There should be community bulletin boards in commercial districts (and other places)

Flyers on a light pole, 2100 block Highland Drive, Sugar House, Salt Lake City.

It's so much harder to find about community events and such with the decline of traditional newspapers.  Some alternative weeklies used to publish lists, some much better than overs, others maybe just a feature listing a couple.

One such feature, sadly no longer a part of the editorial program of the Salt Lake City Weekly, led me to participate in a canoeing event on the Jordan River ("Canoeing on the Jordan River, one of the events from Latino Conservation Week in Salt Lake County").  ... that was before I was sick, and I biked there--it was about 8 miles away.

The Salt Lake Tribune has a feature listing select events, but it doesn't come out until Saturday.  

Now you have to subscribe to all kinds of feeds to get that information.  I can't even get through a day's email, so I don't do much social media--in itself bad because if I republished entries on Instagram and Substack I'd have way more readers--since blogs have been supplanted.  If only I could afford to pay someone to do it for me....

These days, libraries are good places for posting this kind of stuff.  And that's about it.  The Millcreek Public Market on the ground floor of the City Hall has a pillar that people post flyers on, just like light poles.  That's about the closest to community bulletin board I've seen in a civic building other than libraries.

Commercial places with a more community vibe, like coffee shops, certain restaurants, local food stores, etc., have bulletin boards

I hate to admit that I haven't read any Jurgen Habermas. He introduced the concept of the “public sphere." Based on an analysis of coffee shops in the 1800s England and France, "he theorized that democracy emerged and could continue to exist in a healthy form only if there was a space that was outside the control of the state, where deliberation and the exchange of ideas could freely occur."

In 2011, "Community cleanups (and other activities) as community building and civic engagement activities," seeming about cleanups and such, I also wrote about spaces for community organization and protest, and listed a variety of ways to communicate beyond the traditional media.  From the piece:

I am thinking along this kind of framework, from the personal to the group, but somehow the other dimension of support/expression vs. opposition and resistance needs to be incorporated:

- individual expression (graffiti, letter to editor, social media))
- group/community (block party, mural, neighborhood parks, street fairs, community media, smart mobs, pirate radio, etc.)

- community bulletin boards and community media -- providing space for such in civic and commercial spaces, e.g., bulletin boards in parks, libraries, etc., and do you have to get permission to post things? 

- public assembly (Hyde Park type speakers corners, public squares in cities, college campues, etc.)
- resistance/opposition, including suicide bombings in public space/transit infrastructure, what the IRA did in their London bombing campaign, wilding, riots, also celebrations, i.e., college sports related, that get out of hand, etc.). [Note that in Planning in the Public Domain, Friedmann distinguishes between radical practice, which accepts the existence of the state; and revolutionary practice, which does not]

Left: Bulletin board, Lamplighter Coffee Roasters, Richmond, Virginia. 

Right: concepts from Planning in the Public Domain.

2. Planning for community spaces in libraries and recreation centers, for meetings (yes we do that already), but what about spaces for community organizations located in libraries and other public buildings, bulletin boards sure, but how about galleries for local artists and other exhibitions, or spaces for regular exhibitions (that could rotate around the city) on community issues?  

3. What about having some funds available, like what the Humanities Council of Washington does, for community curation projects, for projects on urban issues, etc., that can then be shown in such facilities?

Urban Sustainability traveling exhibit, Montreal at a farmers market, 2010.  Sponsored by the Écomusée du fier monde. 

(The ecomuseum concept is worthy of a separate blog entry of its own.  At that one, I found a copy in the public communications area of the executive summary of the then Province of Quebec bicycle plan, "Making cycling a mode of transportation in its own right," while not necessarily transformational for Canada, certainly was wrt the US.  It's out of print and off the Internet but I'm trying to track down a copy.)

4. Or something I've said for about 5+ years, that all libraries should have collections of materials specific to their communities. The Georgetown branch of the DC Public Library has the "Peabody Room" which is a focused collection on Georgetown. But all libraries could have a filing cabinet full of stuff and finding aids.

