Durham Hosts Angier-Driver Streetscape Groundbreaking May 18

Spring brings more than warm weather and sunshine to Durham. It also marks the beginning of construction for the Angier-Driver Streetscape Project and the City of Durham wants the community to come out and celebrate the beginning of this much-anticipated project.

On Saturday, May 18, 2013, at 10 a.m. the City’s Public Works Department and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development are hosting a groundbreaking ceremony in the parking lot of Angier Avenue Baptist Church, located at 2101 Angier Ave.

The event will mark the beginning of this project, which will help promote economic revitalization and enhance the visual appeal of the Angier/Driver commercial corridor. Speakers include Mayor William V. “Bill” Bell, Deputy City Manager Keith Chadwell, Joe’s Diner Owner Joseph Bushfan, and Samuel & Sons Barbershop Owner Samuel Jenkins. Light refreshments will also be served.

The $4.8 million project, funded by 2005 bond funds, neighborhood revitalization funds, and capital improvement project funds provides for new pavement, curb and gutter, sidewalks, landscaping, underground and overhead utilities, and street lights in a streetscape design similar to downtown Durham. The project extends from the intersection of Angier Avenue and Driver Street east along Angier Avenue to Briggs Avenue, and includes Driver Street north to Ashe Street. Construction began in April 2013 and the project is expected to be complete in October 2014.

For more information on this streetscape project, click here or contact Chris Dickey with the City’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development at (919) 560-4965, ext. 15204 or by email at Chris.Dickey@DurhamNC.gov, or Michael M. Hughes, PE with the City’s Public Works Department, at (919) 560-4326, ext. 30266 or by email at Michael.Hughes@DurhamNC.gov.

About the Public Works Department
The City of Durham Public Works Department provides a wide range of services, including street maintenance, engineering design, development review and stormwater quality and infrastructure maintenance. The department also oversees street resurfacing and sidewalk projects. The department plans and executes the City’s winter weather and natural disaster plans. Public Works serves as a steward of the City’s physical assets and ensures that residents live in a safe, secure, and thriving community. For more information, click here.

About the Office of Economic & Workforce Development
Guided by the City’s Strategic Plan, the Office of Economic & Workforce Development helps ensure that Durham has a strong and diverse economy by increasing the city’s tax base through several revitalization initiatives, including new development efforts in the central city area. The department also plans and promotes cultural awareness and events, identifies and recruits target industries as well as assesses and trains Durham residents to fill new jobs. For more information, click here, “like” on Facebook, or “follow” on Twitter.

Click here for more information about Durham, NC.

Durham Celebrates “Creek Week” March 16–23

Durham residents with a love of nature and a desire to help protect it should mark their calendars now to take part in the Fifth Annual Creek Week, scheduled for March 16-23, 2013.

This year’s week-long observance will provide dozens of opportunities for residents to discover and explore local streams and lakes through educational programs and recreational activities, and to do their part to protect waterways through volunteer projects.

According to Tania Dautlick, executive director of Keep Durham Beautiful, this week-long event is an opportunity to take care of Durham’s environment. “Creek Week is a fantastic way for Durham residents to discover local natural areas and make a difference through volunteer projects,” said Dautlick. “These activities illuminate the importance of protecting waterways for recreation and drinking water as well as show how we can all do our part to preserve a healthy natural environment for people, wildlife, and plant life.”

With the range of events offered, there is something sure to entice everyone in the family – even Fido. Residents can get outdoors and explore Durham’s hidden nature gems by canoe or kayak, or on foot via nature walks and hikes in beautiful locations including Duke Forest, Eno River State Park, and Sandy Creek Park. Residents can bring their dogs to a Durham Dog Park and take the Canines for Clean Water Pledge to reduce pet waste.

Creek Week will also provide easy volunteer opportunities for residents and organizations to connect with several scheduled cleanup events at local creeks, marshes, streams, and lakes throughout Durham. Last year, 250 volunteers picked up over 10,000 pounds of trash from Durham waterways. Volunteers can also help by labeling storm drains in their neighborhood.

Creek Week is sponsored by a collaboration of organizations that manage, monitor, and protect area waterways, including the City of Durham Neighborhood Improvement Services Department, Durham Parks and Recreation, Stormwater & GIS Services Division with the Public Works Department, and the Water Management Department along with Durham County Government, Durham County Library, Durham Soil & Water Conservation District, Ellerbe Creek Watershed, Eno River Association, Frog Hollow Outdoors, Keep Durham Beautiful, Haw River Assembly, New Hope Creek Corridor Advisory Committee, and Northeast Creek Stream Watch.

For a detailed schedule of events, visit their website or contact Laura Webb Smith at (919) 560-4326, ext. 30235 or by email.

For more information on all sorts of  recreation activities in Durham, click here.

