restoring transit options

Wish they'd had this service while I was living in NH. I hope they're able to restore it. Right now intercity public transit options in NH are limited to a local Greyhound-equivalent bus line. It would be great to see a boom in transit projects due to the stimulus program.

blue Hampshire

New Hampshire sure has changed a bit since I lived there. How ironic that the border area closest to Taxachusetts is now one of the most conservative areas of the state. Much of that area went for McCain.

Here's a map and some figures to give a little more detail.

legislation for areas too sparse for public transit

Most of New Hampshire is sparsely populated enough to have little or no public transit. In some areas, the Trailways bus is used for commuting. They have park and ride lots by highway exits, and Trailways sells monthly passes by distance, similar to what we have here for Metra. The state is recognizing that another option is needed and has proposed legislation to that end. I hope that they will continue pushing for more alternatives to single commuters in cars and get at least one commuter rail line extended across the border into New Hampshire, as many NH commuters go to Boston-area jobs.

snow is a 4-letter word

I'm definitely sick of winter. You probably are too. My friends in New Hampshire are REALLY sick of snow. Be grateful you're not in Concord. I was living there in the winter of 1995-96 and I remember the giant snow piles like this on the street corners and giant mountains of snow in parks and corners of parking lots that didn't finish melting until early summer. Be grateful that we're not having their winter.

coming up fast

The New Hampshire primary is coming up fast. Having lived in New Hampshire, I think there's more than a bit of lunacy in having it so early in the year. It's too close to the holidays. Extreme weather that could reduce turnout is more likely. But they're not going to change the date on my account.

If you put any stock in polls, you might be interested in checking out this week's Boston Globe poll of New Hampshire voters.

change in Concord

Areas of the country that we don't think of as melting pot regions are changing. In recent years, New Hampshire and Maine have welcomed refugee communities from African countries. When I lived in New Hampshire, I missed the vibrance I experienced with immigrant communities in Chicago. It's good to see New England energized by this kind of change.

perspective

If these blasts of cold wind in between the warm days are getting you down, remember that it is still March. To put things into perspective, look at this picture.



Central New Hampshire (same latitude as us, more or less) just got 10 inches of snow. In the picture, the snow and ice are far from gone there. We don't have it so bad.