5. Public squares, pocket parks, etc., in neighborhood commercial districts. E.g., I will take some responsibility for failing to advocate for this in the H Street NE revitalization plan, or for not thinking of the need for an expanded public space around the 2nd and N Streets NE exit at the New York Avenue Metro station in NoMA.

6. Having funds to support community festivals and events, even on a smaller scale.

7. And micro funds to support micro community projects. (Although ANCs do have some funds for this.)

8. How Arlington County government agencies exhibit in force at the Arlington County Fair. Or how some Baltimore City government agencies exhibit at Artscape.

In 2020, I wrote a series about building blocks for commercial revitalization, including "Part 2 | A neighborhood identity and marketing toolkit (kit of parts)."  I list what I think should be all of the elements of a complete identity program for commercial districts.  That has two relevant items:

3. Include directory/place/events identification signage at transit stations and in bus shelters. 4. Include directory/place/events identification signage at public buildings in the area such as libraries, schools, parks, human services offices, etc.

But I didn't specifically list a community bulletin board as a distinct element.  In 2018, in "Why not post outdoor Community Information Boards at public buildings and sites?" I mentioned kiosks and bulletin boards.

Bulletin board at the Queens Plaza bus station, Liverpool.

Bulletin Board, Mount Pleasant Plaza, Washington, DC.

Community bulletin board behind Hampshire Langley Shopping Center on Kirklynn Avenue, Takoma Park (Takoma Langley Crossroads). It might be that the big board is run by the shopping center. The smaller box to the right is managed by the community association.

Bulletin board at the Rhode Island Avenue pedestrian bridge trailhead, Metropolitan Branch Trail. Most are bike related.  I believe this was put up by the DC Department of Transportation. A community Little Free Library has been placed to the right of this sign.

Kiosk in Adams Morgan at the corner of 18th Street and Columbia Road NW.

Information board, Sligo Creek Trail, Montgomery County Maryland.

I've been thinking again from a public communications need in an environment with limited options, that public parks should have community bulletin boards too.  

This is something I will put on my long list of projects to pilot at Sugar House Park.

But I wrote about that too. I can't find a photo, but there is a community information board at every park site in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Underpasses don't always have to be grim, forgotten interstitial spaces

Freeway underpasses, spaces, and abutments tend to be grim and dingy interstitial spaces.

Some places have parking.  Others homeless encampments.

A homeless encampment on West Crowther Avenue and the 57 freeway in Placentia, CA will be cleaned out tomorrow. Workers cleaned out an area near there on Wednesday, April 1, 2020. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register)

Toronto has the Bentway under the Gardiner Expressway ("How Toronto transformed a highway underpass into a vibrant public space," Fast Company). (Still air quality issues.)  

I think the Bentway was first conceptualized as a winter feature.  But maybe the intent all along was year round use.  Photo: Bernard Weil, Toronto Star.

Miami's Underline predates The Bentway.  It was first a service road and then bike and walking path underneath the Miami Metrorail.  Metrorail is elevated because of the water table, and the line follows old railroad right of way.  It will be 10 miles long when finished.

There are a bunch of murals in places, on abutments, etc.

This is in Salt Lake.

This roadway underpass in the Central Ninth neighborhood abutting Mead Avenue has painted abutments, a ground treatment and a futsal court.

Public art adorns a freeway overpass and abutments on I-15 in Las Vegas Nevada.  Las Vegas Review Journal photo.

Freeway underpass abutments in Utah constructed of red rock and red tinted concrete, referencing geological history and regionally significant building materials.

Sometimes rocks, to discourage homeless camping.  Also Salt Lake: the underpass over the railroad tracks on 400 South.

Public art incorporated into an overpass, Loop 202 Freeway, Phoenix.  

Photo: Sky Schaudt, KJZZ:  "Q&AZ: Who Designs The Artwork Along Arizona Freeways?)"