Keep Durham Beautiful Awards Twelve Community Grants

Residents of Durham value the way this place looks. By a ratio of almost four to one, Durham residents rate appearance and physical upkeep a high community priority. Destinations hoping to attract visitors and newcomers understand that curb appeal is an essential investment that delivers a high rate of return. In the coming months, Durham will see a dozen new volunteer beatification projects accomplished thanks to grants from Keep Durham Beautiful (KDB).

Through its semi-annual community grant program, Keep Durham Beautiful assists those organizations and volunteers that take responsibility for their community environments and agree to engage other volunteers to create more beautiful and vibrant places in Durham.

Keep Durham Beautiful grants are funded entirely through individual and corporate donations and fundraising activities. Donors and volunteers share its vision for a litter-free, healthy community, filled with green and attractive spaces.

”The impact to roadside appearance and public spaces will make our city more welcoming for everyone. It is very gratifying to see so many dedicated volunteers working together to identify needs and complete projects with fantastic results for very little money,” says Tania Dautlick, Director, Keep Durham Beautiful.

Keep Durham Beautiful selected 12 projects from grant applications submitted in the fall of 2012, awarding a total of $5,683:

• Birchwood Heights Homeowners Association: Neighborhood: entrance signs and planting - $450 
• Bountiful Backyards Cherry Grove Park: edible garden, mulch, plants, seeds, soil - $500 
• Briggs Avenue Community Garden: 20 fruit trees for community orchard - $500 
• Build a Better Block with Tootie: planters, benches, trash cans, paint - $500 
• Creekside Elementary PTA: topsoil, sand and plants for school landscaping - $500 
• Durham Community Land Trustees: supplies and landscape materials for 2012 Make a Difference Day - $500 
• Epworth United Methodist Church: curbside landscaping - $250 
• Hope Valley North Neighborhood Association: entrance signs and planting - $400 
• Kestrel Heights School: courtyard beautification - $583 
• Ninth Street Bakery: planters, plants and compost for courtyard - $500 
• Scrap Exchange: soil and plants for landscape of building front - $500 
• Top Teens of America: sign, garden bed, landscaping for historic Pauli Murray House - $500

Each grant recipient completes a post-project report that measures success by detailing the project’s accomplishments, budget, volunteer contributions and time with Keep Durham Beautiful reimbursing grant recipients for expenses after project completion.

More information can be found on Facebook or on Twitter with updates and photos of completed projects.

The next deadline to submit applications for a Keep Durham Beautiful Community Grant is January 31, 2013 which will be preceded by a community information session (TBA) in early January.

To learn how to apply for a grant and other ways to make a positive impact in Durham, visit the KDB website and register to receive their newsletter.

Honoring Durham's "Curb Appeal" Champions

By a ratio of almost four to one, Durham residents rate appearance and physical upkeep a high community priority. Destinations hoping to attract visitors and newcomers understand that curb appeal is an essential investment that delivers a high rate of return.

The Charlotte Brody Discovery Garden 

Golden Leaf Award Winner - Landscaping and Maintenance

Photo by Rick Fisher

For some, appearance means removing litter and planting flowers.  From a destination marketing standpoint, it’s more about creating and maintaining a community’s unique sense of place.  

Landscaping –particularly around gateways—is a part of that, but it’s also about historic preservation, urban forestry, attractive streetscapes with wayfinding, and well-maintained, weed-free medians. 

Keep Durham Beautiful, the Durham City-County Appearance Commission and Durham City-County Environmental Affairs joined together last week to present the Gold Leaf Awards, an annual event recognizing properties that illustrate the value that Durham puts on community appearance.   

The 2012 Golden Leaf Award Winners are to be commended for raising the bar for excellence in design and maintenance of commercial, residential and community properties.  They have shown leadership in  raising community awareness of the value of good appearance and stewardship.  

Visitors Want and NEED Better Signage

DCVB provides assistance to thousands of individuals each year who stop by the Official Durham Visitor Information Center seeking directions, recommendations and helpful advice.  Many sign the guest book and jot down observations and comments.  Others provide feedback later, responding to surveys DCVB sends inquiring about the visit.

Two topics that receive the most negative feedback are appearance and wayfinding, such as these recent comments:

• A female from Pennsylvania says, "There are so many trees, sometimes signs are not clearly seen until you are upon them."
• A female from Indiana who was here for business and pleasure remarked, "I had an easy time getting from seminar to seminar.  Outside of that I had trouble finding things."
• "[Durham] definitely needs to invest in better signage.  [I] ended up turning around many, many times after no warning of exits and changes," according to a visitor from Tennessee.
• A male from Chapel Hill commented, "Main Street desperately needs repaving, and the lights are not timed so I always hit every red light."
• A female from Maryland noted, "The old town area is not so good in terms of appearance..."

