TKC BREAKING NEWS!!! CONTROVERSIAL KANSAS CITY TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT POLICY DEFEATED AMID CONCERNS OVER TOY TRAIN STREETCAR EXPANSION!!!
This week City Hall considered a resolution/ordinance that create transit-orientated development (TOD) policy . . . Critics argued that it was simply a clandestine attempt to push through toy train streetcar expansion.
To wit . . .
TODAY THE TOD WAS DEFEATED IN COMMITTEE THANKS TO A GREAT MANY OUTSPOKEN CRITICS AND GOOD QUESTIONS!!!
Council lady Heather Hall and even mayoral candidate Scott Taylor seemed skeptical of measure and questioned its motives despite a lot of assurances from city staff.
Now, here's the rundown on today's development from local activists . . .
"CFRG and Friends would like to take this opportunity to thank; first of all those who took the time this week to alert their councilpersons (CP) of this ordinance or resolution. It is obvious they heard your voices. Also we would like to thank all the CP attending the hearing this morning. It was obvious from the presentation and the questions asked by the CP, this issue is far from over. We still believe the plan is to limit automobile traffic as pointed out by the QuikTrip representative and promote streetcar expansion.
"The usual suspects along with a few legitimate individuals paraded in front of the council to try and persuade the CP to immediately vote for the policy. CP using their common sense decided to defer a vote until more of the committee members and voters could read the plan and make an intelligent decision. This document is over 150 pages in length and quite ambiguous. It is supposed to be a guide, yet uses words like requiring, prohibiting, limiting, etc. this doesn’t sound like a guide to us . . ."
Like it or not, the reality is that transit development is not longer seen as a slam dunk given streetcar problems this week and longstanding complaints from locals who want to refocus City Hall priorities on neighborhoods.
You decide . . .
This is the beginning of the end of the streetcar.
ReplyDeletePeople are realizing that it's not something that will help time in their every day lives and one hundred million is a lot to fund and support for the rest of their lives.
Why did Jolie push this? That's the real story I'd like to find out, it doesn't seem bad on paper but I wonder why she didn't work with the other council members more closely.
ReplyDelete#KCStreetcar involved in crash tonight at Truman and Main Street. Unknown details.
ReplyDeleteThis city is so corrupt that the extension will be passed anyhow, just like the starter line, just like the convention hotel. Nothing ever changes
ReplyDeleteJolie needs to get the downtown to pay for their old sewers. Forget the streetcar.
ReplyDeleteDave Johnson and Matt Staub had success with the original TDD and the momentum was behind them until the streetcar expansion was soundly defeated in 2014. Now we are seeing it operate, and as it turns out, the critics were right: there are a *lot* of problems with it.
ReplyDeleteBike Walk KC and other public transportation advocates buddied up with the streetcar folks to have a seat at the table as infrastructure $ was being spent along the streetcar route, but it has created distrust and resentment toward them.
I actually saw the benefits of this TOD but there is no way that I was going to publicly support it because Dave Johnson, Matt Staub, et al would exploit it and have a heyday with it.
Ultimately, we have to gear up for the next expansion fight. If they want to have citywide discussion about the pros and cons of expansion, I am open to listening to it, but if they pursue another TDD and exclude 95% of registered kc voters and tax payers, SMARTKC is going to fight them tooth and nail and they're going to continue to face opposition on any transit related ordinances that they put their stamp of approval on.
Jolie Justus must have taken several seats... like she should have.
ReplyDeleteMEANWHILE, Las Vegas is enjoying its MONORAIL that is nothing like this over-priced KC Toy Train !!!
ReplyDeleteThe Vegas Monorail requires NO Wires, NO Street problems with cars, because its sits atop its own Structures high above streets and traffic and is more efficient and can move faster than this Stupid ignorant pathetic disgusting Toy Train of Mayor Sly James !!!
GO to YOU TUBE and search Las Vegas Monorail and see for yourself !!
You guys should read the ordinance instead of letting a wingnut conspiracy theorist "explain" it to you.
ReplyDeleteTOD policies apply to buses and streetcar routes, Bryan, including in Northeast. Doesn't seem very "smart" to cut off your nose to spite your face.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you haven't noticed the difference in what's happening downtown (growth) and what's happening in your neighborhood (death), but midtown ears have, and if you think we supported the streetcar expansion before, now that it's running and we are seeing the results and the ridership, you better believe we are voting for expansion again (just like we voted for every other light rail proposal ever).
TDD's don't bother us, we pay for 50% of the city's budget, anyway. And we are tired of $ flowing out of our neighborhoods to prop up Northeast and the East side. If you guys are satisfied with your vacant lots and abandoned buildings, great. We aren't. That's how real local democracy works. We get to do the things in our neighborhoods that we want, you guys can keep up doing thing the way you've been doing them for the last 60 years, and the northland can keep trying to be Olathe.
If you don't want to "pay" for it, don't shop here or live here. We don't need you.
"SMARTKC is going to fight them"!
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha!
Good luck. SMARTKC doesn't exist except in your mind. It's a Twitter troll that 99% of people don't know about and of the ones who do all but about 20 laugh at.
We're all still waiting on your magical mystery bus plan that goes everywhere you can dream from wherever you are for FREE! Remember, the one you promise to deliver to voters if only we defeated the stinky slave train expansion!
We're glad you helped Sherry Dejanes steal our trolley trail, though. That made you REAL popular in Brookside....
The silly adolescent parochialism demonstrated by 10:44am is exactly what keeps the region trailing other similar sized metro areas.
ReplyDeleteBadmouthing the "rubes" in the suburbs, where, in this region 80+% of the region's residents actually live, but with these comments actually telling KCMO residents in other parts of the same city that the downtowners have become a city-state all to themselves, that "they" fund the rest of KCMO, and that everyone else can take a hike.
"Go screw yourselves" seems like a poor marketing strategy, certainly for actual businesses who would like to attract more customers than the 20K residents of downtown, but if you live in a world of tax-subsidized toys and entertainment attractions, perhaps that seems like a reasonable view of the world.
Probably not time to bring up something like a bi-state tax for the arts and regional institutions, though.
You'd hope that the joys of having no responsibilities would be left behind after college, but apparently not.
"We're all still waiting on your magical mystery bus "We're all still waiting on your magical mystery bus plan that goes everywhere you can dream from wherever you are for FREE!"
ReplyDeleteIt's already operating. It's known as KC Streetcar Boondoggle Passenger Rescue Bus Transit System. It's performed magnificently three times this week.
10:44 & 12:55: Toot toot. Hoot. Bzzzzt. Crash. Clunk.
ReplyDeleteThe most interesting piece of information was given by a Professional gentleman who stated that the reason he was for the Policy Proposal was because of the last four pages --a"catalog of incentives"
ReplyDeleteThis is a policy that defines the T.O.D corridors in 175 pages and is supposed to be on the web page but is not available for download --which means that it is not available for the general public to read. It was interesting that Joolie Justus used the term "STAKEHOKDERS" several times but did not mean her constitutes, as she was talking about persons who had suggested elements on housing etc.
Real funny 1:30, thanks.
ReplyDelete