Rendering, "Perked-up underpasses to link Detroit neighborhoods," Detroit News.

And Tampa, "Overpass art may be coming to St. Petersburg," Tampa Bay Times.

Sacramento, before and after.  The CalTrans Transportation Art webpage is a great resource.

Painted abutments complemented by plantings. 

 'Second Summer Reflections' is a public artwork created by local artist Andrew Frazer on the underside of the Mega-Bridge in Picton as part of the Wilman Wadandi Highway. The design was painted on the columns supporting the 382-metre-long bridge over a two-month period in late 2024.  

Mural painted freeway abutments, Great Rivers Greenway, St. Louis.  Report: Economic and social impacts of developing the Brickline Greenway

This is what I was looking for originally, painted abutments.  But Flickr's photo search function has stopped working, at least for me, on photos uploaded a long time ago.  I know I have painted abutment examples from Detroit, Toronto, and Salt Lake, but they aren't coming up in searches.  Very very frustrating because I pay for the account.

Today's commercial building facade updates versus the 1950s/1960s

 

A historic corner retail building "improved" with wood accents, like how buildings in the 1950s and 1960s were covered up with panels, NE intersection of 400 East and 2100 South, Salt Lake City.

Corvin Palace Department Store, Budapest, Hungary, with 1950s remodel shown at top, and a return to the classical facade on the bottom.

Store for lease on Kalamazoo Pedestrian Mall in the 1980s, after the JC Penney closed and before.

This building, c. 2005, Mo Pitkins House of Satisfaction bar, storefront, carrara glass, 

34 Avenue A, Manhattan, New York City.  

The business closed and the building sold ("Old Mo Pitkin’s Digs Sold for $4 Million," Observer).

The carerra glass redoing of facades actually started in the 1930s as part of the Art Deco period, and often are attractive.  Sometimes they're kept even as part of historic preservation, to demonstrate the "layering of historic styles."

-- How to Work With Storefronts of the Mid-Twentieth Century:

 A Mid-century Storefront Components Guide, 

Illinois Historic Preservation Agency 

Mid-Twentieth Century Preservation webpage, IHPA

Sometimes carrara glass was used only for the business sign, not the entire storefront facade.

Market Avenue Woolworth, McCrory and Kresge Stores, Canton, Ohio. 1950s postcard

An illustration of house transmogrification that is a neighborhood character deadener

 

Decades ago I was at one of my first conferences, and a speaker made the point that the primary reason that people oppose development is because the new is generally worse than the old.  And that in past eras, when something old was replaced, it was more likely to be better.

After 25 years of experience, I'd say that the speaker is right in terms of attitudes but wrong in practice, because most people oppose everything regardless of design and building material quality.

But there is no question that design and building material quality "stick out" positively and will last decades, contributing positively to the "architecture of the ensemble."

The building facade on the left diminishes the ensemble.

2.  While people "oppose everything" they always advocate "for parks." That's because they want placid spaces.  The default after "no development" is "park/greenspace", not development.

But what if we open pickleball courts instead ("Shattered Nerves, Sleepless Nights: Pickleball Noise Is Driving Everyone Nuts," New York Times).

Given various experiences in DC, I always recommend against tearing down a development, and while the process to build something new goes forward, creating a "temporary use of a park." By the time the project is ready to get its approvals and permits, any agreement about temporary use goes out the window.  The park created an advocacy group by existing, and they will fight the next phase of the project ("Park View Residents Continue To Oppose Redevelopment at Bruce Monroe Park," Washington City Paper).

This happened with the Capital Crescent Trail and the Purple Line light rail project in Suburban Montgomery County.  The railroad there was used to shuttle coal to a power plant in Georgetown DC.  That facility closed in 1987.  The County stepped in and bought the line, "banking it for future transit" while putting in a multi use path, the CCT, in the interim.

Note the shirt.

Caption: President of the Capital Crescent Trail Ajay Bhatt speaks during a final walk at the Georgetown Branch trail, which will close due to construction of the Purple Line. Mike Murillo/WTOP.