According to a recent survey of residents, only slightly more than 20% agree that Durham has good signage and wayfinding.  More than half of Durham's residents disagree or strongly disagree with that statement.  Likewise, only 15% of Durham residents do NOT believe that appearance should be a high community priority.

Durham has made strides in both of these areas, but finding solutions to these issues are critical in encouraging repeat visitation.

The Vow That Enlisted An Outburst

Durham is a community with a great deal of self-respect.  This translates into a feeling of pride that those here have chosen to express publicly.  Read on for thoughts on the Marry Durham celebration by local thought leader and DCVB President Emeritus Reyn Bowman.

"The Vow That Enlisted An Outburst"
Bull City Mutterings
Reyn Bowman

Usually the Durham City Manager is pretty stoic, but he was visibly cheered a few days ago when applause erupted during one of several  confirmation vows to the community taken by participants at the second annual “Marry Durham” street festival in the NoCO District.

That particular applause was in appreciation for the repaving of Durham streets, maintenance of which had been neglected and is now being rapidly returned to standard thanks to voter-approved bonds.

Residents will be even more expressive when the visual impression created by maintenance of roadsides, medians and right-of-ways is similarly restored to best-practice standards.

Detailed under “Roadway Image,” this element is part of “Community Character,” Chapter 4 of the plan that overarches both the City and County of Durham and their respective strategic and agency tactical plans.

Standing just at the periphery of that crowd that was cheering on the City Manager a few days ago was a booth for Keep Durham Beautiful, a non-profit whose management is embedded in Durham City General Services, the agency that will need much better funding if roadsides are to receive similar cheers in the future.

Every year Durham residents’ perceptions of roadside maintenance are benchmarked in two ways.  One is a scientific, anonymous opinion survey of residents of both the city and county.  Another way is an eyes-on Index of litter and other forms of neglect conducted by resident volunteers and coordinated by Keep Durham Beautiful.

As can be seen by clicking on each of the links in this sentence, both the Index and the opinion survey illustrate that this is an area both the City and County must improve if they are to meet the extremely high expectations of residents in this regard.

Click here to receive details about or to volunteer to participate in the 2012 Index which will be conducted on April 19th.

Natural Beauty Remains Important in Durham

By a ratio of almost 4 to 1, Durham residents believe appearance should be a high community priority.  They will have an opportunity to prove it during the Fourth Annual Creek Week, scheduled for March 17-24, 2012.

This year’s week-long observance will provide dozens of opportunities for residents to discover and explore local streams and lakes through educational programs and recreational activities, and to do their part to protect waterways through volunteer projects.

According to Tania Dautlick, executive director of Keep Durham Beautiful, this week-long event is an opportunity to take care of Durham’s environment. “Creek Week is a fantastic way for Durham residents to discover local natural areas and make a difference through volunteer projects,” said Dautlick. “These activities illuminate the importance of protecting waterways for recreation and drinking water as well as show how we can all do our part to preserve a healthy natural environment for people, wildlife, and plant life.”

With the range of events offered, there is something sure to entice everyone in the family – even Fido. Residents can get outdoors and explore Durham’s hidden nature gems by canoe or kayak, or on foot via nature walks and hikes in beautiful locations including Duke Forest, Eno River State Park and Sandy Creek Park. Residents can bring their dogs to a Durham Dog Park and take the Canines for Clean Water Pledge to reduce pet waste.

Residents are also invited to learn about the Northeast/Crooked Creek Improvement Plan on Monday, March 19, at 6:30 p.m. at the South Regional Library, located at 4505 S. Alston Ave., Durham. This event will feature information on the City of Durham’s plan to clean up Northeast Creek and Crooked Creek. This family-friendly event will offer food, games, hands-on demonstrations, crafts, and story time.

Other events planned for Creek Week will showcase birds and butterflies, films and nighttime stories, guided hikes and paddles, all providing something for everyone to enjoy. Several restaurants, including Bull City Burger and Brewery, Geer Street Garden, Pinhook, and The Bar, will offer Creek Week Specials for sale benefiting Keep Durham Beautiful, Inc.

Creek Week will also provide easy volunteer opportunities for residents and organizations to connect with several scheduled cleanup events at local creeks, marshes, streams and lakes throughout Durham. Last year, 250 volunteers picked up over 10,000 pounds of trash from Durham waterways. Volunteers can also help by labeling storm drains in their neighborhood.

Creek Week is a collaboration of City, state, and nonprofit organizations that manage, monitor, and protect area waterways including the City of Durham Neighborhood Improvement Services, Parks and Recreation, Stormwater Services Division with Public Works, and Water Management Departments along with Durham County Government, Durham County Library, Durham Soil & Water Conservation District, Ellerbe Creek Watershed, Eno River Association, Frog Hollow Outdoors, Keep Durham Beautiful, Haw River Assembly, New Hope Creek Corridor, North Carolina State Parks, and Northeast Creek Stream Watch.

