To Amend or Not To Amend: That is the Question. A Debate on Charter Change.

Monday, August 13, 2012

The New City of Ilagan

City Mayor Jay with a thumb up saying we are now a city.
Last August 11, 2012 successfully converted the Municipality of Ilagan into a city. The city now joins the rank of the other 143 cities in the Philippines.

Let me quote some famous sayings and anecdotes that a city must have:


“A great city is one where people want to go out of their homes. Public space is a magical good, and it never ceases to yield pleasure; we should give it a lot of attention. Public good prevails over private interest. A great city is where we all feel not excluded. The quality of the sidewalks in a city is the most telling thing. Just as a bird needs to fly, fish need to swim and deer need to run, we need to walk.”
“The most valuable asset in a city is its road space. The road space can be used as a society wishes. How do you want to distribute this space between pedestrians, bicycles, mass transit and cars—this is a political decision. Trying to solve traffic jams with bigger roads is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. If there was more space for cars in London or New York, there would be more cars. Making new parking lots in London has been banned for over 40 years.”
“A city speaks, a city creates behavior. We want people to be able to leave their cars at home. In Holland a political decision was made to support bicycle infrastructure. It is done little by little. In Japan 30% of people who arrive at a train station arrive by bike. To have a safe bicycle route is a right; governments have to take a risk, show leadership and do the uncomfortable thing to invest in the necessary infrastructure. Bicycle use is a great symbol of equality. Someone on a $30 bike and a $30,000 car are equal in the street. A cyclist has as much right to use the road space as does a car. In developing countries 15-35% of people’s income is saved by those who travel by bicycle. In the future, bicycles will continue to become more and more important.

In 200 years people will say how could they live in those horrible 2010 cities? The 20th century will be remembered as disastrous for cities, as they were designed to accommodate cars, not people. “ Source: EcoLocalizer (http://s.tt/12tu9)