Turns out Missouri is being sold toy train promises on both ends of the state in a tragic double-pronged obsession with new toys.
CHECK STL COMING TO TERMS WITH THEIR IMPENDING TOY TRAIN FAIL!!!
CATO institute offers the money lines . . .
"There is no evidence that ridership is very significant or that you are going to attract very many riders"
Moreover . . .
LOOK FORWARD TO ANOTHER DOUBLE DOWN AS KANSAS CITY WILL NEED MORE CORPORATE WELFARE TO FAKE VIBRANCY AROUND THE TOY TRAIN LINE!!!
I hope KC has more cash to keep biz on track . . .
"Development along streetcar lines doesn’t usually take place without the kinds of government infrastructure subsidies and tax breaks granted in Portland."
Unfortunately . . . Developing . . .
The CATO Institute? Really, Tony?
ReplyDeleteA lot of so called redevelopment receives so many different subsidies that I doubt anyone really knows how much has been poured into them.
ReplyDeleteI can see it now. The toy train has arrived at a cost way over budget, the contractors have made a killing, the mayor is bragging about how great KC is now because of it, ridership consists of urbanite hipsters taking instagram selfies taking a ride, and then year after year it drains funds from the city instead of producing funds.
ReplyDeleteway to go!
He asked whether cities are “just building Disneyland rides to make yuppies happy.”
ReplyDeleteThat about sums it up.
While we are at it I declare a motion to change the new 1 terminal airport to Sly James International Airport.
ReplyDeleteWhy the need for a streetcar with drones coming that will deliver your Jimmy Johns sandwich or toilet paper right to your apartment or loft window.
ReplyDeleteRobots workers are coming also.
ReplyDelete“The opportunity is massive,” said Andrew McAfee, a principal research scientist at the M.I.T. Center for Digital Business. “There are still people who walk around in factories and pick things up in distribution centers and work in the back rooms of grocery stores.”
Interesting since car loans are at a high.
ReplyDeleteAmericans took out a record number of auto loans in the third quarter
Yup the robots are coming. Who WOULDNT want to buy more robots when your employees are going on strike demanding $15 an hour to cook burgers, or unions trying to infiltrate wal mart and drive up wages beyond what they should be.
ReplyDeleteLet these bigots ride the bus.
ReplyDeleteTDD Reform in Jefferson City NOW.
ReplyDeleteContact your Missouri House Rep and DEMAND it.
ReplyDeletePotential lessons learned ...? Cincinnati City Council vote to pause $133 million streetcar project and ask for independent audit on cost
http://www.fox19.com/story/24137696/city-council-has-voted-to-pause-spending-on-cincinnati-streetcar
Can Cincinnati election outcome derail KC's streetcar
Austin Alonzo
Reporter- Kansas City Business Journal
Email | Twitter | LinkedIn | Google+
A funny thing happened Tuesday night in Cincinnati that could have a big effect on Kansas City’s planned 2.2-mile, $102 million streetcar project.
John Cranley, a mayoral candidate, campaigned promising to stop big public spending on his city’s streetcar project. Cranley handily defeated his opponent, Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls. Cincinnati voters also picked a city council with more voices against that city’s $133 million streetcar project.
The Cincinnati Business Courier, a publication affiliated with the Kansas City Business Journal, recently asked whether it is possible to cancel the streetcar project, which the city has been working on since 2007. The Business Courier reported that Cranley can stop the project if he has the support of his city council. But in doing so, he would burn more than $21 million in local money already spent on the project and have to send an additional $45 million in federal assistance back to Washington.
So what’s this all mean to Kansas City’s streetcar project? That’s harder to say.
The Kansas City Council already has authorized a $17.9 million contract with CAF USA Inc. to “piggyback” on Cincinnati’s order with CAF. The city is paying for those streetcars with proceeds from the sale of $78 million in special obligation bonds the council authorized on Aug. 29.
CAF spokeswoman Virginia Verdeja said CAF has not heard anything from Cincinnati yet and does not expect its contract with Cincinnati to be canceled.
Cincinnati’s streetcars are under construction, she said, and it would be “pure speculation” to suggest that Kansas City might get those streetcars if Cincinnati decides to pull out.
Kansas City’s project managers — City Engineer Ralph Davis and Sherri McIntyre, director of Public Works — did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the situation.
McIntyre previously told the Business Journal that Kansas City is not Cincinnati and that the streetcar project here enjoys full public support.
Kansas City spokesman Chris Hernandez said that under the terms of the city’s contract with CAF, Cincinnati’s decision will not affect Kansas City.
“Our contract separates us from (Cincinnati’s), so that they or us can make changes without affecting the other,” Hernandez said in an email.
Joni Wickham, a spokeswoman for Mayor Sly James’ office, said Cincinnati is in a “precarious situation.”
Hernandez and Wickham both said that if Cincinnati does cancel its streetcar, Kansas City will have one less competitor for much needed federal assistance.
The St. Louis line they describe is far less stupid than the one being built in KC--it at least runs from a fairly densely populated neighborhood in U City to a terminus that would allow someone to switch over to the subway and then ride downtown or out to the airport. I wish it had been there when I lived in U City.
ReplyDeleteThe Kansas City train, however, is beyond idiotic.
Blue Springs to downtown is a densely populated area. But they're racist as fuck so they'll car pool before they have to be reminded they live in a slave colony.
ReplyDeleteRum, sodomy and the lash is what made America what it was!
ReplyDelete