For a detailed schedule of events, visit the Durham Creek Week website or contact Laura Webb Smith, public education coordinator for the Stormwater Services Division of the City’s Public Works Department, at (919) 560-4326, ext. 30235.

First Responders For Durham's Community Appearance

The subject of appearance is on the minds of many in Durham, NC these days with the impending removal of trees around billboards here and statewide.  A new law that goes into effect on March 1 will permit billboard owners to clear cut to the ground more than a football field of all trees and shrubs from in front of their signs.

Appearance is a big part of a community's image.  In a recent poll, by a margin of about 4 to 1, Durham residents agreed or strongly agreed that appearance should be a high community priority.

Read on for an interesting piece by DCVB's President Emeritus, Reyn Bowman, on a way that the City of Durham quietly responds to this concern everyday and continues to try and deliver the promise that Durham is where great things happen.

"First Responders For Community Appearance"

Bull City Mutterings

Reyn Bowman

Durham North Carolina's tiny 8-member Rapid Response Impact Team is the hidden force behind much of what is often credited only to neighborhood associations or organizations like Keep Durham Beautiful.

Headed by Durham native, Daryl Hedgspeth, as part of the City’s Neighborhood Services Improvement Department, the Impact Team was responsible in the past calendar year alone for:

• Removing nearly 9000 instances of graffiti and related symbols and scripted words.

• Removing 324 displaced shopping carts that had been driven away from the sites where they belong only to be abandoned and left to junk up roadsides and trails.

• Removing more than 1100 illegal dump sites created by people, both residents and nonresidents who travel to Durham to work, who couldn't be troubled to properly dispose of the refuse.

• Mowing 344 "weedy lots" and cleaning up debris from another 243 sites, nearly 746 tons in all.

In addition, the Impact Team facilitates individual neighborhood cleanup initiatives such as “big sweep” efforts focused on waterways as well as cleanup preparation for, urban gardens, clearing neglected right-of-ways, and dealing with costly-to-remove up huge bills such as paint and hydraulic fluids spills. 

The Impact Team is also most likely the group that quietly distributes and retrieves barricades for parades, fundraising walks and runs, festivals and other community events.  They also supervise a team of two dozen young people over the summer it picked up 9 tons of litter in just eight weeks.

Given the fact that Durham residents gave only two failing grades to their community, including one for inattention to general appearance, the Impact Team’s remarkable effort is one area not yet scaled to the size of the task it faces.

This remarkable group doesn't get the attention it should because to do so would be to draw attention to neglect and raise questions about why community appearance is given such high priority among residents, but receives far too little attention from those in governance.

Residents who mount volunteer cleanup efforts in neighborhoods and along streams and trails or spy graffiti or illegal dumping or weedy lots or debris that are threatening the community’s well-being, including public health and safety, should call or e-mail Durham One Call for assistance but it is likely the Rapid Response Impact Team that they will thank in the end.

Natural Scenic Beauty?

North Carolina has long been known as a place of natural scenic beauty.  It's one of the main reasons this is the sixth most visited state in the US.

However, a new law passed by the general assembly could change all that.

New rules allow for clear cutting trees in a 340 foot zone around billboards in cities and in a 380 foot zone in rural area.  These supersede ordinances passed by individual communities such as Durham, which has very strict rules in place.  As it currently stands, outdoor advertising companies will be able to cut down trees starting in March, without any replanting requirements or recompense for the lost trees.

Scenic North Carolina, a state-wide nonprofit, has passed a resolution asking Governor Purdue to halt this before the irreparable loss of  $12 million worth of publicly-owned trees.

(DCVB's President & CEO serves as Secretary-Treasurer of Scenic North Carolina.)

Municipalities such as Durham and Charlotte are weighing in on this, as is the Sierra Club, and the NC Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, of which Durham Mayor Bill Bell is chairman.

So what does this mean specifically for Durham, a community that values appearance and a sense of place? Here are some photos and examples prepared by the NC Department of Transportation.  

The first shows a view of the Durham Freeway with its current bank of trees shielding an industrial plant.  To the left is a section of mature Leland Cypress trees planted as a screen to protect the view shed.

The photo below shows a 400 foot cutting zone, which was originally proposed, but then reduced to 340' or 380' depending on the location.  This particular billboard is a dual facing billboard, meaning the cut zone is 680'; 340' in each direction.

So right here in Durham, on 147, we are likely to have the length of more than two football fields clear cut of all these trees along the public's right of way, with no replanting and no compensation given to the public.  In return we get to have a very complete view of a billboard (lower left hand corner of the image below)  and the backside of...well see for yourself.

Satellite view of 147 from Google Maps