Pedestrianization
The local merchants are all up in arms about the proposal, which will be put to a vote, to turn the center of town into a pedestrian only area. There are big hyperbolic signs announcing the death of the shops etc etc, and the story even made it into the Dauphine Libere (image below, used without permission)
That's our mayor, who one day assured me that he was doing what he could to stop the Tabac owner from sounding the alarm every morning and fixing the extremely noisy delivery door. Of course, it was immediately fixed. Or not at all, I can't remember which. In any case, I seriously doubt turning the center into a ped only area will kill the local stores, especially considering how much business the boulangerie does on a Sunday (when the street is closed to traffic). It will certainly be less convenient for people who live on the West side of town, however. I'm not sure how I feel about it -- if I really thought the boulangerie would be affected, I might be swayed. It is a pretty good boulangerie, after all. On the other hand, people drive through the center of town at very high speed, and the main street is basically a not-so-secret detour taken by jerks who live in Voiron, Chevallon and other places east to save time. Since they are doing it to save time, they feel obligated to put all of our lives at risk by driving in the typical French small road fashion: at the rev limiter. Unfortunately, their detour goes on the same roads on which kids cycle to school, and indeed have made one such road (The rue de Cornillon) too dangerous for that purpose. The main road can still be used, but only with very close parental supervision. It's not unusual to see little pelotons of families making their way to school, parents looking warily behind them to assign risk to the oncoming cars. Kids turning high cadence and largely oblivious to the danger behind them.
That's our mayor, who one day assured me that he was doing what he could to stop the Tabac owner from sounding the alarm every morning and fixing the extremely noisy delivery door. Of course, it was immediately fixed. Or not at all, I can't remember which. In any case, I seriously doubt turning the center into a ped only area will kill the local stores, especially considering how much business the boulangerie does on a Sunday (when the street is closed to traffic). It will certainly be less convenient for people who live on the West side of town, however. I'm not sure how I feel about it -- if I really thought the boulangerie would be affected, I might be swayed. It is a pretty good boulangerie, after all. On the other hand, people drive through the center of town at very high speed, and the main street is basically a not-so-secret detour taken by jerks who live in Voiron, Chevallon and other places east to save time. Since they are doing it to save time, they feel obligated to put all of our lives at risk by driving in the typical French small road fashion: at the rev limiter. Unfortunately, their detour goes on the same roads on which kids cycle to school, and indeed have made one such road (The rue de Cornillon) too dangerous for that purpose. The main road can still be used, but only with very close parental supervision. It's not unusual to see little pelotons of families making their way to school, parents looking warily behind them to assign risk to the oncoming cars. Kids turning high cadence and largely oblivious to the danger behind them.
