Grass

What's with the grass on the soccer fields in Southern Community Park? Will it come back or does the Town have to pay for reseeding and how will that affect use this year?

Sheri Castle - Food Writer, Cooking Teacher, Recipe Tester and Developer

Doesn't she live in Southern Village?

Websites, blogs, Facebook pages, tweeters - from Southern Village

Wouldn't it be good to collect all of these so we can all relate to neighbors better, and in some cases, even give them some business?

Weekend/evening bus service

Why can't we get weekend and evening bus service, very limited schedule, to Southern Village? I am one resident who would use it. Is there anyone else? Yesterday, for example - I walked to UNC for an event there and walked back. In bad weather, I would not have had the bus alternative.

Saturday bus service

There is something very wrong with this picture

Park and Ride scenarios as they call them

Hmm.

Time Warner Cable upgrades Internet speeds in response to fiber services :: The Skinny at WRAL TechWire

I hope we will see this as predicted in SV.

Nextdoor Social Network Digs Deep Into Neighborhoods - NYTimes.com

How to make the most of this?

Taco food truck to open restaurant in Chapel Hill - Triangle Business Journal

I hope this proves to be a good place.

The New York Times vending machine?

We used to have a vending machine in the parking lot for The New York Times. What happened to it when the others moved to the alley next to Weaver Street Market?

Research shows easy-to-walk communities can blunt cognitive decline | The University of Kansas

How do we make SV and surrounding areas even more walkable to more places and activities? For example, how to blaze a path to the NC Botanical Gardens? Where are the problems in a walk to downtown Chapel Hill?

Vehicles

I wonder if any of the studies done of traffic on 15-501 can tell us how many vehicles enter and leave Southern Village each day, including the exit onto Culbreth Road, broken down by time of day, etc.

Town many develop Southern Village park-and-ride | Chapel Hill | ChapelHillNews.com

And the need for this, again, is what?

Good luck

Possible changes in the Park and Ride lot.

Chapel Hill Shooter Pleads Guilty To Wife's Murder - Chapelboro.com

Such an awful stain on Southern Village.

The Daily Tar Heel :: Construction delays in store for new hotel at Southern Village

I'd send the story back to rewrite.

Cherfaoui Pleads Guilty To Killing Wife - Chapelboro.com

Sad, but over.

Welcome to Bank of North Carolina

I guess this is our new bank.

Park and ride lot - possible redevelopment

This may come as a surprise to some, and is well worth reviewing before the meeting. See Attachment 3. 

Nearby crime

****Break in to locked residence reported 09/20/14, 8:12 pm, 102 Zapata Ln

I responded to the above location in reference to an alarm. upon arrival i was met by the neighbor at the top of the driveway. he advised he heard the alarm sound. upon checking the residence the front door was found forced open. we cleared the residence. while clearing the residence nothing appeared to be out of place or missing. carrboro responded and ran a k-9 track which led from the front door to the roadway on zapata. it appeared a vehicle was parked at the roadway. the alarm did its job

****Break in to locked residence reported 09/20/14, 8:26 pm, 935 Crestwood Ln

Entry to the residence was made by the front door being kicked in by the suspects. The bedrooms in the residence had been gone through with the complainant’s clothes taken out of the dressers. The complainant could only find her deceased husbands wallet missing. 

HILLSBOROUGH: Chapel Hill man pleads in shooting of wife outside school | Orange County | ChapelHillNews.com

A sad piece of Southern Village history.

N2 Publishing buys space for new headquarters | WilmingtonBiz

I have never seen one of their publications. The description of the company scares me a little with the religious focus. In any case, it's a bit of Huckleberry Finn thinking to get everyone painting their fence for free. This seems to be the woman who is inviting residents to the Town Hall Grill on the 30th.

Alert Carolina: Strong Arm Robbery On Campus - Chapelboro.com

Why aren't we alerted as well?

Southern Community Park

It was really nice to see so many kids out on the soccer fields this afternoon. I wonder how many afternoons each week that happens? Usually when I walk by, there is no one there.

The Daily Tar Heel :: Adrenaline-pumping films come to town

Anyone paying attention in SV?

The Daily Tar Heel :: Study looks at downtown Chapel Hill walkability

How can a study that relies on volunteers be meaningful?

The Daily Tar Heel :: Students mourn Fred Clark, longtime advocate for affordability

We need to find ways to interact with people like him, before they die.

Welcome to Organic Transit!

