Well this is a long time coming; Freeport Blvd. is a City designated bike route but there's no marked bicycle lane until well after (if coming from Midtown) the school; and those biking the opposite way lose the bike lane long before getting to school. Now if only the City will do something about Folsom Blvd., another City designated bike route; while it *does* have bike lanes, they are unusable due to the garbage and recycling bins and yard waste piles that block them daily.

"Us vs. them" ... I live and work in Midtown. I live just three blocks from where last Second Saturday's shooting took place, I work both on the far side of Midtown and just 5 blocks from where the shooting took place. I am both a worker/patron of the nightlife establishments and, as a resident, a victim of the drunken shenanigans that transpire after the bars/clubs close.

I e-mailed Cohn as soon as I found out about the time with both my complaint as to the time and a lengthly description of my thoughts on Midtown nightlife in general and where I see the problems with Second Saturday. Given Cohn's track record, I doubt he'll respond.

How can it be called a "Community Forum Discussing Midtown Nightlife" when it is completely excluding the nightlife community? Those of us who work within the service industry, who could actually give you first hand knowledge of the nightlife, do not get off work until close to 4am, and you expect us to be at a meeting at 9am? This forum seems to be more for those that *don't* experience the nightlife.

Now we just need the city to rid the bike lanes of garbage/recycling bins, piles of yard waste, "valet parking signs", etc. and to *finally* do something about the fact that the RT bus garage on 28th barricades the bike lane

Not to steal your thunder but "greenwash" is not a "newly coined term" unless you mean that you *just* "coined" it. Greenwashing is a term that has been used for some time to describe the practices of companies who disingenuously spin their products/policies as being environmentally friendly (like Old Soul saying that their coffee is Fair Trade and/or Organic despite it being neither)

Oh, and you missed the beginning of my post; what the hell does the Harlem Globetrotters have to do with Midtown, ice skating or bowling? I mean, really ...

No, they don't move to Midtown for quiet and parking *but* when a half a blocks worth of parking gets taken by an ice rink that is only benefiting a few businesses then parking turns to crap as half a blok is gone and more people are being drawn into the area (read the comments on any article dealing with the rink and you'll see). As for quiet; I live on G street (for blocks away) and *I* can hear the damn music being played at the rink (audible from that distance is a violation of the law but, try to get the city to enforce it; I have).

Oh, yeah ... nothing says "midtown", "ice skating" and/or "basketball" like having the Harlem Globetrotter bowling at an ice rink. Really? And has anything come from the comments of neighbors losing sleep and parking to the ice rink?

Hey, look at that Dale! A photo of a leaf pile in a bike lane even though you said that that never happens! You do know that it's illegal to block a bike lane, right? Just as it's illegal to block a lane of vehicular traffic. Little known fact (among motorists), a bicycle is considered a vehicle so any laws pertaining to vehicles pertain to bicycles. Sadly, SPD doesn't enforce that law but, since they don't, mind if I block your lane of vehicular traffic with a pile of waste?

What the hell? Dale, I'll again default to my usual responses: A) If it can happen in every other city I've ever lived in (several dozen in six different states), it can happen here. B) If you, or anyone else, is unable to do something, it's all a matter of asking for assistance or hiring someone to do the work for you.\ Your "which is what you are homeowners to do" statement confuses me, I'm assuming you mean that it's only homeowners that have to deal with any of this. Well, I'm a renter, and I deal with this on my own. I also assist a friend (who is a homeowner) with her yard waste because she isn't able bodied enough to deal with it (it's called "community"). When one, for any reason whatsoever, is unable to do something on their own, they hire someone to do it for them (it kind of makes the world go round). For example (since you seem to be all about examples), please visualize a technologically declined individual getting a virus on their computer. In this world, one has to have one to get by, even to interact with their elected officials they need one to get by. Now, what does this technologically declined individual do? Do they change the world and make everyone go back to a pen and paper, fax machine, whatever? No, they hire someone to assist them in removing the virus from their computer. You seem to think that having to put your yard waste into a bin is the end of the world failing to realize that by NOT putting yard waste into a bin you're making your world worse. More smog, more flooding, more mosquitoes, more dangerous roads, etc. Really, I don't want to stop with just putting yard waste into bins. I want to continue this change along. I want any street that is a designated bike route or that has a marked bike lane to have parking restrictions on garbage days so that their bins are place on the curb and NOT in the bike lane. Visualize, if you will, driving your car down the street (I'm sorry, let's make that "speeding in your car down the street" as 99.9% of the motorists do not abide by the speed limit) on a random evening, you round a corner and BLAM, you smack headlong into a dumpster that has been placed in the middle of the lane. That, Dale, is what cyclists in Sacramento face every day despite it being against the State law and City law. I've spoken to SPD about this, about residents placing their waste bins and yard waste piles in the bike lane and on designated bike routes (where they have to be placed or they wont get picked up) and they told me what I already knew, that it IS against the law. Now, why aren't they doing anything? Well, their response is "since we didn't see who put it there, we can't do anything about it". So what we have is a city requiring it's citizens to break both State and City law and the citizens having to hope that an officer does not see them do this. So I'm sorry, Dale, if I want some change in this city. I'm sorry if I want the city to NOT force it's citizens to break the law. I'm sorry if I want the city to NOT waste money paving the roads more frequently due to damage form the claw, by having to have two trucks instead of one, by having to send out crews to clear clogged drains. You want a livable city Dale? So do I. I'd like to be able to ride my bike in a bike lane without fear of crashing into a pile of yard waste or into a waste bin. I'd like to be able to walk to the corner store in the rain without having to go a half block out of my way to avoid a massive puddle caused by a clogged drain, I'd like to have a Summer without mosquito bites caused by the standing water due to clogged drains.

