Comments on: Roundup

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 23:18:34 +0000

Some great opinions here, both sides make good points. I think light rail can work here, we need a different type than most cities.

Chastain is self serving, and he just doesn’t understand that there are changes necessary to his plan. I think they should keep his parts of his ideas and he should concede other parts that are not economic or plausible.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 08:17:03 +0000

Maybe with a two billion light rail systemm we’ll move beyond a crappy zoo…

By: Hippstar

Hippstar — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 02:41:00 +0000

Light rail in KC is a pretty dumb idea. It costs 2 or 3 billion dollars to build it, and it will always run a deficit somewhere in the tens of millions of dollars.

If it takes the average resident of KC less than 20 minutes to drive anywhere in the city, they’re not going to use light rail. Those 2 or 3 billion dollars would be better spent upgrading the bus system or investing in other infrastructure.

Light rail is very sexy, but it’s a pretty dumb idea for a small town like KC. We’re not Chicago and that’s ok. No one’s taking light rail to the crappy zoo.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 13:24:03 +0000

I disagree. It’s interesting to watch the lynch mob mentality of people repeating what they’ve read in the Star or heard repeated by others. We should spend whatever we have to (I’m willing to put in my fair share) to make it happen. We’re gonna have everything to make KC an attractive destination; world-class art museums, world-class arena, world-class convention center, world-class performing arts center, a vibrant urban core. Everything…but no decent public transit. We need something, even if it’s not exactly Clay’s plan. But I give him a lot of credit, because people have finally woken up to the fact that modern transit is going to be essential in the 21st century. Energy is never going to be cheap again, and in order to attract the kind of out-of-town dollars necessary to pay for all the amenities, transit is the icing on the cake. It’s Jim Nutter and Greg Patterson who should be thrown into the creek.

By: patrick

patrick — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:42:14 +0000

Chastain’s plan is never going to be built. Period. The funding mechanisms leave the plan short half a billion dollars, and that’s IF the Feds agree to chip in as expected, which is pretty damn unlikely. It just ain’t going to happen.

Sooner or later the city council or voters are going to have to repeal Chastain’s plan and start from scratch. It’d be better to have an alternative plan from Nutter’s group. But that’s what you get with citizen proposed ballot initiatives.

And I’ll go to my grave telling everyone that Chastain ought to be pitched head first into Brush Creek the next time he shows his face in this town. He’s never had Kansas City’s best interests in mind with his various schemes. It’s always been a effort to stroke his overinflated ego and sense of self-worth.

By: Jim S

Jim S — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 06:58:12 +0000

I do have to say that I love how they submit this petition while saying that they like the idea of light rail but they’ve never, ever been seen (To the best of my knowledge.) doing anything to move the idea forward under any terms.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 21:45:52 +0000

Jim Nutter and Greg Patterson are assholes. I will go to my grave reminding everyone how hard they worked against light rail, and imploring everyone never to do business with these douchebags.

By: patrick

patrick — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 18:49:52 +0000

Nice use of the sweeping, bigoted generalization there, Roger.

If there were more “bullshit cash cows” east of Troost, the city and developers would pay far more attention to the area than they have historically. “East of Troost” could be an up-and-coming area instead of a thinly veiled slur used by suburbanites and those north of the river. Let’s hope Funkhouser sticks with this campaign promise.

By: Roger

Roger — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 00:11:49 +0000

Funk needs to start following up on some other campaign promises before worrying about bullshit cash cows for developers to rake in the money. Who cares about east of Troost, anyway? The people living there don’t. Why should city hall?