Who will be the first in Southern Village?

Inline hockey rink

I asked about how much use the inline hockey rink (at Southern Community Park) gets:
"The hockey rink is use on a regular bases.  Tuesday, and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings there is hockey play.  Box lacrosse is played there also.  This lacrosse will be played on nights opposite the hockey play.  Most use is evenings and Saturday mornings.  There are occasional rentals for birthday skate parties etc..."
From:

Bernard Leach
Athletic Supervisor
Athletics
Parks and Recreation
Town of Chapel Hill
200 Plant Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Phone: (919) 968-2734
Fax: (919) 932-2923 

The Daily Tar Heel :: Faith Hedgepeth autopsy: UNC junior beaten to death

This ought to be as important to Southern Village as it is to UNC.

Fearrington Blog | Fearrington Village

Why don't we have something this good?

Trail walkers/runners

Today, I walked from Graylyn to Culbreth on the trail. To my pleasant surprise, at about 9:30 AM, I found maybe twice the number of people out walking and running than I have ever seen on an hour's walk. I hope it is a huge and permanent trend!

Petition | Bring back real PA at Culbreth | Change.org

So, I give up - what's PA?

The Daily Tar Heel :: Professor Liu's autopsy was released

This remains an awful story.

Bus trips with neighbors?

How about organizing some Chapel Hill Transit bus trips to other places in Chapel Hill for breakfast, coffee, lunch? To the Ackland? To Meadowmont? To UNC?

Scroggs Elementary School - Homepage

Note new principal.

Sewer smell

Why is there a persistent sewer smell walking on the trail under 15-501 toward Merritt Pasture?

Slave cemetery

What is the status of this cemetery?

The Root Cellar Cafe & Catering | Formerly Foster's Market

Easy bus trip from Southern Village!

Why not organize our own shopping service?

Suppose someone were to offer to pass by the closest stores around Southern Village and pick up/do shopping for people in Southern Village and then deliver the items to homes? Imagine the driving that this was save for many. The real question is how much it would cost and how much of a discouragement that might be. Online ordering? It could be a whole locally-focused service. For me, I'd love to see this offered by a local newspaper but I think that is too much to hope.

Local Producers - Relay Foods

We now have the Farmers' Market, such as it is, Weaver Street Market and this new arrival. What's sustainable?
This one easily wins the who's most expensive contest.

Community gardens?

Why not use some of the OWASA-cleared land for community gardens?

(5) Market Street at Southern Village

See my post about the Wells Fargo ATM placement.
--
And the rest of the story...

My reply:

Thanks, but whoever made the decision made a bad one, creating an unnecessary and quite ugly pedestrian obstacle. I hope the first person to turn her/his ankle trying to slink around the ATM sues and gets a lot of money. What a dumb choice of location. I will simply assume that no one in the community was asked about location.

From: dixonbpitt@gmail.com [mailto:dixonbpitt@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Dixon Pitt
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2014 12:06 PM
To: Terry MAGUIRE
Subject: Re: Market Street at Southern Village commented on your post.

Terry,

SV Center, LLC is responsible for locating the ATM and there will not be a new sidewalk created to enter/exit the parking lot.  The ATM was initially proposed by Wells to be placed on the North side of the parking lot.   SV Center, who owns the parking lot, felt this location was too exposed.  Thus, the current location was agreed upon.  We apologize if you feel this is in the pedestrian walkway.

Thank you for your inquiry,

Dixon

Pazzo!

Nice to see them doing well!
"Pazzo is in the process of redecorating! You will see refreshed tabletops, new chairs, new light fixtures, new drapes and a new paint color. I am certain the changes will enhance your dining experience. The changes will happen gradually over August and September and we hope to not have to close to the public during this time.

Next week from August 11th to the 15th some of our light fixtures will be removed while we paint and the interior might look a little unfinished.

The week of August 11 also happens to be our 12 year anniversary of business! To say thank you to all our loyal customers and for your patience and understanding while we update, I will extend our Monday night special of half price bottles of wine from Monday August 11th through Thursday August 15th.

Hope to see you next week!!

Cheers
Seth

Southern Village  •  700 Market Street  •  Chapel Hill, NC 27516  •  919-929-9984
 www.pazzo-restaurant.com"

New York City Trying to Help Households Turn Waste Into Compost - NYTimes.com

In Southern Village?

Hotels Embrace the Campus Nearby - NYTimes.com

Will this be the case with our new hotel?

