Stroll down Masonic Drive

Mike provides a critical look at pedestrian and public transit infrastructure in Alexandria, Louisiana, through his personal commutes without a car, notably the lack of sidewalks, crosswalks, and clear bus stop information. He highlights the dangers pedestrians face and its disproportionate burden on marginalized communities living in neighborhoods nearby.

Despite these issues, Mike notes a glimmer of hope as the city begins building new sidewalks finally, and advocates for a shift away from car-dependent culture, emphasizing the financial burden of car ownership and the environmental consequences, while lauding the efforts of Alexandria's latest public works priorities.

Hello everyone! Mike George here, coming at you live from good old Alexandria, Louisiana. Unfortunately, I can no longer refer to "Crimson House Alexandria," because that entity simply doesn't exist anymore. It's been six months since I left CLECO, and in that time, we've raised zero dollars for what I believed was a crucial service: housing for people who are, well, on their ass – including myself now ironically.

Someone can do the math on that one for me; I bet it would make for an enlightening conversation.

But I'm not bitter; I'm only looking forward. In fact, sometimes I feel like not having a home is a blessing in disguise. I'm a homebody; if I had a house, I'd probably just spend all day inside, smoking weed and playing video games. But now that I don't have a house, I feel free as a bird, and you wouldn't believe how much I've accomplished today, especially for a Friday!

Let me start with a big discovery: I was trying to find the administrative offices for A-Trans, which is Alexandria's bus service. And lo and behold, there is no office! It's like looking for the Wizard of Oz and finding out the wizard doesn’t exist.

I don't own a car. My phone tells me I walk about 15,000 steps a day. And let me tell you, being a pedestrian in a place like Alexandria is incredibly risky. You have to be so careful of the drivers. If you're walking on the side of the road, I advise you to step up onto the curb or a trail if there is one, because those big trucks with their huge mirrors can be terrifying. You're lucky if they don't run you over outright.

I routlinely hear about hit-and-runs in this town in the Alexandria Town Talk newspaper, and I'm not exaggerating when I say every week, I read about a new traffic fatality. It’s usually someone who is Black, and often someone who is unhoused. What enrages me is how these articles routinely pin the fault of these tragedies on the victim, while completely ignoring the surrounding environment. There are no crosswalks, no basic infrastructure designed for pedestrians in concern for their safety. It's absurd!

Folks often talk about guns, but to me, a car is equally a weapon. We need to be careful out here. Look at this! We often don't even have a sidewalk. How can this place spend $200 million for an interchange along I-49, but not be capable of providing sidewalks? That’s not a question of money; it's a question of values.

Here we are in the year 2022, I'm still walking on dirt and grass, because there's no sidewalk. To Alexandria's credit, they are finally starting to build sidewalks, and I genuinely thank the city for that. But it's absurd to have to single out for praise something that seems it ought to be so mundane and routine in infrastructure planning and development.

Here’s an instance of a bus stop, indicated merely by a lone bench and a crooked sign - with no schedule, no map, nothing telling you where the bus even goes. I mean, we have around here a hospital, a Target, a Walmart. One can't tell me there isn't a single person walking these streets who needs a sidewalk, let alone a crosswalk.

On a more exciting note, I've applied for a position as a Transit Analyst with A-Trans. Let me tell you, it doesn’t take much analysis to conclude how messed up being a pedestrian in this town is [4]. I recently had a lovely conversation with Tina, a woman who works for ATRANS, and I'm sending her my resume [5]. She sounded like she spoke my language when it came to the sheer outrage over the state of transit in America [5].

My background is electrical engineering; I was brought to Louisiana by Cleco [5]. But Cleco isn't doing much with renewable energy, and I'm in an oil and gas state, so I'm trying to pivot [5]. One of my mentors from AEP, Lisa Barton, always said, "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good" [5]. I'm a bit OCD and often let perfection get in the way, which leads to frustration and sometimes even hatred [5]. I don't want to be one of those people [6].

I really hope this Transit Analyst job entails what I think it does, because there are so many glaring problems with transit here [6]. But honestly, Alexandria isn't unique; in fact, they're one of the better ones because at least they try to have a bus system [6]. Compare that to Columbus, Ohio, which is ten times the size of Alexandria but has roughly the same quality of bus service, no light rail, and let's not even talk about Amtrak [6].

It feels like my entire lifetime, we've just seen other modes of transit slip away, forcing everyone to buy a car [6]. I've been pretty well off, but even I struggled to afford a car [6]. I can't imagine being a minimum wage worker trying to cover car payments, insurance, tickets, and towing [6]. Car ownership is astronomical; it's the worst investment ever, a money pit [6]. That's why I proudly don't own a car [6]. I mean, I miss my car sometimes, like quitting cigarettes – that first one after you quit is the best [6]. But we know cars are bad for us [7]. I wish every time someone filled their tank, an automated voice, like Greta Thunberg's, would say, "Shame! Shame! Shame!" [7].

I truly admire Greta [7]. She gets on stage and speaks her mind because if someone doesn't, her world is going to be a flaming pile of shit [7]. My generation, I'm 36, owes it to young people like her to leave them a clean environment [7]. It's the least we can do [7].

Despite the challenges, I actually think the world is better than we often give it credit for [7]. People love to complain on Facebook, and there's certainly a lot to complain about [7]. But there's good happening too, and it doesn't get celebrated enough [7]. The city of Alexandria, for all its faults and "ghetto-ness," really does try to do the right thing [8]. Considering its size and limited resources, it’s quite remarkable [7]. That gives me hope [8].

Since I can't get a plane ticket back to Ohio, you're stuck with me for a few more months. As my dad used to say, I'm going to give 'em hell. We need someone to challenge the entire ecosystem built around car ownership and its associated consumption and waste. It's absurd that in 2022, I still have to buy a car just to get to Walmart.

So, on that note, enjoy your Friday night, friends. As I always say at the end of every broadcast, take care of yourselves, and take care of somebody else.

Have a good night, y'all!