Tonight's community presentation titled "Can Burlingame Be Even Better?" was a rousing success. Chronicle urban design writer John King, who was one of the speakers, noted the fact that there was a packed house and there were more questions than there was time available.

Another speaker, former B'lingame Planning Commissioner and local architect Martin Dreiling, gave the crowd a witty and educational tour of New Urbanism with conclusions about what B'lingame needs. My three favorite needs were a) a place to buy a toaster b) a place to buy nails (i.e. a hardware store) and c) a place for kids to hang out where they won't bother too many of us—and he wasn't suggesting a custom-built, brand new teen center. His comments about the loss of the old downtown movie theatres and bowling alley were right on target and have been noted repeatedly in the Burlingame Voice.

I was also intrigued by John King's reaction to the notion that the B'lingame Ave. area has a 360 space parking deficit as determined by recent parking studies. He appeared to be shocked that the 360 number didn't mesh with his impression of the area he had just walked around–and he's an observant person. Something to think about there.

This was a great event, many thanks to the Citizens For a Better Burlingame for leading the effort to bring a dialog to the community on planning and development.

– Written by Joe Baylock

Tonight's council meeting proved a very very important fact once again – Terry Nagel has more integrity and intelligence than the whole bunch of them. Wow has she raised the bar in what we expect our elected officials to be! Thank God for a shining light!

Lets hope our elected officials spend our money wisely!

Fiona Hamilton, Burlingame

– Written by Fiona

According to Joanne Wondolowski in May 29th Independent, (ex most recent U.S. Census) here are some interesting Burlingame numbers:

(1) Median age for a Burlingame resident is 40.4 years old, when nationally it is 37.4 years old
(2) Median household income in Burlingame is $82,436, when nationally it is $39,727.
(3) Burlingame college educated households account for 60% compared to 26% nationally.
(4) Average annual utility cost in Burlingame is $6,041 and nationally is $3,250
(5) Average total annual household consumer expenditure for a Burlingame home is above $81,000 while the national average is about $41,000.
(6) Average annual education expenditure is double in Burlingame when compared to the national average: roughly $1,400 in Burlingame to $700 nationally.
(7) Burlingame annual entertainment expenditure is $4,300 compared to $2,200 national average.

And thats life in Burlingame, folks.

– Written by Rosaline