Well in the mid 2010s, people fought the Purple Line, ostensibly because of the Trail but really because they didn't want to give up what had become extended backyards ("Friends of Capital Crescent Trail Take Purple Line Fight to U.S. Transportation Secretary," Bethesda Magazine, "Purple Line opponents hope for last-minute stop to Montgomery Co. trail closure," WTOP Radio).  

The service will open in 2027, so 40 years after the concept was first developed. Construction and other delays created by Republican Governor Larry Hogan delayed the project by 5.5 years ("The last bit of track, finally, is laid for the Purple Line," Washington Post).

FWIW, a memo I wrote about creating an "irresistible biking environment for DC" was distributed to the Maryland State Highway planning staff when I was a bike planner in Baltimore County, during the beginnings of planning for the Purple Line.  It influenced their making a commitment to have a trail parallel the entire line.

Stores even in car-centric places should consider making entrances more inviting, with seating, etc.

 

A patio furniture set marked for sale is an impromptu seating area at the Smith's Marketplace in Millcreek, Utah.

Maybe we should create volunteer Garden Corps or Yard Corps efforts to help overwhelmed people care for their yards

A house with an unruly front yard on 200 South in Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake has so many homeowners who go out of their way to do attractive plantings.  

I don't know what their backyards look like, but some front yards are just stunning.  While others are just "merely" very nice.

I do know it's a ton of work.  At our DC house, for DC the backyard was big, not quite 50 feet wide and 90 feet long, with a garage.

It was pretty big for us.  When we bought, the defining element were two huge trees with such a great canopy that between them was a "living room" that was so thick that while not quite impervious to rain, provided a lot of protection.

OTOH, there was so much shade, we couldn't grow vegetables in the back, so we did in our front yard, which being smaller, was easier to maintain.  

We took up the Square Foot Gardening method, where you build your own growing medium, 1/3 peat, 1/3 vermiculite/perlite, 1/3 five different types of compost.

The first year we bought all the different kinds locally.  And it was expensive. 

Another year we found mushroom compost being sold at a farmers market in Richmond which was pretty cool.  We would call Veteran Compost for a load, but they never called back.  

Did you know that from yard waste, Montgomery County, technically the Maryland Environmental Service, makes a compost called LeafGro, like how Milwaukee's sewer socialists created Milorganite?

We liked to travel to places in Pennsylvania like Lancaster and rented a car to do so.  

I realized if we stopped at a farm store out there and bought our year's worth of compost, the savings would pay for most of trip!  

There are farm stores in the DC region, but I always liked the ones in Lancaster County.

The first year I pulled all kinds of "weeds" from the beds.  At a tour of the Winterthur House and Gardens, as we were being shuttled up to the house, the driver said "And you might think that the lawn is full of weeds.  No, those are native plants, flowering."

I realized what I had been doing was pulling up natives.  

Fortunately, the plant seeds were hardy and they came back.  The beds looked a bit unruly, but were beautiful.

Over the years we added more native plants, based on the US Fish and Wildlife publication Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.  

My biggest lesson was to sit back, observe and learn from the yard, from what previous owners had done.  I still had the problem of buying stuff that I wouldn't get around to planting, like dahlias, but we planted a bunch of stuff.

Another lesson.  Apparently the realtor in prepping the house for sale before we bought, planted 3 azaleas on each side of the entry to the front door.  One one side, two kept dying off.  I replanted them twice.  They died.  I finally figured out I should plant something else...

Blue mistflower.

We'd go to area plant sales to shop for them.  Not just to sales elsewhere as the local Ace Hardware stores in Old Town Takoma Park and Petworth were also a good source.

We added a bird bath to the back yard (we bought an older home appropriate style from the catalog at a store in Alexandria; I can't remember the name.  We found it by going to a nearby French restaurant, which closed many years ago).

