Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (314200)	12/6/2006 9:06:46 AM
From: bentway	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1573439

"You never see more than a half dozen people on a bus" This is true in a lot of places. Many Americans are SO fat and lazy that the prospect of walking a few blocks from where the bus would drop them or pick them up is a factor in their thinking. But I think the main factor is simply status. There are people who ride the bus, and people who drive, and that defines the economics of both groups. The image of bus riding needs to be changed in the public mind, from something poor people do to something patriotic, concerned Americans do for their own benefit, our country's and the world's. That takes some leadership, which we seem pretty short of at the moment.

To: Road Walker who wrote (314200)	12/9/2006 2:21:46 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573439

re: The busses, light rail, etc., should be FREE, paid for with local gasoline taxes. Still, there are places where it just doesn't seem to work... I live in one of them. You never see more than a half dozen people on a bus, and there is no light rail, and it would cost $billions to retrofit it. Originally from Chicago where public transportation REALLY makes sense, and is for the most part VERY efficient. You could get almost anywhere from almost anywhere. I understand what you are saying but this can't be just about getting people out of their cars and into buses. It has to become a matter of public policy. Mass transit has to be the engine around which a local gov't designs its plans for the future. That means you establish policy and laws that encourage development around pre designated nodes and discourage sprawl. That means you encourage residential and job growth in the downtown areas of the metro area. That means you look for alternatives to freeways for tranporting people from one part of the metro area to the other and within the city itself. Roughly 10-15 years ago, San Diego, Seattle, Portland and other cities of the west including Los Angeles, began to shift their planning posture from one that looked more like a Dallas way of doing business to one that looks more like San Francisco. As a result, the density levels of these cities have grown and are growing significantly, and that, in turn, allows for more mass transit and for more flexible mass transit which better reflect the commuting needs of the public. To accommodate the increased density, they also have to put into place a variety of mass transit. That means buses, exclusive bus and high occupancy vehicle lanes on freeways, light rail, free busing downtown, bike paths and commuter rail, and in the case of SF and LA, subways. They have also encouraged greater residential development in their central cores. Ten years ago, Seattle had roughly 3-4K people living downtown. By 2010, its projected that downtown Seattle will have a resident population of over 20K. In fact, last month, downtown saw its first supermarket opening in its history. The same kind of population shift to downtown is happening in LA, San Diego, Portland etc. Portland is amazing....I would say that roughly 1/3 of its acreage downtown is devoted to residential living. First you make your downtown area attractive; then you build the housing. And I am not talking just subsidized housing......most of the residential construction in downtown Seattle is condo construction with prices ranging from $500K to multi millions. These days most buildings are 80-100% sold out before they complete construction. And this not just happening in downtown Seattle ; 'downtown' West Seattle also is seeing considerable midrise, residential development even though West Seattle has mostly single family and low density multifamily housing stock. So when you see buses with one or two people in them on the way to work just know that doesn't happen by chance just as packed buses don't happen by chance. The latter requires a public policy that is well coordinated and comprehensive. And that leads to another discussion.......the issue as to whether gov't can work for its citizens and improve their quality of life, or is it simply a parasitic appendage that drains the money from its constituents. I have had a number of examples of the former........MPLS, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle etc. so I know good gov't can and does benefit everyone and bad gov't manages to make a mess of things. Look at what Daly has down in Chicago.......while not a sterling example of good gov't he is not nearly as corrupted as his father........and Chicago is the better for it. FWIW.