Brewmaster

I understand your concerns Rob, but I think a sizeable difference can be made through individuals' choices in response to higher prices. We need to be challenged to use energy more efficiently in this country and what better way to do it then with the almighty motivator. Here are a few things I mean by individual choices... - Drive less aggressively - Drive slower on the highway - Properly inflate your tires - Consolidate trips to work, shop, etc... - Drive the more fuel efficient car on longer trips Those changes can be made regardless of social status or availability of cheap hybrid cars.

[cough]streetcar[cough][cough]

I agree. If you can't change what the consumers are driving...change how they drive. Raise the gas tax.

Well...I've searched but couldn't find any bios on Mr. Beasley. The selection seems a little rural for my taste. I think my ideal candidate would've been from out of state.

One thing that Kunstler constantly misses the the impact of the very thing that allows him to reach so many people...the internet. If this were 1950, he'd have to kill a hundred thousand trees to spread his message to as many people as he does today. People will end up shifting in large numbers to telecommuting to work, school, and loads of other day to day activities. People are not going to just abandon the suburbs and leave smoldering ghost towns. They're going to fight kicking and screaming until they can find an arrangement that allows them to keep something that resembles their current lifestyle. The price of gas might hit $10/gallon, but people will find a way to cope with it...just wait...it'll be rediculous to watch. To an extent, it already is (see: Bush Adminstration's reliance on Ethanol to keep us motoring).

Here's the project website... http://www.dot.state.oh.us/7071study/ Discussion Thread here on Urban Ohio... http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2924.0 The short of it...ODOT didn't want to fund any caps...the public basically demanded it at public meetings...ODOT came back with $37 million for 2-3 caps and vertical retaining walls...the city wants 11 caps...ODOT made some conceptual renderings...MORPC just announced some funding...the ball is in the city's court to find more money...

Very good news! Anyone related to the Coleman administration has to have had some of the pro-urban agenda rub off on him. It's certainly good news for the funding of the 70/71 caps! Also, I agree with Noozer's take. Remove nepotism from the equation by building the organization from the bottom up with people who share the same vision, rather than letting the director nominate all of his cronies.

Nice article there. It gave me reason to believe this whole country isn't screwed.

^ You should write for a newspaper or somethin'.

Perfect article (editorial) for this discussion... http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-bushtransit.artjan31,0,6414983.story?coll=hc-headlines-editorials

Something doesn't smell right about that estimate. $60 million for 16 miles?!?! Columbus' estimates were $64-77 million for the basic 2.1 mile (4.9 track mile) starter line! Are we sure that Dayton isn't talking abut rubber tires?

I like kingfish's proposal better...just as long as there's some sort of requirement that their uniform doesn't smell like urine.

Huh? I was responding to amrapinva. Sorry. I thought you were insinuating that this whole premise of this thread was crap because I was trying to figure out some engineering controls to keep the homeless out. Proceed.

Because I hate entitlement programs.

^ Actually sounds like step 1 of the peak oil prophecy. Oil prices go up, road maintenace costs go through the roof, proverbial shit hits fan. This might actually cue the start of a reasonable discussion about alternatives to highways and autos.

Everytime I see The Heights, all I look at is how stupidly they routed those electric lines. Those people paid over $500k to stare at power lines out of thier windows. That kinda thing never shows up on the pretty renderings. Also...I've never heard of those two proposed buildings. Do they have websites? Where are they going to be located?

I was at last night's game...another complete sell out, and the team rewarded the fans. Special teams really won that game for us. It's good to see us starting to capitalize on power plays!

By looking at those 12AM - 6 AM departure times, it appears that Amtrak looks at Ohio as an inconvienience, rather than an opportunity. i.e. "It sucks that we have to go all the way through Ohio to get from NYC to Chicago."

It's nice to talk about "creating an environment", "organic growth", and "business incubators", or whatever else the catch phrase of the day is. My original point was that I'm excited that Columbus is throwing money at actual future jobs (especially good-paying creative ones). They still have some pet projects like the "SciTech campus", but they also know how to put the money were it will make a measurable, concrete impact.

^ Doesn't a "full circuit" depend on where a passenger gets on? I think you're right though...It probably just takes diligence on the part of the driver to keep an eye out.

I took a trip to Atlanta this past fall and rode the MARTA pretty much everywhere. For the first few days of my trip, it was typical Atlanta weather for September, but on the last day the temperature dipped down in the 40's. When that happened, the MARTA got gross. The trains became packed with sleeping homeless people who seemed to just ride all day in the nice, warm cars. The cars ended up smelling like the elephant cage at the zoo, and I couldn't wait to jump off at the end of my rides. My question for all of those public transit experts out there is...how do transit agencies keep this from becoming a problem? Obviously MARTA didn't have a very good system, but do any other cities have a solution? I can see this becoming an issue for the proposed streetcar lines in Cincy and Columbus. There's no better way to scare a suburbanite than a sleeping homeless person.

It's not a lack of jobs...it's a lack of a certain kind of jobs. These are creative, energetic jobs like those routinely found in NYC and San Fran. It's also uncommon for young employees working in creative fields to be making $70k/year. That's just a phenomenal combination that can really contribute to downtown's vibrancy. I understand your point, but jobs in Columbus are generally centered around working for the goverment, insurance companies and banks, but those jobs generally attract a different type of candidate.

^ And Ethanol! Oy! I hope he's got a Plan B when faith in technological advances for cellulosic ethanol don't pan out, but based on his track record, I doubt he does. :roll:

Wow! A balanced, researched article!!! Good job Lantern!

In my opinion, THIS is how you retain talented young employees. You give companies that attract them deals that are too good to pass up on. I'd be suprised if less than 10 of these 90 new employees take up residence downtown. $70k/year, talented, young, and creative...that's what we need more of. http://www.dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2007/01/23/20070123-C1-02.html