I learned that more than birds needed water.  I failed to get the photo, but once there was an inchworm walking around the rim, bees drinking water, and if I remember correctly, a grasshopper or butterfly.

It made a huge difference for birds.

Sadly, the two trees, one a Willow Oak, the other a Maple, reached the end of their useful lives and died. But I let a bunch of Willow Oak seedlings grow.  Because of a variety of circumstances it's been 7 years since I've been back and I want to see their progression.  Even by the time we moved out west a number of saplings were taller than me.

Back when the Willow Oak was still alive, but the Maple had died.  An easter egg hunt.

We used to hold a brunch-y thing and an Easter egg hunt for the neighbor kids and friends we met through them.  It was always a good time.

Another thing we discovered the second year is wild blackberries along the back fence.  We got some yield, but after awhile, the birds and squirrels won out. 

I realized it was our responsibility to  recognize that fauna have a right to the food too.

We planted some blueberries but they never really took, and birds got most.  We did have mint growing pretty profusely.  Rosemary was off and on.  The bay leaf tree was so so.  We grew lemongrass one year, garlic another--it's planted in the fall, but I thought the work required was greater than the cost of buying, although if you planted exotic varieties it'd be different.  We learned the best way to grow basil was in a container on the front porch, so it got some shade and didn't bolt early.

In parts of Ward 4, DC has planted serviceberry bushes in the planting strips on some streets.  With the little girls next door we would pick them and make pie.

It took a year or so of my talking about it, but the impetus was Suzanne and we finally built a compost bin, of pallets that we scavenged from the industrial road behind the Metropolitan Branch Trail in Takoma.  (Now used pallets cost a lot.)  We used plans from Montgomery County.  DC didn't offer an equivalent resource.

Before we composted formally, I collected leaves with a leaf machine (electric, like our mower).  We had so many, even though the recommendations today are to leave them be.  The leaf sucker makes them into little bits.  I just piled them against the bad soil by our garage and they made beautiful leaf mold and improved the soil.

(For the bin, I also learned to stock up on leaves in the fall, to be able to use them the rest of the year.  We didn't "clean up" grass clippings, just left them. And sometimes I would snag a neighbor's bag of grass clippings to speed up the heat in the compost bin--but only later I realized they might use fertilizer, put junk in the bags too, etc.)

Our bins after I pulled out some reserved leaves.

As the wood degraded over the years, we replaced it with plastic bins.  

Regardless of address, the County sanitation and recycling booth at the Montgomery County Agriculture Fair gives them out for free, and that's where we got them.  Going to the Ag Fair is fun regardless--sometimes we'd take the neighbor kids who loved the circus rides.  

Arlington has one too, but it's fun in a different way.  We never managed to go to the Maryland State Fair.

Separately, we had a pile for twigs and such.  We had tons but I never wanted to pay to compost them at the place in Montgomery County that will take them.  We just let them degrade, and they did.

I always meant to get a chipper but we wanted an electric one and at the time they weren't robust enough.  One of my recommendations years ago on the DC Sustainability Plan was for the creation of a community chipper (and log splitting) program.  But they'd degrade.

Our house has a walkout basement, which is a super cool feature.  While this is big for DC, as you go west, those houses and yards are even bigger.  But I do know of a house within easy walking distance of Takoma Metrorail Station that is one acre!

We had butternut squash grow out of the compost pile one year (I wasn't too religious about turning) and tomatoes another.  

When we lost our front tree due to waterlogged roots and it came down, after weeks of heavy rain, I took out all the compost and put it in there.  More than 30 tomato and cilantro plants took root.

I still regret not getting off my ass and planting asparagus.  Once it takes it grows for decades.

The worst thing of all was dealing with plants that were out of control.  We never could get out all the ivy that had been planted years ago, and Virginia creeper.  We had a Rose of Sharon tree that probably grew from seed, and Suzanne realized it was enveloped by vines, and I had to go in and delicately take them all out.

