What ails this city? / What could it be?

[shando]

I didn't even rise to the "classist" bait!

On the other hand, few holiday spectaculars could compete with Bob and me settling this with an old-fashioned girly slap-fight.

Is there time to get this on the roster for First Night Austin? Is that even still happening?

[sara farr]

I would like a pool of single men who are emotionally mature, funny, intelligent, courageous, good looking, romantic and think I'm the Bee's Knees. And they should have yellow bottoms and chocolate tops.

YEAAAAAAASSSSSSS!!

-- this thread isn't about mass transit --

HERE HERE for mass transit -- that was my first thought on how to fix Austin's growing big-city problems.

And... more park planning
And... more public events DOWNTOWN; we (SM, SM, & SF) saw a cool arts-light street festival here in Philly that was really cool -- music and street perfomers encouraging people to walk around and see stuff.
And... more theaters & public meeting venues centrally located that encourage people to meet up downtown
And... more buildings w/ windows, encouraging people to look out around town and enjoy what's there to be seen.
And... more sidewalks & sidewalk painters
And... more underground parking garages (dense areas of parking -- leave space above ground for vendors & foot traffic
And... MORE PUBLIC ART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- this thread isn't about mass transit --

No, it's about crepe vendors that sell cupcakes. Pay attention.

I think I love you, Lisa Jackson.

DITTO!!!

[Brian Boyko]

BUSES DON'T HELP. They create needless traffic, a lot of pollution and a pissed-off road-rager named Justin. I'm not anti-bus or anti-bus riders, but it's at the low end of the range of potential mass transit options.

Agreed - I wouldn't mind if you had buses in their own lanes, like they have in Brazil, so that it doesn't hold back regular traffic and regular traffic doesn't hold back the buses. But as a person who used to ride the bus everyday, I hated it. Now I drive every day and almost never ride the bus. I still hate buses.

[Wesley]

Or just put the busses in the lanes with regular traffic and make all the roads one lane wider in each direction.

Also, fewer beholders in the sewers would be nice.

[HerrHerr]

Fewer orange bags on parking meters that nobody is using.

[Wesley]

Yes!
Those free spots should not be given to restaurants! They are city owned and paid for by our taxes. Let the businesses contract with other businesses and private lots. Let the citizens use the spots they pay for!

Also, put all road constuction plans on a pay for performance plan so builders that build *up to code* but in a reduced time get a bonus.

[ducksrfr]

Subways don't need a grid layout or anything to work. But they do need certain types of soil and bedrock. There are some places that you just can't build a safe, stable subway system due to the native make-up of the soil and rock. !

austin is the flash flood capital of the u.s. b/c of our limestone bedrock and thin topsoil. there isn't much "earth" to absorb the water, and so that's why we get flooding frequently when it rains. so i think building a subway would be a bit expensive to bore through limestone and create a feasible flood control system (although they do have them in nyc for the east river)

[Miggy]

I didn't even rise to the "classist" bait!

On the other hand, few holiday spectaculars could compete with Bob and me settling this with an old-fashioned girly slap-fight.

Is there time to get this on the roster for First Night Austin? Is that even still happening?

yes it's happening, but no it's closed to submissions at this point:
http://www.firstnightaustin.org/

[sara farr]

HEY!!! 2008 featured artist, Alina Byoun, was my 3D student!!! She is an excellent artist. (Now works at Steel Penny Games.)

[Miggy]

So I attended my fourth group focus session on this today and attempting to approach something so vast and interconnected has been very daunting. Nonetheless, today was by far the best session (the first was terrible and went no where). We really started to talk more in terms of vision rather than cynically about some of the things that have happened in the past. We also seemed to identify structural impediments easier and while none of the fixes proposed are simple....neither were they moving-heaven-and-earth-all-at-once proposals either.

Anyway...I do want to let everyone know I do appreciate their input. It's taking everything I have to not respond to each point to give additional information, clear up common misconceptions, or just to state my own position. My goal here, however, was to listen and not to debate or to second people's opinions.

In that spirit I also got on the ANC Talk usergroup (just to listen...DANA and ANC are pretty much diametrically opposed on most issues)...and man!! I think James is right...there is too much negativity in this town. It's about 80% vitriol and 20% good information but it's also kind of interesting to see a little democracy in action. Members of City Council routinely post or respond to posts, the leader of the anti-transit group in Austin (Matt Turner) and the leaders of CapMetro duke it out in a sort of rolling editorial page. Some guy who got a homeless neighborhood association registered also responds (from where I don't know).

