A few weeks ago Fedex and Volvo made a splash here sharing their partnership and testing of trucks using Autonomous Driving. When I visited the launch, I was thrilled to see them in action and learn more about this exciting technology. Read More…
Leaving a Legacy in Cary
Have you ever wanted to memorialize or honor a loved one or commemorate an event in a unique and distinctive way?
Cary has a program to help you do that!
Our Legacy Program allows our community members to mark an occasion or honor an individual in the Town, with the placement towards a tree or bench in the location of your choice. Also included is a personalized plaque on the bench or at the tree location. This unique program provides a long-lasting gift that will continue to not only benefit the community for years to come, but a way to honor that individual or event.
This program was an idea from a Cary citizen, approved in 2016, with the program finalized and launched in 2017. We’ve had some wonderful installations!
Our Smart City Journey
Cary has been in the news quite a bit lately about our Smart Cities initiatives. It’s great to see how forward thinking our Town has been as we find new and exciting ways to cost-effectively deliver new services, streamline current capabilities, and improve our quality of life. I blogged about this last year – and at the time, we were at the beginning of our journey. So, how far have we come?
Smart Cities Recap
Why do we want to be looking at “smart city” capabilities?
Because the opportunity of utilizing smart technologies and data analysis is that it allows us to optimize our town functions while also driving economic growth. And all of this is with the goal of improving the quality of life for our citizens.
Last year, Cary took on this idea full steam, creating a simulated Smart City Campus, partnering with vendors, local universities, our Town volunteer boards and smart city organizations to help us as we moved forward. Throughout all of these efforts, Cary garnered a few awards:
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- Smart Cities Dive: Rising Star Award (2017)
- Smart Cities Connect, Smart 50 Award: for Cary’s Simulated Smart City (2017)
- and the Smart Cities Council 2018 Readiness Grant.
- This last award allowed us to have a workshop in Cary, where we recently held a meeting at SAS of more than 80 folks to plan additional ways to make data-informed decisions, and ensure greater citizen engagement and transparency. Our all day workshop session focused on 3 main topics:
- Smart, safe mobility and transportation
- Healthy communities
- Integrated data infrastructure
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Cary Wins Smart 50 Award
Be Ready in Cary
It’s been hurricane season here in North Carolina for awhile now – so preparing might have already been on your to do list. But sometimes, it takes a big storm to bring the value of being prepared to the forefront.
As we all watched the devastating impact of Hurricane Harvey – our hearts, hands and wallets opened up to assist.
Now, we see one potentially headed our way – and it’s time to make sure that we are ready, as well. Please take a few moments and do the following – while we wait for Hurricane Irma to decide her path. Read More…
Cary is a Smart City
We’re in a Triangle of Smart Cities
I was honored to be asked to join Mayor Nancy McFarlane (Raleigh), Mayor Pam Hemminger (Chapel Hill) and City Manager Tom Bonfield (Durham) for a panel at the Triangle Smart Cities Summit last month.
A View from the City
The “View from the City” panel was moderated by Governor Martin O’Malley, and we bounced a number of questions, ideas, and visions around the table regarding our take on “what IS a Smart City” and how we get there. If you want, you can watch the WHOLE thing below. What was apparent was that each of our municipalities is working hard to leverage technology to improve the lives of our residents – by tapping into the intellectual capital at our respective universities, engaging citizens and working across our city and town boundaries to find regional solutions and best practices. I highlighted a number of our wins – like Aquastar, that I’ve blogged about before – and new things on the horizon. Read More…
Let’s go ride a Bike
“I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.”
See if you can get that earworm outta your head NOW.
I’ll wait…
It’s National Bicycle Month – what does that actually mean, and why should you care?
I’m glad you asked.
Because this month there are so many ways for you to not only get out and see Cary and our community on your bike, but you will also notice that lots of folks are already doing so – and we all want to be safe out there.
