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LCS Meeting for "the foreign community of Ajijic".


Al Berca

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Lake Chapala Society has just posted a pic on Face Book of the Presidente of Chapala addressing and answering questions from "the foreign community of Ajijic" regarding the changes in the highway for pedestrians, bicyclists, etc. This meeting was taking place earlier today.

Was this a well publicized event and I Just didn't see it? I definitely would have attended if I had known.

No mention of it in the LCS section of this board, either.

Puzzling.

 

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I don't know if it was "well" publicized but I did see notice of it a couple of times. Sorry, I do not recall were, but it would been electronically not in poster form. Probably on Facebook and maybe a local forum. The LCS section, like the American Legion section, here is useless. Check dates of how often either has anything posted. Neither organization really utilizes the sections that have been given to them.

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I would assume they wanted to keep the meeting small (they don't have a large auditorium) and also perhaps not let it get out of hand with shouting, so I would think they chose people who would represent various community interests and viewpoints. It will be interesting to see the results. I doubt that anyone supports the elimination of parking on the north side of the street as of now. First, better parking lots/garages near the center of town are needed.

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Perhaps it was a way to check off the "Seek Input From Foreign Community" on the To Do list without too much fuss and bother. Without knowing who the carefully selected people were and what groups (if any) they represented it is difficult to know how useful their input was, if at all. Hope they selected at least some people who actually ride bikes. 

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I don't ride a bicycle but I see great value in having a continuous bike path tying all the towns at least in this municipio together.  I've noticed that many of our Mexican neighbors who do not own cars use bicycles to get around, including our gardener.  I suspect this would benefit the Mexican bicycle community much more than the expat recreational users.  My only concern about it is safety for the bicyclists.  Simply drawing some lines on the pavement is not going to protect the riders from anarchistic drivers.  

The proposal isn't really going to do anything to ease the car traffic problem.  That would require removing all parking and adding two more traffic lanes, plus much improved traffic signalization.  That is not going to happen.  At least we can remove the bottleneck for the many Mexicans who do use bikes to travel between the towns and get to jobs.

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2 hours ago, Al Berca said:

I have been an LCS member for many years. "Private invitation" and "small select audience" were the terms used in response to my inquiry about this event. I was given no information about the selection process.

Ditto.

I'm in no condition to ride a bike at this point, but I have always wondered about how anyone on a bike could get safely from where the bike path ends in the East and resumes in the west.  Yes, it would probably cause even more traffic gridlock, but maybe it's worth it.  It's bad enough now that I'd like to see someone working on the real problem:  too many vehicles and not enough lanes.  Get behind a garbage truck and prepare to wait...and wait.

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Invite the right people and ones that toe the party line and then they can declare 100% support of the foreign community!

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7 hours ago, JayBearII said:

I would assume they wanted to keep the meeting small (they don't have a large auditorium) and also perhaps not let it get out of hand with shouting, so I would think they chose people who would represent various community interests and viewpoints.

I can understand that might be a good option. However, it that was the case, having it in a place like the LCS, which is a rather public arena, and easily witnessed by others, makes that unlikely.

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From Guadalajara Reporter

 

The Chapala government has changed the date for holding a public opinion survey concerning its plan to upgrade both sides of the stretch of highway running through the center of Ajijic.  

The polling originally scheduled for August 20 has been postponed until Sunday, August 27.  It will be conducted at the plaza, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., by ballot asking residents to vote in favor or against the project.

The delay will allow city officials to continue the series of meetings aimed at familiarizing local inhabitants with the project.

The improvement plan includes completing the broken link of the bicycle path that runs along the north side of the roadway, building adjacent sidewalks, refurbishing store fronts and installing new street lights.  