The Toxic Brew in Our Yards - NYTimes.com

How many people use this stuff in Southern Village?

CHCCS: Culbreth MS Student Behind Bomb Threat Hoax - Chapelboro.com

Awful.

Farmers' Market

I went up to the market today and found about 4 vendors selling only a few items. We really ought to spend some time trying to understand why the turnout of customers has been so small. Why? The farmers will follow, for sure; without customers, who can expect them to spend an afternoon coming and going to/from Southern Village and sitting there for several hours?

Merritt's Co-Owner Robin Britt, 1952-2014 - Chapelboro.com

I am sorry I never met her; that's my error, and our loss.

Fan Branch Trail

I’ll look at it soon.

From: Terry MAGUIRE [mailto:tmaguire@newspaper.com]
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2014 11:16 AM
To: Bill Webster
Subject: Fan Branch Trail

Dear Bill,

I walked yesterday on the portion of the trail that one accesses from 15-501. When you walk in from 15-501, and turn right, you proceed across a section of the trail in wood. I noticed that the wood is splitting in places, warping in others, and although there are traces of whatever the original finish was, those seem to be fading fast. Given the relatively short time that this portion of the path has been in service, it seems to me that either it is not being maintained properly or there was some failure to plan for the effects of weather on the wood. Either way, it seems to me that this entire section needs attention, and I hope that this does not mean a significant expense for the Town. Perhaps you could share the plan for upkeep of that wooden structure?

Cheers,

Terry

Town of Chapel Hill : Fan Branch Trail

This needs updating.

We Should Be in a Rage - NYTimes.com

We have X,000 registered voters in Southern Village. We have a primary on 6 May. Why shouldn't we do everything we can in order to achieve a 100% participation in that and future elections? I am thinking of makin a list of registered voters on my street - Graylyn Drive - and asking by letter (not e-mail) each person to vote and to tell me that they voted. I will then publish a list of everyone who told me he or she voted and let peer pressure do its thing.

AT&T pursues plans to bring ultra high-speed Internet service to Triangle | Technology | NewsObserver.com

How might this work in Southern Village?

Alert Carolina - Crisis Information Site for UNC Chapel Hill

What can we sign up for here if not affiliated with UNC?

Why no sidewalk?

I walked out the Arlen Park Drive entrance to Southern Village yesterday and was reminded that there is no sidewalk. When can we hope to get one?

Travel study

"A travel study is being conducted for the U.S. Department of Transportation to get an understanding of how and why people in Southern Village travel the way they do.
For instance, how many trips are taken by Southern Village residents via carpool, bus, bicycle, and walking as opposed to driving a household vehicle? Are there particular reasons why residents choose one route to their destination over another? These and other questions will be investigated in this study.
Battelle (located in Durham) currently is recruiting households to participate in this study and are looking for volunteers to pilot the application. Each participating household will be provided one of our Samsung Galaxy smartphones to use over a 5-day period to collect information about their travel patterns. Households completing the study will receive $75 in appreciation for their assistance.
For more information about this important study, please contact Alan Pate at 614-424-7611 or patea@battelle.org."

Tutti Frutti Yogurt Chapel Hill

I wonder if they are open again. Always want to see Southern Village businesses succeed!

Comcast and Time Warner merger could be bad for customers - CBS News

What can we do in Southern Village to promote more competition in these services, resulting in better service at lower prices?

Chapel Hill Boy Who Inspired Super Cooper's Little Red Wagon Foundation Dies at Age 6 - Chapel Hill Magazine

Very sad.

Culbreth Middle School Breaks Ground On New Science Wing - Chapelboro.com

That's good!

Barber?

The Chapel Hill barber shop at University Square is looking for a new home. How about Southern Village?

Duke Study: CPR Training Minimal In Places That Need It Most | WUNC

Who is trained in Southern Village? My wife and I have both taken a basic course (in Carrboro).

Rake the Leaves? Some Towns Say Mow Them - NYTimes.com

This should start here in Southern Village.

SAS Information Delivery Portal

The data for all NC schools, searchable.

CH Town Council Approves Fining For False Alarms - Chapelboro.com

Good!

Vélib, une bonne idée victime du vandalisme

Public To Weigh In On Southern Village Hotel Monday - Chapelboro.com

I suspect that this will sail through.....

Southern Village Farmers Market - Chapelboro.com

Why doesn't this do better?