So Dale, if you're so against containerized yard waste, why does your current yard waste pile (placed in the street DAYS before it will even get picked up) contain containers? On my ride to work this evening I noticed that you had several bags of waste covered by loose leaves placed out for "claw" pick up. This somewhat renders your concerns moot as you obviously are able bodied enough to place your ward waste in a container, don't suffer a leaf allergy keeping you from getting too close to your yard waste, etc.

Um, grow up?

No Dale, you are proving my point ... If this law enables me to ride my bike in the bike lane for 10 months out of the year, then I'm one step closer to being able to ride my bike in the bike lane for 12 months out of the year. The irony in this battle is that it's ILLEGAL to block a bike lane; I've contacted SPD regarding this and they can't/wont do anything about the waste piles/bins in the bike lane because they didn't see who actually put them in the bike lane. So what we have is a City service requiring citizens to break the law because they know that the odds of the police seeing them doing it are astronomical. So yes, Dale ... you've proved my point while promoting the breaking of a State law.

If this money is meant for streetlights, it needs to be spent on streetlights. How about one at 4th Ave and Franklin where there's an unlit crosswalk connecting an art gallery, coffee shop, corner store and an AA meeting hall? Motorists fly down Franklin and I quit hanging out in front of the cafe because of the amount of times my heart jumps every time I hear tires screeching and and see pedestrians jumping trying to avoid being hit by motorists who couldn't see them on that dark stretch of road

First off, you're using an image of a street without bike lanes to make a point about bike lanes which just doesn't add up. Beyond that, as a life long bicycle commuter, I (and ever bicycle commuter I have spoken with) would much prefer having a container in the bike lane as opposed to a leaf pile because a container is actually visible from a way off as opposed to a pile of yard waste which you can't see until you're up on it (I'm speaking of night riding here, and yes I do use a bike light). Furthermore, currently residents put their piles of yard waste out on whatever day they do their yard work and there that pile sits until the claw comes through; but with containers, they would not be put out until they are actually going to get picked up. So instead of never knowing if/when there is going to be a pile of yard waste in my path, we'd go to knowing exactly when/where there's going to be a container in my path.

It seems everyones opposition is due to all of the trees in Midtown but, what everyone fails to realize (possibly they aren't even reading draft but just going by hearsay?) is that the current draft of the proposal states that the claw would still be used during the Fall/Winter when leaves/branches fall. For those that want to know the reasons to move to a containered system, I encourage you to read up at http://www.sacbike.org/greenwaste/

Dale, you're proving my point here. If yard waste was required to be containerized then residents wouldn't be putting their piles out in the street days before it was getting picked up, leaving it to be dragged and knocked around by cars, they'd be putting their bin out the day before it was getting picked up and it would remain in that container and not all over the street while awaiting pick up. But, like you, I also was out on a walk the other (though on Monday evening) and on my walk down G Street between 16th and Alhambra, there was not one single block that did not have a freshly deposited pile of yard waste blocking the bike lane (at one intersection, there was a pile that spanned from the curb, across the bike lane and into the lane of vehicular traffic; that pile was also blocking the crosswalk AND the handicap ramp and was taking up close to three parking spaces). Really, on my walk, there was never any less that two piles per block, per side of the street, that were blocking the bike lanes in violation of the CVC. So yes, I do notice details as I "whizz by".

You missed my point: "We are all well aware of what we can/can't do and seek assistance for the things that we can't do on our own." If someone is unable to put their yard waste into a bin, they can always ask for assistance (and if they can't put yard waste in a bin, I'm wondering how they put their garbage into a bin?), I spent the entire day yesterday doing yard work for my friend who has had two spinal surgeries because she couldn't physically do it all herself. In regards to some of you not knowing anything about this, you must not be paying attention; I knew about people pushing for this ballot initiative over a year ago. Regardless, the fact remains that the current use of the claw, and residents piling their waste in the street, is a hazard to cyclists, damaging to the street (and costly to repair), harmful on the environment, etc. and for those reasons I am in favor of containerized waste. If any of you would like more information on any of this, I encourage you to check out http://www.sacbike.org/greenwaste/

I'm well aware physical limitations. I have (often debilitating) scoliosis, a shoulder that slips out of socket far too often due to an improperly set clavicle and a knee that needs to be replaced due to a childhood accident; my mother has advanced MS and has had multiple back surgeries; and a friend since grade school has already had two spinal surgeries. We are all well aware of what we can/can't do and seek assistance for the things that we can't do on our own. What gets me is that of all of the cities I have lived in, all across the US, Sacramento is the *only* city that requires their citizens to place their yard waste in the street and the only city whose citizens feels that it's their god given right. Environmental and finance issues aside, on the streets which do not have parking restrictions on the days that yard waste gets picked up, the residents must put their yard waste in the bicycle lane despite being in violation of the California Vehicle Code. In regards to the environment and finances issues: containerized yard waste prevents sewer overflow (the EPA ruled that the September '04 overflow was caused by yard waste clogging the system); containerized yard waste is billed at around 22% less than the on street pick up; streets need to be repaved/repaired more frequently due to pavement damage caused by the claw; using containers would lessen the amount of money spent by the city as only one vehicle would be needed (one vehicle would also improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions); not having the blocked drains caused by street dumping would reduce the mosquito population since there'd be less standing water, it would improve parking because residents wouldn't put their piles out whenever they feel like it but, instead, put out their container on the designated day; etc. etc. etc. But to say that this is a civil rights and/or ADA issue? If so, why do the vast majority of cities in the US have containerized yard waste? Like I said, this is the only city that I've ever heard of that does not have containerized yard waste. And if you want to bring up civil rights, I as a bicycle commuter, have every right to ride my bicycle down the bike lane without fear of that lane being illegally blocked.