In the US, the term "states' rights" has become a dog-whistle for those who, essentially, want to roll back the clock to 1861 or thereabouts.
"Local politics" has an almost equally-sullied reputations, as school boards, cities, counties and, yes, states have used their authority to excise any mention of evolution, climate change or slavery from school textbooks and to mandate all sorts of other ignorant, mendacious and mean-spirited policies.
But, sometimes, there is something to be said for localities having the power to make their own rules and deciding how their money will be spent. An example of that is occurring now in Davis, California.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Davis may well have been the original "bicycle friendly" city in the US. Home to a major University of California campus, its planners--at least some of whom were and are cyclists--have a long history of taking cyclists seriously.
At the same time, other California cities grew exponentially. So did their motor vehicle traffic: The Golden State has, to many people, become synonymous with car-clogged freeways and smog-choked skies.
(Of course, not all of California is like that. I have seen it for myself!)
Sacramento, the state's capital, is one such city. Not so long ago, it was a west-coast version of Albany or Springfield: a town that rose and slept with its legislative sessions. More recently, however, the high-tech boom that turned fruit orchards into corporate blocks in the Santa Clara Valley has spread eastward from the Bay Area. So, Saramento has experienced the sort of growth in population--and traffic congestion--cities like Los Angeles witnessed in earlier decades.
Thus, some folks in Davis are taking it upon themselves to encourage their neighbors in Davis (and the ones closer to home) to trade four wheels for two. They want cyclists who "know the Sacramento area inside and out" to share their knowledge and experience as "Bicycle Ambassadors."
In doing so, these "ambassadors" will, according to Bike Davis President Trish Davis, help the city and region in its effort to reduce greenhouse gases.
Now, do you think the current occupant of the White House--or Congress, as it's currently constituted-- would ever implement such a program? Hmm...Could it be that all of those tree-hugging liberals are really working undercover for the conservative Republican agenda? Local control, indeed!
"Local politics" has an almost equally-sullied reputations, as school boards, cities, counties and, yes, states have used their authority to excise any mention of evolution, climate change or slavery from school textbooks and to mandate all sorts of other ignorant, mendacious and mean-spirited policies.
But, sometimes, there is something to be said for localities having the power to make their own rules and deciding how their money will be spent. An example of that is occurring now in Davis, California.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Davis may well have been the original "bicycle friendly" city in the US. Home to a major University of California campus, its planners--at least some of whom were and are cyclists--have a long history of taking cyclists seriously.
At the same time, other California cities grew exponentially. So did their motor vehicle traffic: The Golden State has, to many people, become synonymous with car-clogged freeways and smog-choked skies.
(Of course, not all of California is like that. I have seen it for myself!)
Sacramento, the state's capital, is one such city. Not so long ago, it was a west-coast version of Albany or Springfield: a town that rose and slept with its legislative sessions. More recently, however, the high-tech boom that turned fruit orchards into corporate blocks in the Santa Clara Valley has spread eastward from the Bay Area. So, Saramento has experienced the sort of growth in population--and traffic congestion--cities like Los Angeles witnessed in earlier decades.
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| The President would not approve! |
Thus, some folks in Davis are taking it upon themselves to encourage their neighbors in Davis (and the ones closer to home) to trade four wheels for two. They want cyclists who "know the Sacramento area inside and out" to share their knowledge and experience as "Bicycle Ambassadors."
In doing so, these "ambassadors" will, according to Bike Davis President Trish Davis, help the city and region in its effort to reduce greenhouse gases.
Now, do you think the current occupant of the White House--or Congress, as it's currently constituted-- would ever implement such a program? Hmm...Could it be that all of those tree-hugging liberals are really working undercover for the conservative Republican agenda? Local control, indeed!