Chapel Hill Gets Funds for Culbreth Road Completion - Chapelboro.com

Memorial Day

I noted an exchange on the Southern Village Yahoo group started by one fellow who expressed disappointment in not seeing more US flags flying today and ranging through a fair variety of responses. My own view is that expressing different views about anything, including perhaps most importantly the U.S. flag, is more important than whether anyone hauls it up the flagpole or not.

Town of Chapel Hill : Community Design

What action have they taken on the hotel proposal?

"Old" soccer field?

What is the status of the "old" soccer field opposite the pond and next to the basketball courts, swimming pool? Is that Town property? How is it used? What are plans? And, since it runs alongside that field, what is the status of the path through the woods that connects with Dogwood Acres? Is that officially sanctioned? Tolerated? Prohibited? Who has liability for any injuries resulting from its use or misuse?

Southern Community Park - use

Yesterday, I walked through the Park. There were exactly two people on the grounds of soccer fields. The more I look at the unused park - 95%+ of the time - the more I wonder if "likely use" was ever considered or if the idea here was simply to "build it" and assume wonderful things would happen, like getting re-elected?

San Antonio seeks to amp up use of tiny electric cars - San Antonio Express-News

Le bonheur est au village - 10/04/2013 - News et vidéos en replay - Des racines et des ailes - France 3

Town of Chapel Hill : Lifestyle 5K and Fun Run

Chapel Hill fox tests positive for rabies | The Herald-Sun

Suspected rabid fox in Chapel Hill | abc11.com

Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts > Tri-Union Seafood Issues Voluntary Recall on Select 5-Ounce Chunk White Albacore Tuna in Water

This is date 6 March but only received as e-mail today!

The Broad Street Cafe, Durham NC

Could Southern Village support a format like this?

The Sweet Spot | Let’s Go to the Movies

Frank Porter Graham Dual Language Magnet School

In Many Families, Exercise Is By Appointment Only : Shots - Health News : NPR

Why don't the people who park on Aberdeen to pick up kids at Scroggs walk to the school - and then home with the kids?

BeltLine Provides New Life to Railroad Tracks in Atlanta - NYTimes.com

Chapel Hill Police Department P2C - provided by OSSI

This was just launched by the Chapel Hill Police. I did a search using my home address for the past month and it turned up 21 incidents within one mile. That strikes me as being worth an occasional check.

Town of Chapel Hill : Southern Village Hotel and Apartments

I had not realized that two of the properties on 15-501 at the southern entrance to Southern Village would not be included. They continue to be a bit of an eyesore, it seems to me. I wonder what the story was/is?

Traffic

I am not sure if this is in real time? Note the time on the picture and the key:

Southern Village Pharmacy, Inc. - North Carolina Company Profile (People Search and Company Search)

One Airport's Trash Is 2 Million Worms' Treasure : The Salt : NPR

Why can't we make this happen in Southern Village?

A Tragedy of Silence - NYTimes.com

How many guns do you suppose "we" have in Southern Village and how do we reduce that number, whatever it is?

An Online Tool for Calculating Flood Risk - NYTimes.com

FloodTools.com - Map My Risk

Home | Revolution Compost

Why not Southern Village?

Le Blog du Vieux-Nice

I still think something like this - that tells the many stories of the people and places of Southern Village would be a real plus for the community.

Nextdoor Southern Chapel Hill: News

AT&T U-verse

Change.org|Make Your Own Petition

Sidewalks

The fellow in charge of sidewalk repairs is Sheldon BURNETT in Chapel Hill Public Works. 919-969-5124. I called and left a message about the poor job done in replacing a single sidewalk section in front of 147 Graylyn more or less. For so many men working on this, it looks a lot more like a camel than a horse. And the camel is not in very good health.

Park use

I saw - at 2 PM or so - about 6 people today in the park in various places plus about a dozen in the playground and a dozen guys playing basketball. That was almost a record number!
On 29 Nov at 3:45 PM, there were a total of 12 people in the park, 9 of them in in the playground.
On 3 Dec at 3:30 PM, about 6 people in the park, including 3 kids and two people picnicking on a blanket - plus about a dozen under the pavillion for some sort of get together. The rest of the park was empty.
On 4 Dec at 3:45 PM, about 10 people in the park with 3 on the frisbee course in the woods, 2 dogs and maybe 15 or so in the playground, plus young boy and young girl on the basketball court and one lone young sole on the roller skating rink.

The Daily Tar Heel :: Transit partners advocate for bus advertising policy