TKC EXCLUSIVE!!! WHAT DOES THE KC STRIP SHUTDOWN SAY ABOUT THE FUTURE FOR THE STREETCAR TOY TRAIN?!?!
Kansas City's first transit experiment to encourage biz development and connect "walkable districts" in Midtown didn't go so well.
In fact, earlier this week the TKC BLOG COMMUNITY was the FIRST to break news about the KC Strip Shutdown.
Now . . .
KANSAS CITY CONSIDERS THE KC STRIP SHUTDOWN IN TERMS OF WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE TOY TRAIN STREETCAR!!!
First up . . .
A recent post from Show-Me Daily wonders: "Despite the experiences of people who run trains and trolleys for a living. If private companies do not support or cannot succeed with rail transit in Kansas City, why would anyone think a government bureaucracy would?"
And then . . . Take a look at El Bryan DOMINATING the #kcstreetcar tag on Twitter as of late.
El Bryan money quote with an AWESOME avatar that's worth a peek:
"The #KCStreetCar is a bad deal that dishonestly bypassed voters and makes money for a few who are focused on advancing their own careers."
El Bryan earned replies from Mayor Sly and Council Dude Russ Johnson.
Here Council Dude Johnson argues that more of a bad thing is even better:
"Interesting that @elBryan opposed #KCStreetcar starter line because it didn't go very far and now he's opposing its expansion. #notfrosty"
Obviously, El Bryan Gets The Last Word:
"Liberals sell you expensive ideas, but once the cost of living goes up, they move to another city and ruin that. #kcstreetcar"
Ouch.
Finally, best and EXCLUSIVE for last . . .
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS EVEN HANDED AND THOUGHTFUL QUOTE ON KC STRIP IMPLICATIONS FOR THE TOY TRAIN STREETCAR FROM KANSAS CITY TRANSPORTATION GROUP LEADER BILL GEORGE!!!
Bill George is on the left in black and this image was part of our EXCLUSIVE interview and tour of KC Strip facilities last Summer.
Here's what Bill George has to say:
"I think our service showed that people will take advantage of mass transit if it's easy to navigate and cost effective.
"The price tag for the streetcar system does seen high, until you put it in comparison to what is spent on local highways. KDOT just announced they will be spending $670 million to improve the I-35/I-435 interchange. And everyone thinks that's progress?
"The streetcar can have some positive spin off and economic effects.
"The lesson learned is that once the debate has ended and the votes have been cast, when the city commits to a project we all need to get behind it to make it work. There's no payoff in fighting over what's been done.
"That's why I'm so discouraged with Cordish. The time to debate their subsidy has long passed. People in this community, like me, have worked hard to promote P&L and would like to see the development succeed. That's why I'm always dumbfounded with how politically tone deaf Cordish acts."
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So, like it or not, the KC Strip provides a Kansas City teaching moment when it comes to a starter transit line and now Kansas City prepares to make a similar gamble, only with a much greater price tag/risk/cost.
DEVELOPING . . .
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25 Comments:
Why didn't we all get a chance to vote for the streetcar?
The straight line reference from the Streetcar to the Highways is disingenuous at best and legerdemain at worst.
leg·er·de·main (ljr-d-mn)
n.
1. Sleight of hand.
2. A show of skill or deceitful cleverness:
That's a VERY good word Chuck.
Bravo.
Nobody rode George's strip trolley. You don't hear ridership figures being quoted. Russ's trolley to nowhere will cost $200 million and will be free. And nobody besides tourist will ride it. Locals will continue to use the fast,efficient MAX bus.
7:42; Because we would have rejected it. It's a bad deal.
A street car carries twice as many people as a bus, but it costs 10x as much, and there's no flexibility to change the route.
The street car advocates will spin this into a "good thing" with claims that it increases property value along train routes by citing studies that show economic growth along corridors where the city invests money.
NO SHIT. Invest $1M in more buses and $24M in new sidewalks, street lighting, police, and maybe even some public art, and you'll have the same economic growth at 1/4 the cost. For $100M, we could have added new bus lines all over the metro, and a kick ass smart phone app to boot.
I support the expansion of public transit, but street cars are a passing fad that will take money away from our buses. With all the debt we've taken on over the years with new arenas, party districts, and talk of new convention hotels, this city is taking on too much too quickly, and City Hall is neglecting the needs of other neighborhoods by feeding us the line that if we invest in Downtown, more will come in from out of state.
I don't even want it to come from out of state. If I'm paying taxes to my city, I want them to spend it on stop lights in my neighborhood, and they're even ripping those out and replacing them with four way stop signs.
Everyone else should be as angry as I am.
The city, especially in this dramatic 6 year economic downturn, should tighten their belts and provide the basic services that are expected from citizens in all cities.
Streets, sewers, fire, police et al.
Our local obsession with becoming Denver or some other city with the addition of Hotels or this streetcar speaks to this city's incessant inferiority complex.
