The Sustainable Magnolia group’s Transportation Team recently received two grants totaling nearly $30,000 for a new program called Magnolia in Motion. The grants are from King County Metro and the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods.
The goal of Magnolia in Motion is to encourage residents to use healthier travel options like the bus, carpooling, bicycling and walking. Magnolia in Motion will kick off at the end of July in conjunction with Summerfest.
The money will be used for focus groups with Magnoia residents to determine barriers to using alternative transportation, custom flyers for the program that will be mailed to 3000 households and marketing materials to support the program. The goal is to get people to pledge to reduce solo car trips twice per week for 10 weeks.
The grants will also pay for somone to collect and track data that comes in from the participants in the Magnolia in Motion program. More information here.
Sustainable Magnolia was formed in early 2008. Its mission is to educate and actively engage citizens to help mitigate the climate crisis and to promote a sustainable quality of life in our community.
27 responses so far ↓
1 Magnum Sized Magnolia // Jun 4, 2009 at 11:29 pm
“The money will be used for focus groups with Magnoia residents to determine barriers to using alternative transportation, custom flyers for the program that will be mailed to 3000 households and marketing materials to support the program. The goal is to get people to pledge to reduce solo car trips twice per week for 10 weeks.”
Yeah! Send out fliers! What a great way too combat global warming!!!
Get real.
2 P. Scott Cummins // Jun 5, 2009 at 5:15 pm
$30,000? Focus groups? You must be kidding! Magnolia residents have worked hard in recent years to fundraise and put in sweat equity to improve Magnolia playgrounds, play structures, the pool, organize bike rides and activities. This government study boondoggle is a colossal waste money when stacked up to the enormous amounts of hard work actual private citizens - our neighbors - have had to put in to accomplish something tangible. How many bike racks (that would encourage actual “motion”) could have been put up for $30,000? Why not use that money to do actual projects and improve pedestrian safety in Magnolia to get actual results? This is a waste of taxpayer money and should be withdrawn - replaced with real projects that have to prove their worth as public investments.
3 Magnolia Neighbor // Jun 6, 2009 at 8:52 am
30,000 dollars is a lot of money for this project, I definitely agree, but you know anyone can write a grant to get money and it seems like you have a lot of great ideas, why don’t you get started I am sure people will be willing to help you out.
4 P // Jun 6, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I sure hope that you got some advertising money for this posting…
5 Bobby // Jun 6, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Advertising money?
From a non profit group who received a grant? Yeah, that makes sense. What a dumb comment.
6 LT // Jun 6, 2009 at 3:30 pm
It looks like some people are interested in helping us combat the climate crisis. Next Saturday at 9:30 a.m. meet us in front of Starbucks with your walking shoes or bike. In order to design the promotional materials we need help mapping walking and biking times from the village. Then we can encourage people to get out of their cars for trips to the Village. We hope to change behaviors in our neighborhood to improve community bonds, improve health, benefit local business, AND improve the environment. Hopefully it seems worthy to you. See you next Saturday.
7 P // Jun 7, 2009 at 12:24 pm
LT - Good luck…
8 Mike // Jun 7, 2009 at 7:39 pm
P - I hope you got advertising money for that comment…
9 Wasted Energy // Jun 8, 2009 at 12:21 pm
It amazes me how much energy these man-made global warming enthusiasts waste.
10 Duke // Jun 8, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I agree with Wasted Energy. Guess what, none of you hippies will guilt me into walking anywhere. You know why? Because my H3 has A/C and doesn’t require an umbrella. Besides, anyone with a brain knows this is just another ploy to force those of us with money to give it away to those who aren’t as smart or hardworking. Am I right Magnolia?!
11 Bobby // Jun 8, 2009 at 7:29 pm
That’s too easy.
First, I haven’t seen any decent hippies in Magnolia. And if they do show up in a caravan of smoke-filled VW busses they would by more likely to laugh at you than try to convince you to walk. Then someone from the Bellagio would call the police to hassle the hippies for playing the Dead too loud. And for not showering.
I agree with you regarding your inability to travel short distances under your own power. That’s understandable. Not everyone can, and accommodation should be made for those too old or feeble to be in the elements. If you had a convertible Hummer, you could get the accessory umbrella kit/bald spot cover for $199.95.
This takes us to your third point…
I assume you mean the Saudi Royal family, Exxon executives and assorted South American dictators when you are giving your gas money to those who “aren’t as smart or hardworking.” I think a few of them are likely doing better than you, financially. However, regarding giving your money to GM for that dumb Hummer, you are spot on!
12 Wasted Energy // Jun 8, 2009 at 7:52 pm
LT & Booby - here’s what I don’t get: it seems to me all this energy being spent under the guise of “healthy travel”, etc. is really not much more than social engineering, rather than a lofty ideal of cutting dependancy on foreign oil.