We also solved an interesting mystery.  One bluestone paver at the bottom of the stairs to the back from the front.  And another by the rear patio entry.  She figured out that the other stones must have been buried by subsequent growth.  They were.  I had a terrible backache that day, but we started digging out and raising the stones, some of which were quite heavy.  And later I realized my back pain was gone, from the work of digging and stretching.

Oops, the Takoma Park House Tour was last weekend.  They are fun to go on, also to volunteer, and then you get to go see the houses for free.

I called our yard rustic.  

But the amazing thing was how important that rusticity was to attracting fauna.  We had birds of various types, insects including butterflies and fireflies.  And yes, raccoons from time to time.  

Once a champagne colored (beige) skunk walked through the back yard.  Other neighbors experienced deer which fortunately never happened to us.  (Over the years I rescued raccoons from our garage and a neighbor's waste bin.)

My final lesson was rustic versus manicured made a huge difference.  

When we would go on the Takoma Historic House Tour the super manicured yards were always barren of birds and insects (fauna).  I'd take rustic over manicured any day.

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Sharon Schueler (left), Leif Dormsjo and Al Foxx clear weeds, dirt and grass in a courtyard at Calverton Middle School in Baltimore. (Baltime Sun photo by Kim Hairston).  This photo is from 2005.  Ironically, a decade later, Mr. Dormsjo served as the director of the DC Department of Transportation.

Volunteerism. So how does all this relate to the Garden Corps idea?  Also see with out of date links, "National Volunteer Week: April 16th-22nd," from 2023.

I saw that yard while taking photos yesterday, and it made me realize that like programs that help seniors and others with housing maintenance and repair ("A case in Gloucester, Massachusetts as an illustration of the need for systematic neighborhood monitoring and stabilization initiatives: Part 4 (the Curcuru Family)"), sometimes people just need help with their yards.

Photo from AthensNow, "My Neighbor’s Yard Is Overgrown/Unkempt/Has Junk Piled Up. What Can I Do?."

There are some programs where people will let others garden in their yards.  Or glean fruit from trees.  There is the Master Gardener training program sponsored by the Agricultural Extension Service in every state.  Some counties have urban oriented MG programs.   

Montgomery County's program often has people tabling at libraries and other places for advice and workshops. Some places offer a Master Composter training program.  Arlington County, Virginia has EcoAmbassadors focused on climate change issues.

Many parks agencies sponsor weed pulling of invasives and planting natives in their place. 

Technically illegal, I would do guerilla tree branch trimming on the route to and from the bus stop closest to our house.  

What about extending these kinds of program to yard help?

The Brookland neighborhood has the Greater Brookland Garden Club, and has for many years.  Members have monthly "parties" at houses and often are called upon to give advice.  

The group sponsors a Welcome to Brookland gateway sign with a planting bed.  

Decades ago, Savannah had a small block grants program that people could use for neighborhood projects like greenspace ("Enabling Productive Neighborhoods: The Role of a New Kind of Leader").

Asset-Based Community Development Manuals:

-- Leading by Stepping Back: A Guide for City Officials on Building Neighborhood Capacity, 
-- City-Sponsored Community Building: Savannah’s Grants for Blocks Story, 

H&R Block sponsors a similar program available nationwide.

San Francisco has created a variation of a neighborhood service district--they have those too, but unlike a business improvement district, it includes residential property as payers into the district--called a Green Benefits District (something that I will write a separate entry about).  

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But it's an idea.  I don't have the capacity or physicality to create it myself.  However, it could be a program of a revitalized Garden Center at Sugar House Park.

Brookline High School 9th Grade Academy in Massachusetts was built directly over the newly renovated MBTA Green Line Brookline Hills Station

The 118,000-square-foot addition at 22 Tappan Street was completed in 2022 and seats 700 seats ("Brookline HS Celebrates Grand Opening Of Tappan Street Building," Patch).

The next best thing would have been to put the football field on top of the building.  

Union Hill High School in Union City, New Jersey did just that ("A Fine New Field Lifts Spirits," New York Times).

