Points well made and an interesting idea about combining NOACA & the Port Authority.

 

Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency won't show its muscle, critics say

 

Monday, October 08, 2007 Tom Breckenridge Plain Dealer Reporter

 

A powerful regional agency, panned for its narrow focus on roads and bridges, decided last year to look at the big picture with a $100,000 study of the region's economy.

 

...SNIP...

 

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

 

[email protected], 216-999-4695

 

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1191832659284670.xml&coll=2

 

NOACA is a classic example of a "stay between the lines, the lines are our friend" planning philosophy.  They have been approached numerous times to endorse and advocate for a more intermodal strategy, but as the article states, their response has always been to fall back on the familiar: "highways or no way".

 

They ought to be championing projects like the Ohio Hub, West Shore Corridor, more light rail and bike/ped improvements for NE Ohio.  Instead, they use the excuse of "federal rules" and an almost patronizing attitude that suggest they know better what the community wants and needs than the community itself.

 

Contrast them with MPO's like TMACOG in NW Ohio or MORPC in Central Ohio.  While not perfect, they are often not only the first to push for intermodal transportation improvements, but to take the initiative in engaging port authorities, transit authorities and state agencies to move more deliblerately toward building transportation systems that create more choices.

 

 

well kids...they do have a website....you know where I'm going with this, write right.

Not "almost patronizing" but overtly patronizing. Almost two years ago, I organized a small meeting about commuter rail, with a few officials from the West Shore and Akron to discuss strategies for restarting the NEORail process. The response from NOACA staff was downright offensive. After we left, several of the people I was with were so angry at the NOACA staffers they were tempted to punch them.

I have a slightly different take on NOACA. The director was hired at a time when the agency's existence was threatened. He was chosen because he would listen and obey to the directors.  He constantly points out how difficult it is satisfy the diverse opinions in the seven county region. His heart is in the right place (pro-public transit), but he doesn't have much backbone to fight for it. 

3231.....how is that a different take.  We're paying for inept management?  Thats all I needed to hear!

3231.....how is that a different take. We're paying for inept management? Thats all I needed to hear!

 

Its been my experience that NOACA is anti-sprawl and pro-urban. While this is what they'd like to see, they crumble when the suburban and non-Cuyahoga county board members demand that they support sprawl.

3231.....how is that a different take.  We're paying for inept management?  Thats all I needed to hear!

 

Its been my experience that NOACA is anti-sprawl and pro-urban. While this is what they'd like to see, they crumble when the suburban and non-Cuyahoga county board members demand that they support sprawl.

 

So how is this "agency" helping all of NorthEast Ohio?  If they have a leader who is ineffective?  Saying one thing and doing another is ridiculous.

Its been my experience that NOACA is anti-sprawl and pro-urban. While this is what they'd like to see, they crumble when the suburban and non-Cuyahoga county board members demand that they support sprawl.

 

I agree with that assessment 100% And that makes the staffpersons' actions I've witnessed even more puzzling. I guess they felt I and others weren't in a position to help them in their preferred mission and chose to belittle us as potential allies. Seems they felt they had all the friends they needed but didn't think they had enough enemies.

 

I choose to be neither a friend nor an enemy to them -- I've taken an apathetic approach to NOACA. If they disappeared, would anyone really notice except a bunch of anal-retentive policy wonks?

So how is this "agency" helping all of NorthEast Ohio?  If they have a leader who is ineffective?  Saying one thing and doing another is ridiculous.

 

The NOACA leader, while spineless, tries to ride the RTA to work every day from the Heights. If he were playing SimCity, we'd have an awesome transit system. However, he operates in reality and readily bows to those with stronger voices.

I wonder if any NOACA folk read UO.