Disqus - Latest Comments for Dystopos

Re: New Logo for Subway

Dystopos — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 10:08:19 -0000

Just noticed in the 1960s logo the "W" looks suspiciously like upside-down golden arches.

Re: Huge snake caught on camera at local gas station

Dystopos — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 15:42:55 -0000

Rat snake. Good one to have around.

Re: Man shot, killed in North Birmingham

Dystopos — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 22:54:35 -0000

1200 block of 12th Court North is in the Fountain Heights neighborhood of Birmingham's Northside Community, but it is not in North Birmingham.

Re: I’m Part of an Elite Facebook Club: You Have to Be Molly to Join

Dystopos — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 21:17:04 -0000

You should include Phil Campbell. http://www.theoaklandpress....

Re: 7 Authors Who Wrote Themselves into Their Work

Dystopos — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 10:53:47 -0000

Add Miguel de Cervantes.

Re: Birmingham needs a lot of things, including choices

Dystopos — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 00:32:38 -0000

I've had other things to say on this topic, but I'm thinking sometimes I got out beyond my expertise, so I'll (try to) stick to some general concerns here.

First, the issue of "over regulation": As a student of history, I've seen that pretty much everything we have now was instituted as a solution to a problem we had then. The exceptions would be the products of bald-faced corruption. But in general, we regulate taxi cabs to whatever degree seemed right at the time. It may or may not be right for today, but we need to look back at the problems we had BEFORE we were regulating taxi service before we toss them out, so that we can make sure we're not reintroducing problems that should already have been solved.

Second, the issue of "taxi service". At some level, it's a public service, and part of the point of regulating it is to ensure that it serves the public as a whole. We regulate (or used to regulate) telephone companies to make sure they go to the trouble of running wires out to farmhouses when its more profitable just to operate an in-town exchange. We regulate airlines to insure that their craft are reliably serviced and inspected. One of the things that most taxi cab regulations require (though I haven't found the language in skimming the postings of recent ordinances yet.) is that drivers answer any call in any neighborhood, carry passengers to any point within the service area, charge a uniform rate per mile, and conduct their business cleanly and efficiently. If a new service comes in and takes the most profitable/least risky customers away without being required to serve the rest of the public, then its an unfair disadvantage to the regulated cab company that does have to do it.

Third is the notion that Uber will give people more options and improve the overall effectiveness of transportation for those who don't need to be driving cars everywhere themselves. I can see where it could make an immediate positive impact for visitors to the city who don't know their way around or who are attending large events or conventions where renting cars and parking them all day is too burdensome. It should provide a new option to people who otherwise would use cabs but prefer a different experience and find Uber a better alternative. It may or may not be available to the working mother in Pratt City whose car overheats and needs to pick up a child from daycare. It may or may not be available to pick someone up from a lounge in Ensley after they've had one too many. It may or may not serve a kid in Gate City needing to get to the airport for a 6:00 AM flight. And if Uber isn't going to be serving those needs, then the companies that do are going to have a hard time surviving without the Lakeview partyiers and convention-goers that Uber is stealing away.

Yes, our cab companies generate a lot of complaints, but Uber doesn't fix that. Yes, our transit system is operating on fumes without dedicated public funding, but Uber doesn't fix that. We don't have to expect Uber to solve those problems. And I don't object to Uber (and its competitors) coming in to the market to fill a need. However, we, through our elected officials, must take some responsibility for seeing that when they do, they aren't also crippling our ability to make progress toward fixing those problems.

Re: Economist: Birmingham blocking Uber would be ‘very bad economic development strategy’

Dystopos — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 09:12:19 -0000

I understood that they weren't proposing to "block" Uber+, but just requiring it to abide by the same regulations that the taxicab services have always had to follow. I also understand that representatives of the company were invited to have input in whether any of those regulations needed to be revisited in light of current technology, but they declined the opportunity and instead chose to fight to be unregulated. Am I misunderstanding?

Re: Beautiful Buffoons: The 25 Best Comic Idiots in TV History

Dystopos — Sat, 24 May 2014 08:28:49 -0000

No Barney Fife; no list.

Re: New FDA Rule May Break Up Brewers & Farmers

Dystopos — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 10:42:38 -0000

Perhaps the FDA could show where there has been a problem BEFORE proposing a regulatory solution?

Re: Trim Tab Brewing Company hires Alabama’s first woman brewer

Dystopos — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 17:51:20 -0000

If I remember right, New Vulcan Ale House had announced a female brewmaster, but of course they never got underway.

Re: More numbers (and theories) to study with the Haney deal

Dystopos — Wed, 19 Feb 2014 08:25:28 -0000

Apparently the Mayor's office disagrees that a capital budget is necessary for major expenditures. While there has been no budget in recent years, there have been plenty of major capital expenditures.