I thought I knew a couple of things about this city but this whole experience of working on just giving stakeholder input to the downtown master plan is pretty intense and really opening my eyes.

Thanks again and I'll let you guys know how it goes.

[Jeff]

Thanks for fighting the good fight, Mike.

[smerlin]

I don't know how I missed this thread until now, but I think downtown needs more 1) retail and 2)arts/entertainment spaces (not bars).

To make urban living really doable, you need lots of little bodegas (not convenience stores) that offer groceries and daily living needs as well as newspapers and beer/wine. Also reasonable clothing and gift shops not just for tourists. These stores should be open after 5pm.

On a tourist map of Austin, I saw it indicated that Congress Ave is the Theatre District, but as far as I know, it only has 3 theatres. I think the city should provide sweetheart deals for theatres, artist, and musicians to keep the heart of Austin funky and creative.

My 2 cents.

[York99]

the leader of the anti-transit group in Austin (Matt Turner)

Mike, what is the anti-transit reasoning? Other than capital outlay and effort, I can't think of a reason to take this position.

[Miggy]

-----Original Message-----
From: ANCtalk@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ANCtalk@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Matt Turner
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2007 7:45 AM
To: ANCtalk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [ANCtalk] Charlotte transit wins big

Now for me this really becoming ludicrous. I guarentee you that the anti-rail group(as one of it's current leaders) isn't anti-transit. Maybe a few members are, but they're not active. Actually we're so pro-transit that, it's exactly our want for a great transit system that drives us to fight against things, like rail, that squander transit money. Most of our group want CapMetro to fix our bus system and believe that, to be a far simpler goal and more cost-effective than adding rail to everywhere. Move the bus routes so they're designed to get people where they are going and not just to downtown. Make it easy for people to get to major employers(something our current rail and rail proposal doesn't do).

Whether or not Lyndon disagrees, the primary purpose of Transit should be to increase peoples job opportunities, and increase they're abilities to improve their lot in life, by giving them access to jobs that they otherwise would not be able to get to. Second, should be to give people an alternate means of transportation. The great part is if you address the first part of that, the second part is naturally handled as people have a way to get to where they want to go.

It's one thing to skew numbers it's another to allude that Anti-rail here in Austin is Anti-Transit, just because someone in Charolette tried it, Matt Turner Northwest Hills Http://www.costaustin.org "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle

"Empty pockets never held anyone back.Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that."- Norman Vincent Peale



----- Original Message ----
From: Nawdry <nawdry@bga.com>
To: ANCtalk@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, November 8, 2007 9:32:04 PM
Subject: [ANCtalk] Charlotte transit wins big


Charlotte, NC voters Tuesday gave a whopping 70% endorsement for public transportation and the region's rail transit development program - including the 9.6-mile light rail line about to open later this month - by REJECTING the effort by anti-transit activists to repeal the transit agency's funding base.

What is significant also is the fact that, while running a campaign focused on disparaging rail, the anti-transit forces targeted the ENTIRE transit system, and attempted to eliminate funding for it - although 67% of revenues support BUS services. This would seem to be another corroboration that the anti-rail campaign is really an ANTI-TRANSIT campaign. National pro-sprawl, pro-automobile, anti-transit guru Randal O'Toole himself visited Charlotte during the campaign to try to swing voters against the transit system. His efforts, along with the campaign, seems to have crashed and burned.
Fortunately, Charlotte voters seemed smart enough to see through the anti-transit Big Lie campaign.

Appended below is an editorial on this issue from the Charlotte Observer, plus an op-ed that the Observer had solicited from me during the campaign. There's also a related political cartoon at the following URL:

http://www.charlott e.com/290/ story/351979. html

LH

http://www.charlott e.com/opinion/ story/351738. html

Charlotte Observer
Wed, Nov. 07, 2007

EDITORIALS

Green light for transit

Voters made an emphatic statement Tuesday about how they view the future of Charlotte-Mecklenbu rg and its public transportation. The overwhelming majority believe an urban region needs transportation choices, and that a half-penny sales tax remains a satisfactory way to pay for them. The unofficial 70-30 margin far exceeded the 58-42 approval voters first gave the tax in 1998.