Live your life as you wish, and let others (like Duke & his H3) live their life as they wish.
I wish these people (with the $30,000 worth of ‘free’ money) would stop imposing their misguided global warming ideology on others.
13 Bobby // Jun 8, 2009 at 8:01 pm
What is the imposition?
Hummers can still be purchased by those who want them( although that is more money to a Chinese company who owns the brand now)
Even if you don’t buy into climate change, you can’t doubt health/obesity/traffic/safety improvements from less driving.
We are talking ways to get to Magnolia village, not the east side.
14 LT // Jun 8, 2009 at 9:04 pm
No one is telling anyone how to live. Just presenting other feasible, healthy ideas that also improve our community.
When was the last time you stopped your H3 to chat with a neighbor, toss a ball back in a yard, make a new acquaintance, or enjoy someone’s flowers? These little actions make a difference.
15 Wasted Energy // Jun 9, 2009 at 7:14 am
Bobby - the imposition is another $30,000.00 (partialy funded by me) down the drain for an unnecessary study.
Wasted energy (and money).
LT - I can’t speak for Duke - but I can tell you I walk to the village often, chat with neighbors, smell flowers, and probably alot of your other utopian ideals, but I still think they are wasting energy trying to find out how they can convince people their way of life is better.
16 ST // Jun 9, 2009 at 8:25 am
I don’t really see how it is an imposition, I mean your tax dollars, just like the rest of our tax dollars fund departments like the department of neighborhoods and king county. So there is this pool of money set aside for these types of community projects. One group just so happened to write a grant get approved and is participating in a program to try and get community involvement and pass on some information.
Wasted E. you can write a grant for one of your ideas and have access to that same money. I am guessing you would prefer that none of our tax money go to these things, or at least the things you don’t agree with. If that is the case then either do something or offer constructive criticism, not just complaints.
I just see a group who is proud of the Magnolia community and wants to use an existing program that has worked in other Seattle neighborhoods to improve our driving habits. Honestly, I wouldn’t read more into it, this isn’t like cable news where there is always an underlying conspiracy.
17 Wasted Energy // Jun 9, 2009 at 9:16 am
ST - I know nothing about cable news conspiracies, and am not suggesting a conspiracy here.
You hit the nail on the head when you guessed I prefer my tax dollars not be used for things like this.
There should not be a pool of money waiting for someone with time on their hands to write for a grant to chat about driving habits of Magnolians.
What a waste of energy.
18 ST // Jun 9, 2009 at 11:03 am
Well Wasted E. lets agree to disagree. I think volunteers having access to programs for community involment has great potential. These programs will never be perfect and they will never please all.
19 Wasted Energy // Jun 9, 2009 at 11:24 am
ST - I agree with every word in your last comment, and probaby would not have commented if they were spending their own money.
My big problems are a presumed goal of social engineering and the wasting of tax revenue that is obviously excess funds.
The more humorous problem I have with them is they are wasting energy under the guise of saving energy.
20 Bobby // Jun 9, 2009 at 8:29 pm
I guess it is social engineering.
———————————————————-
Social engineering:
1) the practical application of social science: the use of policies that are based on the findings of social science to deal with social problems
————————————————————
I can think of a few other tax-funded social engineering projects:
-public education
-coroners
-police and fire services
-health department
-mental health services
-hospitals
-sports stadiums( This may actually address a different kind of problem)
-public transit
-street sweeping
-homeless shelters
-the courts
-the Dept of Defense(to solve other countries social problems)
-Medicaid/Medicare
-The Tennessee Valley Authority
-The “War on Drugs”
Did I miss any?
21 Wasted Energy // Jun 10, 2009 at 7:46 am
Bobby - I’ll bet you did miss some items in your list, as well as missing my point.
What I mean by social engineering in this context is the group spending $30,000.00 worth of excess tax revenue in an effort to force people into mass transit, presuming it’s going to save the planet from man-made global warming.
22 Bobby // Jun 10, 2009 at 9:38 am
I think your points are:
1) You don’t believe in climate change
2) You don’t like your taxes going to programs you don’t believe work.
That’s a fairly common position, and aligns closely with James Inhofe, Republican Senator from Oklahoma. And that’s fine, you should speak out.
Similarly, I disagreed with the program where my tax money was used to exclusively promote abstinence only education in developing countries before humanitarian aid was provided.
So we only diasgree on whether or not people should be educated or given choices about their lifestlyes.
23 Wasted Energy // Jun 10, 2009 at 10:31 am
Bobby -
I beleive the climate changes - but I think maybe more towards your intention, I don’t believe humans control these changes.
You are correct that I don’t like my tax dollars wasted, as I beleive is being done with this grant.
Again, more power to them if they feel so strongly about this that they spend their own money. One doesn’t need to look far to see the sheer lunacy the public sector portrays when spending Other People’s Money.
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