Re: More numbers (and theories) to study with the Haney deal

Dystopos — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 14:22:31 -0000

The average rent per square foot is irrelevant if the city has better options. I believe it does. The city owns vacant and underdeveloped property and enjoys privileges favorable to acting as its own developer. Rather than rushing to react to a pitch by a private owner ( one made, I might add, through purchased influence), the city should state what is needed, and only then seek ways to accommodate it. I have no problem with a long term commitment, if the basis of entering it is long-term planning. This is completely backwards, though. If short term accommodations are needed, a short-term, even piecemeal fix is more appropriate.

Re: New Alagasco operations center means demolition of historic freight station

Dystopos — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 12:47:07 -0000

The architect's report doesn't come off as damning as I would have thought. Surely it occurred to them to leave the second floor unoccupied and to add on to the structure to accommodate program space requirements and the inflexibility of the existing bearing locations? What do they have against making repairs and replacing components if they're expecting to build from the ground up anyway? The biggest issue seems to be the raised floor, but I expect a little time at the drawing board would reveal a grading/ramp solution that preserves the appearance of the historic structure and allows for appropriate access.

Re: The Sad, Final Days of Florida's Miracle Strip Amusement Park

Dystopos — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 15:49:19 -0000

The Haunted Castle ride (the cars and track) is now installed at the "Terrortorium" in Oxford, Alabama.

Re: Lyric Hot Dogs & Birmingham Landmarks meet, release statement

Dystopos — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 15:29:30 -0000

It appears that the creative team may have done an incomplete job of defining the design problem in the first place. Am I to understand that in the proposed design, the historic Lyric office building will not have ANY ground floor retail spaces? Has the Birmingham Design Review Committee approved that proposal?

Re: More things to think about regardless of the I-20/59 conclusion

Dystopos — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 15:07:50 -0000

I figure if there's any power able to take on the mid-century thinking of ALDOT, it's not a hubbub of big dig hipsters or even a coalition of small businesses afraid of losing interstate access. The "anti"s are going to be perceived as a hurdle by the powers that be. The only viable power is the power of consensus; consensus unified in favor of a positive transformative vision for downtown.

Fortunately, we have precisely that in the 2004 City Center Master Plan. That document was generated with broad public input and formally adopted by our elected representatives as a guide for downtown development. If we just set that aside and don't point to it every time someone wants to know what the plan is, then it was just another waste of time and money.

Re: Glen Iris Neighborhood Considers Skatepark

Dystopos — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:55:53 -0000

Good luck, A.Skate!

Re: Is Free Rent Enough to Jumpstart a Sleepy Commercial District?

Dystopos — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 18:53:57 -0000

I did not mean to short-change the Lakes. nor to poo-poo this account. I apologize for not taking longer to edit my reaction. They clearly have made a sizeable effort to get the commercial district "over the hump". But there was really a LOT of groundwork done before they came into the area, and it was done by lots of people who deserve credit, too.

Re: Is Free Rent Enough to Jumpstart a Sleepy Commercial District?

Dystopos — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 12:21:04 -0000

Many of the elements labelled "new" in this story were, in fact, existing. The park's baseball fields and amphitheater were renovated, not created anew. The Friend of Avondale Park had been working and raising funds for years, and the city had approved their plans well before stimulus funds became available. The facade of the existing building housing the brewery was the only part rebuilt. The space housing the new pub and art gallery was redeveloped before the Lakes moved to Avondale. Numerous existing merchants, including the popular Parkside bar and Bottletree Cafe, were already actively working with Main Street Birmingham. The Beloved Community Church, which renovated a former Masonic Hall, also redeveloped one of their properties for commercial use. The BBQ restaurant moved into space already in use as a restaurant. The main thing the Lakes brought was buzz. That's made a huge difference in perception, but perhaps at the expense of recognizing the groundwork laid by many other champions of Avondale.

Re: How are other cities handling food trucks?

Dystopos — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 14:35:52 -0000

A valuable survey. Thanks!

Re: Musings on a bridge to somewhere

Dystopos — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 19:27:20 -0000

Could also be a link in the Civil Rights District walking tour, if it includes the Negro Leagues museum.

Re: Jim Reed on Historic Preservation Downtown

Dystopos — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:24:15 -0000

It was my understanding that the original intent of the parking meters was to insure that some spaces got freed up for shoppers instead of being colonized all day by office workers.

Re: Obama’s Katrina?

Dystopos — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:44:10 -0000

There's still plenty of time for the oil gusher to be introduced to a hurricane, producing some abominal offspring.

Re: Beer of the week: De Dolle Oerbier Special Reserva

Dystopos — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:07:32 -0000

Just wanted to chime in for one of my favorite breweries.

Re: Sounds on the sand

Dystopos — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:43:34 -0000

So $37.50 for 170 bands in Birmingham was an injustice, but with salt in the air and sand underfoot you can go ahead and charge $159 for 60 bands. I hope it's a hit, if only to prove something.