A more introspective look at who we actually are (Split down the middle by state line.) in terms of geography (Huge area in terms of sq miles.) economics (eroding tax base at the center and peripheral areas in revolt.) and realistic projections would indicate that the city needs to concentrate on the basics.
I have seen the trains in Denver and I get it, that it looks pretty cool.
This idea, is NOT a new or innovative approach. Building new hotels and hoping "They will come" will bring nightmares and not dreams come true.
These approaches seem to be copied again and again with neglible results.
Kansas City needs to go back to the gym and get in shape.
TKC is right, the toy train is a TKO.
8:03AM. Their claim that it increases property value is fascinating. I doubt it. But one thing is sure, my landlord's real estate taxes will be going up. So renters in the district will see increases. Guess mind will be around $200 to $300 per year.
My favorite thing about "being Denver" is that Denver has a free public transit route through their downtown.
It's a bus.
They also have light rail and it is RIDICULOUS. Y'know, one of the street car advocates tweeted a link to the impact that rail has on public transit ridership.
About 1.2% of people in KC ride public transit, whereas St. Louis built a light rail line in 2003 and a second in 2006, and now 2.4% of their citizens take public transit.
What do you think, KC? Is it a good investment? Should be be St. Louis, or Denver, or Portland?
By the way, you know what Portland has? Mostly homes priced out of the range for anyone under the age of 40. And TONS of hipster renters.
I love Kansas City for it's low cost of living and relatively low tax rate. These street car people are ruining that for us.
elByron, I don't remember the link you are talking about.
Ya still have it?
I'm kinda thinking that the street car and the KC Strip trolley aren't even apples and oranges. It's more like comparing cabbage to orangutans.
Good point and the truth 9:02
Ever seen three bigger losers pose for a picture? Where was the other Bill? Where was Glazer?
The Strip was not KC's first experience with trollies ... we had several running a regular route between the City Market and the Toy and Miniature Museum daily. Run by a non-profit corporation and charging a modest fee of 5 or 6 dollars... you could get on and off with the purchase of one ticket.... that system failed too.
What good is "breaking the news first" if the majority of people see it somewhere else first and don't even know this blog exists.
Bryan is missing the point.
It's not about a starter light rail line that we don't want or need, it's about funneling our tax money to lawyers, developers, the Heavies and all the other taxpayer funded moochers.
Once you figure that out, it all makes sense.
Billy George is well known for spending a lot of time in Vegas. In spite of his political spin about the toy train, wouldn't it be fun if there was a betting line on it? I'm sure he'd take the under on it ever supporting itself after getting his ass completely kicked with the Trolley. Damn they couldn't get anyone on it even with groupons, free drinks and Nigro sucking up down in Westport.
Well, I hear a lot of people here bitch about "lawyers, developers, the Heavies and all the other taxpayer funded moochers."
But they never seem to get around to naming names.
Look, they both could be horrible ideas.
But I'm still wondering what a drunk wagon that ran from bar to bar only on Saturday nights and charged $10 has to do with the street car.
The streetcar will be the new drunk wagon that runs from Union Station to River market. And it will be free.
All aboard, intoxicated hipsters.
To Bill George: Cordish political tone deaf? No. Follow the money and pwoer ... Nick Benjamin has a mayoral appointed seat on the downtown streetcar authority. So whose orders was he following to eliminate competition to the city streetcar such as the trolley? Wonder if Cordish is in line to pay for advertising on the Streetcar? City estimates a projected $1 mm in revenues from advertising.
Public transit is designed to lose money. It's purpose is to shuttle people around, and reduce the need for driving/parking. The trolley failed because the P&L District doesn't want someone taking their customers away from them, not because they weren't making money.
And don't think the point that 10:13 made was lost on me. I've tweeted that point numerous times. The people who pushed this scam through are all making money off of it, or have spent countless hours promoting it, so they're heavily invested in this thing to the point that they'd spend $500B of our tax dollars just to see it built if that's what it took.
The mayor actually called me out on twitter for suggesting that he had anything to do with the street car project, (which was ridiculous for him to do, BTW.) Who cares if the organization was around before he was ever elected? He was key in promoting it and bypassing KC's electorate to get the build approval. We need a mayor who will say NO to frivolous spending and focus on improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods.
Public services like trains, buses and airports aren't supposed to make money. They are a public service.
Do we actually think these things will and are run at a profit?
Their claim that it increases property value is true. But what they don't tell you is most of downtown KC is tax-abated. So the city won't see any money from that.
I'm not going to defend the street car, but we're in tinfoil hat territory if we think there was a grand scheme on behalf of street car conspirators to kill off a drunk trolley that was stupid to begin with.
The trolley boys basically pulled the plug on a failed idea that was hemorrhaging red ink, and now wants to blame it on someone else.
Don't be fooled.
Hey Chuck: http://kceconomy.com/2012/12/19/streetcar-named-potential/
YOU GUYS, SERIOUSLY:
http://www.examiner.com/article/cato-scholar-slams-street-car-as-obsolete-fantasy
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