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5 hours ago, Mainecoons said:

I don't ride a bicycle but I see great value in having a continuous bike path tying all the towns at least in this municipio together.  I've noticed that many of our Mexican neighbors who do not own cars use bicycles to get around, including our gardener.  I suspect this would benefit the Mexican bicycle community much more than the expat recreational users.  My only concern about it is safety for the bicyclists.  Simply drawing some lines on the pavement is not going to protect the riders from anarchistic drivers.  

The proposal isn't really going to do anything to ease the car traffic problem.  That would require removing all parking and adding two more traffic lanes, plus much improved traffic signalization.  That is not going to happen.  At least we can remove the bottleneck for the many Mexicans who do use bikes to travel between the towns and get to jobs.

I would ride my bicycle if we had a safe bike lane, resulting in one less car. If there were more like me, there would be more cars off the road and much less pollution. It's hard to tell what impact it would have on traffic until we see how many of us there are. I come from an island where there are no cars and everyone rides bicycles until well into old age. Then they get tricycles.  

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For me, the problem of riding a bicycle was the cobblestones and broken pavement are just too rough on my aging back.   To get to the bike path I had to ride the cobblestones 5 blocks uphill.  I suspect the prime beneficiaries of completing the bike path will be our Mexican neighbors who rely on bikes more than we do.  I would definitely benefit from better sidewalks through that stretch however.

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21 hours ago, Al Berca said:

Yes. Just got response from LCS that this was a "private invitation event" and not publicized. Exactly what I thought. One less renewal for LCS next time around. Too much elitism for me.

The LCS Exec Director was asked on Weds. by the Mayor's office to assemble "community leaders" for a presentation on Friday on his plans for renovating the highway and intersections in Ajijic.

Dale Palfrey was there so there should be a Guad reporter write-up.

The same presentation will be given to a wider audience next week.

If that's elitism so be it. 

SunFan

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This is the only story in this week's GR about the changes. 

http://theguadalajarareporter.net/index.php/news/news/lake-chapala/50526-ajijic-opinion-poll-rescheduled

Ajijic opinion poll rescheduled

Published: 17 August 2017
 
Written by GR Staff

The Chapala government has changed the date for holding a public opinion survey concerning its plan to upgrade both sides of the stretch of highway running through the center of Ajijic.  

The polling originally scheduled for August 20 has been postponed until Sunday, August 27.  It will be conducted at the plaza, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., by ballot asking residents to vote in favor or against the project.

The delay will allow city officials to continue the series of meetings aimed at familiarizing local inhabitants with the project.

The improvement plan includes completing the broken link of the bicycle path that runs along the north side of the roadway, building adjacent sidewalks, refurbishing store fronts and installing new street lights.  

 

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18 minutes ago, Irish Gal said:

I was under the impression that the carretera is under the jurisdiction of the state government and that the local government does not have any authority regarding bike path, etc.

The local government may be getting authorization and funding from the state.

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"The LCS Exec Director was asked on Weds. by the Mayor's office to assemble "community leaders" for a presentation on Friday on his plans for renovating the highway and intersections in Ajijic."

 

How are the community leaders from the foreign community chosen or elected.. Pretty funny --

I agree with Inercasa.. more a photo op than anything else...

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33 minutes ago, bmh said:

"The LCS Exec Director was asked on Weds. by the Mayor's office to assemble "community leaders" for a presentation on Friday on his plans for renovating the highway and intersections in Ajijic."

 

How are the community leaders from the foreign community chosen or elected.. Pretty funny --

I agree with Inercasa.. more a photo op than anything else...

Geez, I didn't even know we had leaders of the foreign community much less who they are. 

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All over the world, those type of "leaders" are usually self appointed. Sometimes referred to as "community activists".

"Don't worry, we have your best interests at heart".  :P

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Hmmm.......A new cyclopista AND adjacent sidewalk would require about ten feet; the width of another traffic lane.  Those “renovations of storefronts“ would probably be moved back at least ten feet, off the state right of way, I‘ll bet.

If the expat group favors it, there will certainly be a push-back from the merchants involved.

 

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