tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536140049505603887.post7548426906884867337..comments2024-01-26T03:26:54.060-05:00Comments on O-pinion: Voters' commitment to transit pays offUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536140049505603887.post-41210595856311634442012-02-21T17:49:36.189-05:002012-02-21T17:49:36.189-05:00A segment of voters were bought off for their vote...A segment of voters were bought off for their votes. Why do we see the seed for the streetcar accelerated by the city and the CO?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536140049505603887.post-27957342926751309762012-02-21T15:18:16.680-05:002012-02-21T15:18:16.680-05:00I depend on CATS, as I am visually impaired and un...I depend on CATS, as I am visually impaired and unable to drive. So you would assume I would be all for every transit project. If so, you would be wrong. I am all for every transit project that is done sensibly. <br /><br />The issue I had with the extra sales tax in 1998 - and I told everyone who would listen - is that government always uses faulty projections. Back in '98, we were told that the tax was to be in place for 25 years, and that it would bring in $1 billion in that time frame, and that the feds and state would match that. For $2 billion, we were told, we would have a train from 485 in the University area, through uptown, to 485 in Pineville, plus a streetcar line from uptown to the airport and enhanced bus service along Independence. <br /><br />But guess what? The bureaucrats based those projections on the assumption that the sales tax revenue would NEVER decrease from 1 year to the next. Never mind that the US has a recession about once every 10 years. Never mind that the total $2 billion cost was in 1998 dollars, and that by 2015 the transit lines would cost double what they would have in 1998. Never mind that no one asked Pineville what they thought, and it turned out that they wanted nothing to do with it and thus forced the line to stop short of its intended final stop. <br /><br />Now, here we are, 14 years after the tax was inacted, and we have half of 1 line, the other half sort of paid for, and 3 lines completely unfunded, likely never to be built. And when 2023 rolls around, we will hear the local politicians scream bloody murder that if the tax is not made permanent, the Earth will stop spinning on its axis and we will all die. Actually, they might start that up after the next election.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536140049505603887.post-34808324435544792152012-02-21T10:45:48.625-05:002012-02-21T10:45:48.625-05:00Bob,
First off, no amount of alleged "econom...Bob,<br /><br />First off, no amount of alleged "economic development" is worth the cost of billions in debt being left to our children.<br /><br />Secondly, the projects you mention are being further subsidized by tax dollars.<br /><br />Thirdly, the economics of rail-oriented development are so bad that even developer Peter Pappas has stopped work on his Scaleybark station project despite already having received MILLIONS in taxpayer subsidies.<br /><br />Transit is another transfer of wealth from the middle class to the rich who sell the trains and build the tracks.Garth Vaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03575150785051894691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536140049505603887.post-59848560701426014172012-02-18T08:10:29.295-05:002012-02-18T08:10:29.295-05:00Pledges and near promises to a swing state in an O...Pledges and near promises to a swing state in an Obama election year. Oh how the Observer wants us to believeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536140049505603887.post-40634852163295777682012-02-17T07:14:49.759-05:002012-02-17T07:14:49.759-05:00More lies about the real costs and lies about the ...More lies about the real costs and lies about the economic benefits and the little lemmings are still basing this fraud on global warming just like you did last time. And the impact of traffic reduction will be so minimal, no one will be able to tell one bit of difference. And it's amazing, everytime this paper spews out made up numbers, they make it sound like it isn't the tas payers paying for this. It's "free" Obama money. Ah heck build it, how elese are the drunk kids going to get downtown to party?<br /><br />How is that Scaleybark development working out?Skippyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04688165669248150791noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536140049505603887.post-32985681974435759472012-02-16T23:39:15.264-05:002012-02-16T23:39:15.264-05:00There are currently 18 multi-family projects in va...There are currently 18 multi-family projects in various stages of construction or permitting within 4 blocks of the blue line, or the blue line extension in NoDa. <br /><br />No where else in the state is as much development happening. <br /><br />Coincidence? <br /><br />Think about the economic impact of this development.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09940954068864437890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536140049505603887.post-79203221031077964352012-02-16T23:18:18.808-05:002012-02-16T23:18:18.808-05:00"While we’re skeptical that the North Tryon c..."While we’re skeptical that the North Tryon corridor will quickly attract development, the southern portion of the line showed that potential. Developers in the pre-recession days added hundreds of millions worth of projects along that corridor..."<br /><br />At the time Parks Helms was telling county commissioners during a meeting that there had been $12 BILLION in TOD, which was a lie...so much of the campaign to keep the tax was hopeful lies its no wonder much of the public was tricked into voting for all this train madness. And some were threaten with loss of bus service if the tax were repealed. The public's 'wisdom" was manipulated.Dale Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13469820113953931658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7536140049505603887.post-55319384401048862932012-02-16T21:15:45.958-05:002012-02-16T21:15:45.958-05:00Where is the "wisdom" in another half-BI...Where is the "wisdom" in another half-BILLION dollars of debt for our kids? Oh well, they'll be thrilled to be able to ride 19th-Century era transportation whose routes can't be adjusted to accommodate population shifts.Garth Vaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03575150785051894691noreply@blogger.com