Regarding the Columbia, MO development, I lived there for a couple of years, and I do kind of understand finding this proposed development weird.
Rock Quarry Road has a long stretch that's quite winds through a forested bluff, and a lot of drivers go way too fast through there (it desperately needs some speed bumps).
But what's even more difficult to manage is that, in winter, it becomes properly dangerous due to its steepness, especially since the city does not handle snow or ice particularly well. Since this stretch would be on most students' route to campus, I could see the location of the development being problematic from a traffic safety point of view (and the city doesn't seem to have any plans for improving transit substantially, as most students from that part of the city drive to campus). Development would be better suited to the city's core neighborhoods that are within walking distance of campus, especially since that area of town just got a grocery store. Though developments there are unpopular as well . . .
I do think most people oppose it for aesthetic reasons, as the lot sits along a greenbelt that runs along the southern reaches of the city. But there are semi-reasonable reasons to question the location in my view.
Hi Nolan, thanks for the local contexts. Always good to hear. I'm from not too far from there, so I know the ice storms can be something fierce. Weather cannot be taken lightly. Yet I always dubious of the safety reasoning in these kinds of cases. If it is dangerous for students, then it is already too dangerous. That would seem to me a street redesign issue or getting proper equipment for deicing.
I also appreciate the contexts for the city core/ walking distance locale. No surprise that there is also objection there. I can even buy aesthetic reasons. Many of these places are simply ugly. Bad for the movement.
Anyways, thanks for adding an insider's perspective.
The road is not currently a primary one; most traffic flows through larger arterials nearby. But if a large housing development were sited there, it could become a bigger issue, especially with its 700-car parking lot. The fact that it would also bring a lot more traffic through a city park is probably unpopular as well. But yes, the clear solution is upgrading the city's snow removal capacity. Some streets are left unattended for days after big storms; it's plainly unacceptable.
For some more local texture. I paid $750 for my apartment in 2022, which was walkable to campus. Now, that same location is leasing for $1,045. Clearing a bunch of rundown houses east of campus and upgrading them to denser apartments would be my ideal solution, but c'est la vie.
Regarding the Columbia, MO development, I lived there for a couple of years, and I do kind of understand finding this proposed development weird.
Rock Quarry Road has a long stretch that's quite winds through a forested bluff, and a lot of drivers go way too fast through there (it desperately needs some speed bumps).
But what's even more difficult to manage is that, in winter, it becomes properly dangerous due to its steepness, especially since the city does not handle snow or ice particularly well. Since this stretch would be on most students' route to campus, I could see the location of the development being problematic from a traffic safety point of view (and the city doesn't seem to have any plans for improving transit substantially, as most students from that part of the city drive to campus). Development would be better suited to the city's core neighborhoods that are within walking distance of campus, especially since that area of town just got a grocery store. Though developments there are unpopular as well . . .
I do think most people oppose it for aesthetic reasons, as the lot sits along a greenbelt that runs along the southern reaches of the city. But there are semi-reasonable reasons to question the location in my view.
Hi Nolan, thanks for the local contexts. Always good to hear. I'm from not too far from there, so I know the ice storms can be something fierce. Weather cannot be taken lightly. Yet I always dubious of the safety reasoning in these kinds of cases. If it is dangerous for students, then it is already too dangerous. That would seem to me a street redesign issue or getting proper equipment for deicing.
I also appreciate the contexts for the city core/ walking distance locale. No surprise that there is also objection there. I can even buy aesthetic reasons. Many of these places are simply ugly. Bad for the movement.
Anyways, thanks for adding an insider's perspective.
The road is not currently a primary one; most traffic flows through larger arterials nearby. But if a large housing development were sited there, it could become a bigger issue, especially with its 700-car parking lot. The fact that it would also bring a lot more traffic through a city park is probably unpopular as well. But yes, the clear solution is upgrading the city's snow removal capacity. Some streets are left unattended for days after big storms; it's plainly unacceptable.
For some more local texture. I paid $750 for my apartment in 2022, which was walkable to campus. Now, that same location is leasing for $1,045. Clearing a bunch of rundown houses east of campus and upgrading them to denser apartments would be my ideal solution, but c'est la vie.