic would include the population each year. For instance, how many deaths per 1000 residents were there each year? Has this number changed over time? And how has the coroner's budget grown as the population has grown?

Daily Camera.com: : Boulder to host second annual winter Bike to Work Day - Boulder Daily Camera

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:48:11 +0000

Last year it was 70s and sunny!

Daily Camera.com: : Pearl Street shuffle: Boulder\'s Art Mart moving one block - Boulder Daily Camera

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 13:30:54 +0000

The Art Mart space is really huge for downtown, so it makes sense to divide it into two. The last time I was in Art Mart, a few weeks ago, it felt empty. I hope that Alpaca Connection can find a new spot; it's one of the truly unique places on the mall.

Daily Camera.com: : Louisville police chief: We don\'t want to be \'haven for sex offenders\' - Boulder Daily Camera

Thu, 3 Dec 2009 13:32:09 +0000

It looks like you can find out by submitting a request to the CBI here: http://sor.state.co.us/index.cfm?SOR=home.sxoreg Then you would have a better idea of whether these people committed offenses that are cause for concern, or not.

Daily Camera.com: : Louisville police chief: We don\'t want to be \'haven for sex offenders\' - Boulder Daily Camera

Thu, 3 Dec 2009 02:34:04 +0000

Do you know why they are on the registry?