How we used to roll
The old saw about the transient nature of this community goes something like, “After five years, you’re a local and after 10 a native.â€
So for those of us recalling a more laid-back and sanguine downtown in Chapel Hill and Carrboro – yeah, we’re talking late ’80s/early ’90s – the old green trolley often comes to mind.
For only a quarter, you could ride clean to Carr Mill Mall and back and up and down the hill to and from the hospital.
The trolley, essentially a bus with wooden seats and rails and lots of brass work, may have been mocked a bit as being as faux as some of the “colonial†buildings along West Franklin Street, but it did afford a quick, predictable trip between the two downtowns and campus.
The idea, spearheaded by the now defunct Downtown Commission, was to bring hospital employees downtown for lunch without the hassle of parking and to increase the foot traffic near eateries and shops in Carrboro and Chapel Hill.
It worked to limited success, but it did give us all an insight into what more affordable and plentiful public transit might look like.
High maintenance costs and a change in organization for downtown sidelined the trolleys. Free bus service rendered them obsolete and they were sold off, parts and all, in 2001.
Yes, it’s kind of nostalgic to see the trolley come home for a night for this month’s 2ndFriday Artwalk (see front page). We hope that it might inspire those in a capacity to do something to get on board the idea of a dedicated downtown shuttle, even if it’s something as simple as better branding for the downtown routes already in service.
Tuning in to Carrboro
It’s always been one of the odder quirks of local media that The People’s Channel, an organization founded and nurtured here in Carrboro, was not available on cable in its birthplace.
It’s odder still that there were separate cable channel setups for Carrboro and Chapel Hill long after Time Warner started operating both systems.
Nevertheless, the omission has now been corrected and we’re happy to report that Carrboro residents can now enjoy the unique local programming from the fine folks at TPC on Channel 4. To celebrate their local launch, TPC is having a neighborhood party on Saturday at the Orange County Social Club from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Visit TPC.org for schedules and lineups and all that.