My Bike History (a short tale, like me)
I’m kinda a bike nerd. I didn’t start that way. I took easy rides with the family and enjoyed just getting out there with the kids.
My family – many years ago
Then, I had this friend, Wayne, who first got me on a road bike. (Let’s all blame him. OK?) I started taking my hybrid on the road, but I found it so very heavy to do longer rides. I moved up to a road bike, so much lighter and easier to maneuver. But I was scared – mostly about all the spandex that folks wear, but also about the vulnerability of being on the road, next to vehicles that could easily bump or hit me. I know that I’m no threat to a car – but I also know how easily it is to be distracted as a driver, and miss seeing a cyclist. It’s something I think about all the time when I’m on the road. Read More…
A Garden for Wildlife in Cary
Cary and it’s citizens have always been committed to the environment – and now we have proof. Certifiable proof. Read More…
Miss Representation – Free Women’s History Month Movie
March has traditionally been the time when I write about “Women’s History” – our struggle for the vote and women’s suffrage, or our lack of representation in government or lacking a seat at the table of our private sector companies. It makes sense to do this, given it’s Women’s History Month.
And yes, I’ve written about this before – and you can read my previous blog posts here, and here.)
Suffragettes (Library of Congress)
But this year, I’ve really felt that the Women’s Movement is shifting. From the Women’s March to #InternationalWomensDay – women are standing up and being counted. We’ve marched, written songs, run for office, and made our voices heard. You might not agree with all that’s going on, but I have to give credit to all of the women that are no longer sitting back and watching from afar. We have some amazingly powerful women in this area – whether they are on boards or commissions as volunteers, in elected roles, at the board table or the PTA – they help to make our towns, cities and counties the best that they can be. Read More…
Cary’s Jewish Cultural Festival Remarks
I was honored to give the opening remarks for the Jewish Cultural Festival this morning.
With all that is going on in the world today – I didn’t think I could do the standard “Welcome to Cary” remarks. Here’s what I said.
Welcome
Hello and Good Afternoon.
I’m Cary At-Large Representative Lori Bush, and I’m honored to join you on behalf of our Town Council and the 160,000 people who call Cary home. Welcome to our beautiful downtown and our Jewish Cultural Festival!
Thank you for inviting me to be with you today, and a big thank you to the Chabad of Cary, Beth Shalom, the Raleigh-Cary Jewish Community Center, and the Jewish Federation of Raleigh-Cary for your collaboration. As a Cary resident and particularly as a Jew, I feel so lucky to have you all right here in our area.
One of the amazing things about this Jewish Cultural Festival is how it has morphed and changed over the years — what started as a way to celebrate Chanukah with all of the festivities around that holiday – like the lighting of the menorah, eating latkes and spinning dreidels – to last year’s Purim Celebration – with Hamentashen and costumes—– and now, a recognition of Passover – we have, TOGETHER, taken a journey through some of our unique traditions, celebrations and ceremonies. We join together, as a community to celebrate our history and our past, and most importantly – we embrace others who join us – whether this is their first time at our festival, or you’ve attended others before – we actively welcome and invite people of all faiths and ethnicities to this and ALL of our cultural festivals in Cary. Read More…
Which Waze?
When was the last time you looked at a paper map to get somewhere? A long time ago, I know. I remember ordering the AAA TripTiks not so long ago – plotting the route we would take while on the road to a vacation. Ok, so now I feel old.
I also remember when I got my first navigational system, a Garmin box that had a suction cup to attach to the windshield. That device was life changing – I found new ways to get around the town, and I distinctly remember feeling like this new technology was finally addressing my navigationally-challenged self.
How did this happen?
What you might not know is that these systems, along with Google Maps and Waze, built-in car navigational systems and other mapping applications on your phone – are some of the first commercial implementations of Open Data. Yep, it’s true. (And yes, I’ve written about Open Data before.)
The data used for these systems is GPS – Global Positioning System data. Read More…
