Monorail dead! News at Eleven!

[tivoli_mike]

Well, Mayor Nickels officially withdrew support

 

Link to press release

[Alpinfox]

Will I get my $150 (or whatever it was) back from the "monorail fee" when I registered my car?

 

[olyclimber]

Seattle, the city of the future

[foraker]

Will I get my $150 (or whatever it was) back from the "monorail fee" when I registered my car?

 

 

No, they already made statements to that effect weeks ago.

[archenemy]

Will I get my $150 (or whatever it was) back from the "monorail fee" when I registered my car?

 

Fuck no. And you'll be charged again next time you register your car. That tax will NEVER go away. And the people who were forced to sell their businesses and properties below market value are screwed. The city will be selling their real estate for extroirdinary profit. It is dispicable.

[tivoli_mike]

Yep, I am staring at my excise fee for an October renewal right now....

 

<sigh>

 

 

Now we can watch the scramble for the excise taxing authority...can you say viaduct?

 

Edited September 16, 2005 by tivoli_mike

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Will I get my $150 (or whatever it was) back from the "monorail fee" when I registered my car?

 

Fuck no. And you'll be charged again next time you register your car. That tax will NEVER go away. And the people who were forced to sell their businesses and properties below market value are screwed. The city will be selling their real estate for extroirdinary profit. It is dispicable.

 

Suckers! :-))

[cj001f]

Suckers! :-))

[archenemy]

They really didn't have any choice. I have read a number of interviews with people who had to sell family businesses and whatnot. It is completely fucked. It is another example of the government appropriating private property for the "common good". Although I agree with public transportation, I don't agree with fucking over the little guy to get it.

[slothrop]

 

Fuck this fucking town.

[Dave_Schuldt]

The monorail is cool. It realy sucks that the people in charge fucked up. Busses are great but they just arn't fast enough. When will we learn?

[Crux]

According to the best transportation engineers, "monorail" and "pubic transportation" were an oxymoron. If it's true that a significant contribution to pubic transportation has never been at stake with the projected outcome of the monorail project, all that truly stood for one to approve or disapprove is the fucking over of many people. In Seattle, a confused majority approved.

[mattp]

I don't agree with fucking over the little guy to get it.

 

As far as I have understood, every real effort at "public transportation" everywhere has invoved some "taking" of private property and this has included, often, "fucking over the little guy." Yes, our Constitution provides that we give "fair" compensation, but that is not always what the little guy thinks if fair – particularly in retrospect. And this question is the same for the light rail project that IS under way. Private property has been condemned for the light rail, too, and it will not be accomplished without heavy impact on many many property owners along the route. I bet some "little guy" was screwed when they built the London tube, the Paris metro, the New York subway, or any other large scale public transportation project ever built.

 

The Monorail, I think, has been subject to some weird politics. Is it inherently a worse concept than surface-level light rail? I don’t really think so but there are arguments either way. However, there have been strong interests who have been against the monorail from the beginning. And I wonder why.

 

Have they screwed up the project? It seems so. But the voters have THREE TIMES voted yes. And now the Mayor says he is going to weigh in against it, but he doesn’t want to make the call without a FOURTH vote. And then, they tell us, the City Council and perhaps the Mayor will likely kill the project anyway.

 

Why would we vote a FOURTH time?

[ashw_justin]

We're fucking stuck with small automobile transportation due to shitty urban planning. Time to force carpooling and bus-riding. Time to turn every urban parking (that can be regulated) into carpool-only between the hours of 7:00 and 10:00 AM.

[Ireneo_Funes]

"The ring fell off my pudding can!"

 

Sorry, but someone had to say it.

[Norman_Clyde]

I don't agree with fucking over the little guy to get it.

 

As far as I have understood, every real effort at "public transportation" everywhere has invoved some "taking" of private property and this has included, often, "fucking over the little guy."

 

After the recent supreme court decision supporting the taking of private property for the purpose of "economic development," a group in New Hampshire proposed taking David Souter's summer home by eminent domain, for the purpose of building a resort called the "Lost Liberty Hotel."

[chirp]

 

Thank goodness I live in Tacoma

[bwrts]

Yes, poor money management and planning has seriously hurt a neat idea...oh well, I made money on this beast so whatever.

Seattle's infrastructure is the worst little big city I have ever seen. Light rail is cool too but takes up more room in the long run. I think this project should continue so my company can conduct more geotech and environmental explorations. Also, I would love to ride the monorail from home to work. I hate busses, so until there is an alternative like the Bay area BART system, I will continue to add to the freeway mess with one more single occupant vehicle.

[Dru]

 

[historyteachersareboring]

They really didn't have any choice. I have read a number of interviews with people who had to sell family businesses and whatnot. It is completely fucked. It is another example of the government appropriating private property for the "common good". Although I agree with public transportation, I don't agree with fucking over the little guy to get it.

 

[archenemy]

I don't agree with fucking over the little guy to get it.

 

As far as I have understood, every real effort at "public transportation" everywhere has invoved some "taking" of private property and this has included, often, "fucking over the little guy." Yes, our Constitution provides that we give "fair" compensation, but that is not always what the little guy thinks if fair – particularly in retrospect. And this question is the same for the light rail project that IS under way. Private property has been condemned for the light rail, too, and it will not be accomplished without heavy impact on many many property owners along the route. I bet some "little guy" was screwed when they built the London tube, the Paris metro, the New York subway, or any other large scale public transportation project ever built.

 

I ride the bus to work everyday. As far as I know, no one's property was comandeered for this form of public transportation. When I lived in Boulder, I rode my bike to work everyday. Why, because the bike paths there a well-planned, safe, and attrative. As far as I know, no one's property was stolen to make those paths. When I lived in Denmark, I took the train everywhere I went. That system was put without ripping out people's homes or businesses. Seattle used to have a fairly extensive electric car system of sorts. NO one's property was taken for that--it was built into the roadway. Come on now, there must be a way to build a route w/o making a heavy negative impact on people's lives. I just refuse to believe that there is not a single civil engineer bright enough to figure out a way. Call me a goddam optimist, but that is how I see it.

[cj001f]

As far as I know, no one's property was comandeered for this form of public transportation.

[archenemy]

Enlighten me.

[olyclimber]

I think he is referring to roads...which is one of the big dealios when it comes to eminent domain.

[cj001f]

Enlighten me.

What do those buses run on? Roads and highways - eminent domain is used for expansion of both.