DC.  Many of DC's high schools are seriously under-enrolled. The arts high school in Georgetown is only accessible by bus. 

And that area's other high school is overenrolled. 

To shift that HS to better fit the capacity of neighborhood demand, I suggested moving the arts school to either Roosevelt HS (Green Line, and probably more potential students along that line) or to Coolidge (Red Line) and merging the two neighborhood high schools into one larger and more robust school. Alumni groups fight these kinds of changes. 

Prince George's County, Maryland. For years I've suggested Prince George's County Maryland should move its County seat to a Metrorail station, preferably New Carrollton, which also has MARC commuter rail and Amtrak service, and will be the southern terminal station for the Purple Line light rail ("Making over New Carrollton as a transit-centric urban center and Prince George's County's "New Downtown"").

The county has moved a lot of agencies to the Largo Station. But they are big lots, disconnected with minimal walkability. And not the County Council or Executive offices.  Even though these big buildings are there, it's mostly a suburban office park with nothing there.  Although there are a couple apartment buildings trying to leverage Metrorail access--Largo is the eastern terminus of the Blue Line ("Better late than never? DC Metrorail Blue Line Corridor Coalition advocates for TOD, 45 years after line opens").

Suburban Portland, Oregon. I also thought cities on the Portland rail lines should relocate their city halls to be rail accessible.  Gresham didn't have to.  The Light rail station was built nearby.  But it's more of a park and ride, big parking lot kind of station.  

But the city is trying to concentrate activity at light rail stations.  A new East County branch of the Multnomah County opens next week, at the center of the new "Civic neighborhood" -- on Civic Drive -- with its own Light Rail Station.

So they do get it.

The new library.

 

So much winning! US drivers are spending $682,500,000 more each day for gasoline

Today's price at a station in Salt Lake City.

I am not a big proponent of cars still, even though in Salt Lake I use a car all the time, much because of my health because while I am much better than I was 2 and 2.5 years ago, I'm still weak when it comes to bicycle riding.

Although one cool thing is in one direction I live one half mile away from a decent shopping center with a supermarket.  And in another direction, 0.8 miles to an upscale market and a couple of other retailers and restaurants on the other three corners.  I will walk to those places--especially if I don't have to buy a lot.  I hate carry groceries so a backpack's worth is about my maximum.

Anyway, the average gasoline price per gallon in the US right now is about $4.50.  That's what it is in Salt Lake, well in the last couple days a couple cents less, even though we have five refineries a few miles away--cost isn't about proximity to nearby produced gasoline that influences pricing, it's world pricing.

The White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said this in the Washington Post article, "U.S. intelligence says Iran can outlast Trump’s Hormuz blockade for months":

" ... Iran is losing half a billion dollars daily because of the blockade. “During Operation Epic Fury, Iran was crushed militarily,” Kelly said in a statement. “Now, they are being strangled economically by Operation Economic Fury and losing $500 million per day thanks to the United States Military’s successful blockade of Iranian ports. The Iranian regime knows full well their current reality is not sustainable, and President Trump holds all the cards as negotiators work to make a deal.”

Turns out, about 375 million gallons of gas are consumed daily by US motor vehicle operators.  

With the price rise in our area from 2.68 to 4.50, that's an increase of 68%.  $375,000,000*1.82 = $$682,500,000.  

That's more each day for just  gasoline--other prices are rising too (plus the cumulative effect of tariffs; wonder why brie cheese costs more?)--than Iran is losing.

In normal circumstances, a President has no ability to affect oil prices, except on the margin, maybe, by releasing fuel from the Strategic Reserve.  Choosing to go to war with the consequence of the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz is 100% on Trump.  (My joke about this during the Biden Presidency was "Hey, Joe Biden's not building refineries."  A commenter had the gall to tell me that's not what presidents do.  Like I don't know that?

I don't see how the US is winning when it is spending more on weapons and personnel, taking loses to infrastructure, dissipating its weapons inventory, combined with increased costs to consumers.