Comments on: Chastain 2005

By: Zrapp

Zrapp — Tue, 17 May 2005 15:10:49 +0000

Gas prices for our cars will not stay what it is now. As gas gets really expensive, and I do mean really, everybody will wish they would have spent the money back when times were good…. now, that is.

Yeah we need to look at lots of things but we do need a big time public transport system. Many people will be using it when gas hits past $4 a gallon. At some point many people will move to the city from outer areas, which will make for more traffic, before they switch to mass transit.

It’s gonna get tough and we better have mass transport in place. We should not care who brings it to the public, we should care that we’ll have it when we need it.

More people are thinking differently now. Me included. Those that read truthout.org anyway.

By: BlogKC

BlogKC — Fri, 13 May 2005 18:42:06 +0000

Regarding BS2, it was actually the arts crowd doing a favor for the stadiums. Opinion polling showed very strong support for an arts-only plan, and very weak support for the stadiums. So, the arts folks agreed to join the two into one proposal.

An arts-only bistate would easily win, but it keeps getting pushed down the agenda. The arts groups let Union Station go first, then let the sports teams tag along on the second ballot. The third ballot is likely to be transportation – public transit and light rail.

By: ajh

ajh — Fri, 13 May 2005 15:48:12 +0000

Absoltuely,

I think most people that are willing to support the Royals even in the state they are in now, are probably willing to bend over backwards for the good of Kansas City in general.

By: Hippster

Hippster — Fri, 13 May 2005 13:49:26 +0000

Ya, I think you’re right about the reason why Bi-State failed. I don’t understand why the arts crowd didn’t/don’t get their own issue on the ballot. I was surprised when most people I talked to at work and even on a Royals message board seemed to support an new arts center even if they didn’t support stadium renovations.

By: ajh

ajh — Thu, 12 May 2005 18:04:44 +0000

Hippster,
The stadium renovations were not viewed as being too expensive by the public. Bistate was watered down with other issues that weighed on too much on people. Mixing sports with arts will not work. Two different crowds. It’s hard to compare Bistate with a light rail vote. If a decent ballot initiative did come around on light rail than it would probable include only light rail and not arts funding and the myriad of other issues slipped into bistate.
You can thank Cleaver for killing light rail and misleading the public by insinuating Bond would not work for Kansas City in getting federal funding. Bond has said repeatedly if we want it he’ll help us get it.

By: Hippster

Hippster — Thu, 12 May 2005 16:07:25 +0000

Well, it’s not “free.” Someone is paying for all that and that’s going to be the problem here. If people think the stadium renovations are too expensive, I don’t think they’ll view light rail is a good deal.

And we’re not nearly as eco-centric as Portland, and I wonder if light rail really appeals to that many people. Maybe as downtown continues its growth, demand will increase.

I have hope for light rail in the future, but I’m not sure it’s the best use of tax money right now.

By: PDX

PDX — Thu, 12 May 2005 14:35:52 +0000

Portland, which was mentioned earlier inthis thread, is a great example to look at. It is no t much larger that KC but has had a huge success with their mix of various public transportation options. I lived there for a year and drove my car maybe a dozen times, you can ride pretty much anywhere for free, airport is under $2 and it is clean, cheap and efficent. There is no reason there shouldn’t be something similar to this is in KC, a quick way to get from the Plaza to downtown, to the airport or any number of places would be a good thing for the city.

By: BlogKC

BlogKC — Tue, 10 May 2005 15:52:28 +0000

Hippster, you might get a chance to vote on something in the next few years. There is plan called SmartMoves for a regional transportation system, including the ATA, JO, and Wyco bus. It would have a mix of regular busses, express busses, and fixed-quideway (i.e. light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit) where appropriate. http://www.marc.org/kcsmartmoves/

Right now there is work in Jeff City and Topeka to amend the current bistate compact to allow it to be used for transporation projects, in addition to arts and stadiums. If all goes well, there might be a vote in 2006 or 2007. Of course, who knows if Jocos will vote to participate in another regional project. If not, the four Missouri-side counties will probably still have a chance to implement about 2/3 of the proposed system.

By: ajh

ajh — Tue, 10 May 2005 13:36:39 +0000

Hippster and BlogKC,
Again, good point. Traffic to KCI isn’t quite bad enough to motivate people to get on a train. Once we get more critical mass downtown that should change. All those people being diverted off of the Paseo this summer trying to get to Cerner and everyhwere else are gonna be wishing they had an alternative. Maybe people will realize what traffic in most other major MSA’s is like and be thankful it isn’t like that here all the time.

By: Hippstar

Hippstar — Tue, 10 May 2005 00:19:00 +0000

I like BlogKC’s idea of a starting small and building outward. I doubt the demand is too high in the suburbs (people wouldn’t have moved way out there if they minded long commutes), but I think a good starter line in the core of the city makes sense.

I’d like to see it come out to JoCo, but I don’t think people out here will pass a tax to pay for it.