Bicycling Magazine has named Louisville, Washington D.C. and New York city as the three most improved cities for biking in the country. That's so very cool. I haven't completely drank the Kool-Aid (as I've mentioned I'm scared to death most of the time when I ride my bike on Bardstown Road) but I know the city has made a lot of improvements for cyclists and that it continues to do so.

Well done Louisville. Keep up the good work.

Back in January I linked to a Fast Company blog post about comparing how the states of New York and Kentucky are dealing with flexibility and innovation regarding workers and work life. The point of the piece was that some programs in Kentucky are actively trying to embrace a culture of flexibility because it's good for workers as well as business. Now the city of Louisville is getting aboard the flexibility movement.

Quoting Business First

Louisville is one of 30 cities that have been chosen to participate in When Work Works, a national research project on workplace flexibility.

The project is run by the Families and Work Institute, the Twiga Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for a Competitive Workforce. Locally, it will be managed by Greater Louisville Inc., the metro chamber of commerce.

As part of the program, GLI will hold educational forums on workplace flexibility and When Work Works will provide research reports and business toolkits to help guide companies in implementing flexible work practices.

Louisville employers also are eligible to apply for the Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility, which recognize organizations that are using flexible work practices to improve workplace effectiveness.

I think as a culture we pay far too little attention to worker happiness and work/life balance issues. I'm excited that Louisville is getting the chance to participate in a project like this one that is focusing on such issues and how more workplace flexibility can improve the lives of workers and benefit business.

The online division of the parent company of Business First decided it'd be cool to know what metro areas are the most and least stressful. So naturally they started digging in to government data.

Bizjournals created a 10-part formula to rank the stress levels in the 50 largest metros using data collected by several government agencies and private firms. The measures include unemployment rates, murder rates and average commute time.

I'm not sure those are quite the criteria I think are most important in figuring out a city's, er excuse me, metro area's stress level but I'm still pleased that Louisville came in at number 19 on the list of least stressful places.

Of course a glass half empty person would look at it as being the 32nd most stressful metro area. Lucky for us I'm a glass half full kind of girl.

The New York Times ran an article on January 20, 2008 about the state of New York's tax code "which in some cases double-taxes nonresidents who work for companies based in New York but occasionally telecommute." That article led one of Fast Company blogger Cali Williams Yost to compare and contrast the state of New York's position of inflexibility to the detriment of telecommuters with the state of Kentucky's position on similar work issues. In her words "One Resists Flexibility, the Other Embraces It."

Contrast New York's active resistance with that of the State of Kentucky. Not only is Kentucky embracing flexibility and innovation but sees it as a key lever for future growth and development. Business and community leaders from across the state, and within cities such as Lexington, are working with the Institute for Workplace Innovation at the University of Kentucky and its director, Dr. Jennifer Swanberg, as well as the University's President, Lee T. Todd, Jr. to achieve their collective vision.

Naturally I wish she'd name checked Louisville in the article but I love the Bluegrass at large so I'm always pleased with positive publicity for our state.

Other than the occasional snide comment about how much this football season has sucked if you're a University of Louisville fan, like I of course am, I've pretty much stayed away from the pitchfork carrying crowds chanting "Kragthorpe sucks." However, if, at the 3PM news conference the University of Louisville has called Kragthorpe announces he's leaving the school, before we actually get the chance to fire him for sucking, then I'll be pulling the pitchfork up out of the basement and chanting really, really loudly.

Update 3:16PM: Kragthorpe says "I'm not going anyplace."

The Courier wants us to know that so far, there are no major delays at the airport.

Most flights have been running smoothly this morning, according to a spokeswoman for Louisville International Airport.

There have not been any delays for flights departing Louisville as of 8 a.m., said Trish Burke, airport spokeswoman.

That means all you poor people flying this weekend actually have a very slight chance of leaving reasonably close to your scheduled departure time. That means you won't need to drink any extra adult beverages while you wait in the airport lounge. Good luck to you all!

The Courier says that LGE says that only 200 people are still without power after last night's storms. That's pretty impressive I think. It seems like most of those 200 are situated around Hillcrest in Crescent Hill. Obviously this begs the question "do the storm gods hate extensive Halloween displays or were they just trying to participate in the extensive Halloween displays?"