That's a strong vote of confidence for an urban transportation system that will rely mostly on automobiles and roads but also offer an expanded bus service plus some rail and streetcars.

The proposed repeal was put on the ballot by petition by a combination of
critics: some had opposed the transit tax at the outset; some dislike taxes and government planning; and some hold a different vision of our region's transportation needs -- one that relies much more on automobiles and much less on mass transit.

Tuesday's vote did not give transit officials and elected leaders carte blanche to build every piece of a 25-year plan for transit. It did preserve the funding source for a costly regional resource. And it did leave the planning of our transportation future up to a board made up mostly of officials of the county and its towns, rather than tie their hands by slashing the funding.

That outcome was significant for two reasons:

• The referendum determined what view of Charlotte-Mecklenbu rg's future would prevail. Without a comprehensive system of transportation (read:
choices other than roads), a fast-growing region where 1.4 million people live cannot accommodate traffic and commerce without choking on congestion and asphalt.

• The referendum showed voters could distinguish between the big picture and the problems with construction of the South Corridor, the city's first light rail line.

The repeal effort got underway at the same time the South Corridor was plagued by cost overruns and lengthy delays. The public was not kept well-informed. That fed public angst and bolstered critics of light rail.

Yet repealing the tax would have hit bus riders hardest: two-thirds of the
$77 million the half-cent tax nets each year funds an expanded bus system, the backbone of the mass transit plan. The vote showed firm backing for a transportation future that offers alternatives to driving.

http://www.charlott e.com/409/ story/327567. html

Charlotte Observer
Sun, Oct. 21, 2007

FOR THE RECORD

Why cities embrace light rail

If critics were right, so many cities wouldn't include rail in transit mix

From Lyndon Henry, a data analyst for Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Austin, Texas:

Fusillades of claims and counter-claims are flying in Charlotte's debate over funding its transit system. "I'm swimming in numbers," as The Observer's Mary Schulken complained in a recent column.

While "numbers games" are being used to sow confusion, establishing truth often depends on numerical data, such as this.

1. In developing rail transit, Charlotte is definitely "riding a wave." Over the past four decades, the number of cities with rail transit has nearly quadrupled, from nine to 34 -- plus three more cities (Phoenix, Austin,
Tucson) that have new voter-approved rail projects underway.

And earlier this month, Norfolk's new 7.4-mile light rail project was OKed for federal funding. All this would hardly be happening if rail transit were the hopeless failure that critics portray.

2. In both population and density, Charlotte is well within the ballpark of new-start rail cities like Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Austin, Tampa, Little Rock, Nashville and Albuquerque.

3. Cities are embracing rail in part because people understand that if you get motorists off crowded roadways and into trains, you're going to give some congestion relief. Rail won't make congestion disappear -- nothing will, really -- but it will speed mobility in congested corridors and slow the overall growth of congestion.

4. The twin crises of diminishing oil resources plus global warming mean higher fuel prices and other problems -- which electric rail can certainly mitigate. Electric light rail has about 40 percent of the carbon-emitting energy intensity of an automobile and 45 percent of a bus.

5. Light rail may well save money for many Charlotte commuters, as automobile operating costs (including steadily higher fuel prices) are avoided, plus the cost of parking, plus the cost of constructing more road capacity.

6. With unit operating costs lower on average than those of buses, light rail tends to be a bargain, accommodating growing ridership more economically (by adding more unmanned railcars to trains). Even with capital costs included, light rail costs may be lower than those of buses.

7. It's a myth that new rail services require new bus routes as feeders.
Instead, existing services are typically rerouted to interface with the new rail service, increasing ridership on both bus and rail. Thus emissions per passenger and per passenger-mile are typically lowered, not increased.

8. Unfortunately, all the fusillades of data in the world can't adequately convey the urbanity, livability and ease of mobility that rail transit imparts to a city. For that, my "citation" would be your own personal visit to a city like Portland, San Francisco or Toronto, so you can experience it for yourself.

[York99]

Wow. That person in the top email has such terrible spelling and grammar. If s/he can't even explain the position clearly or isn't willing to take the short time to proof or even spell/grammar check, then I doubt his/her intelligence and judgment right off... not to mention his/her caring about the issue.

I enjoy the irony of including TWO quotes that allude to intelligence.