Brewmaster

You don't think there would be beurocracy if education was a private enterprise? Maybe not completely eliminated, but drastically reduced. On a federal level, there would still need to be standards and oversight, but on a state and local level...why bother? Just make sure that parents can make informed decisions about where they send thier kids. Give parents apples to apples comparisons of data on how well certain schools perform. Set up a mechanism for holding underperforming schools accountable. etc... Common sensify the whole system and make it run like a business (competively).

Just disband the whole school system and get it over with. Privatize the whole thing and give vouchers! Time to wipe out the beurocracy.

Updates from the Sept 25th meeting have been posted to the site... http://downtowncolumbus.com/development/streetcar.php Also, there's a new e-newsletter... http://www.murphyepson.com/public/enews/streetcarnews3.html Here are a few comments that people have sent in... They obviously run the gammut from cheerleaders to naysayers.

For carbs and huge servings, I'd go with Buca di Beppo. Also, a really underrated italian place downtown is Tony's in the Brewery District.

That development in Charlotte is frickin' beautiful. It's like a livable version of Easton with a better mix of residential/retail/commercial AND a solid connection to mass transit. If RiverSouth or City Center in Columbus turns out to be anything like that (with a streetcar rolling through it), I'll almost certainly be retiring here (and I'm only in my 20's).

What?

When the decision is between a cool fountain or older trees, planners are going to take the cool fountain anyday. Trees will get bigger, but the odds that someday there will be $$$ in the budget to install that fountain are slim to none.

Sounds good...like having a Figlio's downtown.

According to this data... http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/a103420391m.htm That's 16% of our annual gasoline consumption if all of it stays in state. Once you take the energy penalty into consideration, it looks more like 10%. Yeah...this looks like something we'd like to expose the consumers to...doesn't look volatile at all to me :roll: God forbid a drought or flood should destroy the corn crop for a year! If there only wasn't that pesky energy penalty associated with it, this would look like a bargain. WE'RE SAVED!!! THANK GOD WE'RE SAVED! HONEY...GET THE KIDS, WE'RE BUYIN' THAT NEW SUV AND HEADING OUT TO APPLEBEE'S!!!!!!

First of all...COTA shouldn't be saying things like that. They've already blown thier chance at light rail and have officially scrapped all plans for a future line. Sorry COTA, but this group shouldn't care much about your visibility. You're lucky to be invited. Secondly...I like the sound of a multimodal transit terminal south of the convention center. Talk about an exciting vision! That would make Columbus very attractive for businesses and conventioners with a link to the airport.

He's killing my fantasy team.

^ I can't believe that I just read that whole article about the project in Bexley and still don't know what's wrong with it. It sounds like it was soundly bashed by the commission, but the only explanation given was that it is "seriously flawed" or that it should be used as a nature park instead.

What are the next steps Noozer? The website doesn't have any more meetings listed. Is there a decision making process in place for the working group or the Mayor?

But note, Noozer said downtown workers, residents, and students. I'd like to see a spatial layout of those who responded to the survey. I'm guessing most respondants lived between 315 and 71 (and 70 & 270). It went out to the downtown workforce of my ENTIRE company. And it's a big company! There are only 2 other people I know that I consider to live Downtown. I'm sure there are others, but the majority live in areas like Canal Winchester, Pickerington, Westerville, Powell and other places outside of 270. That's part of the reason I was so shocked by the results. Most of the people I work with are the most vanilla suburbanites.

I was there and that one still hurts. The only consolation is that we played better than the Ravens...the score just didn't indicate it. To those who didn't watch the game, that may sound like sour grapes, but we dominated all but the last 3 1/2 minutes of that game. It was good so see Winslow and Edwards wreaking havoc on the "best defense in the league" too.

Yep...practices like these don't just become mainstream overnight. I'm also proud of the local government for pushing green building.

Wow! That's promising. When I filled out that survey, I was afraid of the employees group (suburbanites) scoffing at the idea and soundly beating it down. I was gonna guess that 20% would respond saying that they would ride it. That 70% number blew me away!

I hope the farmers enjoy it while they can, because if they start relying on that money, they'll be hurting when the ethanol bubble finally bursts.

Thanks for the informative post. I don't know enough about the airline industry to refute any of that. Hopefully they can find a way to ovecome some of those obstacles. And I agree that they need to partner up with Orbitz, Expedia, and ugh...Travelocity. Southwest is the only company that most people know well enough to look elsewhere for lower fares.

Care to give us the long story?

I don't know about that. This may be my biases speaking as a former Clevelander, but I think the Bisons would be far more sucessful here. There seem to be many more Cleveland transplants down here now than there were even 5 years ago, and I hear way more conversations at work about the Indians than the Reds (even with the Reds competing this year). The Sports Time Ohio Network is probably helping that some.

Thanks Noozer! After reading the latest presentations from the working group again, I had more doubts about the rumor. The costs look very reasonable and the group has some good options on the table for funding initial startup and operations. I appreciate the updates! You offer some insights that the local papers don't include. Also, is the working group planning any public meetings to be held in the evenings so people don't have to take two hours off of work to attend?

^ If nothing else, it should be an interesting experiment to see if anyone is dumb enough to use it when it's only 20 cents cheaper than regular gasoline.

Let this be a lesson to all of our dumbass policy makers who say that there's no demand for improved inter-city travel.

According to http://www.columbusgasprices.com/ a speedway station on the south side is $1.99/gallon. I get nervous when I see prices drop so low. People are going to think we're out of the woods and that big gulf find somehow saved us. I can see people charging up thier credit cards this x-mas season and then be completely screwed when things get back above $3/gal by Memorial Day. From talking to folks at work with long commutes though, it seems like they are all still planning on getting rid of thier pickups in favor of Honda Civics. We'll see if that holds out.