How about postponing the Crosstown project until light rail is done.
Then, all those drivers can take the train to avoid the construction hassle:)
--
Dean Lindberg
Minnehaha neighborhood
Minneapolis, MN 55417
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wizardmarks wrote:
>
> I exhausted from reading D. Klein's schedule and grateful that I don't have to
> do that. However, I do see frantic moms on the buses with kids and groceries.
> They do quite a lot of what Klein does, but they do it all on buses. Seeing
> them exhausts me as well--they all need cars too. Individual transportantion,
> an unhealthy amalgum between the auto industry and President Eisenhower, I
> think. uburban sprawl, begun as an attempt to have starter housing for GIs
> returning from WWII, was burgeoned out too far a long time ago, but no one then,
> so far as I know, was in the bully pulpit leading the charge back to the
> compactness of city life. America's whole car jones is about something more than
> suburban sprawl or conservation of resources, in fact, it exists on a different
> level. What we have now is that moment when "objects in mirror may be closer
> than they appear." Now we're up to our pink lacies in a mess only a few could
> see coming and we are nowhere near a set of satisfactory ideas and initiatives
> to deal with it.
> WMarks, Central
>
> D.Klein wrote:
>
> > I've been reading all the posts on transportation, and decided,
> > acknowledging I will incur derision for what some may perceive as our
> > "privileged" lifestyle, to put in my perception. For those with a low
> > tolerance for personal trivia, please skip this message. For those who are
> > interested in a pretty typical mom's transportation schedule -
> > read on.
> >
> > We live in the city and plan on staying here. My husband works on University
> > Ave. and drives because he goes to see clients, other business locations
> > etc. I am now a stay-at-home mom.
> >
> > Our last week's schedule (which was typical) ran as follows:
> >
> > Sat. - husband to office, me to kid's ballet class in Hopkins, then to
> > Target and Cub. Evening - Pick up babysitter in St. Louis Park, attend a
> > viewing in Bloomington and then go to dinner downtown. Take babysitter home.
> >
> > Sunday - church and Sunday school. Afternoon, elementary school open house
> > in Hopkins, then child to birthday party.
> >
> > Monday - husband to office St. Paul and to Eagan. Mom and child to
> > Ridgedale, library, Land's End Outlet and Toys R' Us. Evening - kid swim
> > class at Knollwood.
> >
> > Tues. - husband to St. Cloud. Child to preschool. Mom downtown to doctor -
> > then to Uptown for haircut. Pick up kid, take kid to doctor near
> > Children's. Stop at drugstore on the way home for prescriptions. Evening -
> > meeting at prospective grade school for prospective families in north
> > Minneapolis.
> >
> > Weds. - husband to office and downtown St. Paul for meeting. Child to
> > preschool. Mom to grocery store to pick up stuff Cub didn't have and to
> > post office Pick up child - home for lunch and then downtown to MacPhail
> > for music class. While child at class, run to Costco. Pick child
> > up, go to Calhoun Village to pay for piece of furniture. Evening - volunteer
> > meeting.
> >
> > Thurs. - husband to office and then to Red Wing. Child to preschool. Mom
> > to Roseville to pick up piece of furniture. Pick up child - home for lunch,
> > then to South Minneapolis for playdate. Drop donation at Arc. Evening -
> > client dinner in Uptown, pick people up at Radisson Metrodome and return
> > them.
> >
> > Fri. - husband to office, Mom and kid to North Minneapolis to drop off item
> > for repair. Cat to vet for shots, stop at florist and liquor store for Sat.
> > dinner party. Stop at market for food for party. Stop at Hallmark.
> > Evening - home.
> >
> > OK - now I admit there are some trips that weren't necessary and some could
> > have been doubled up - but overall - where would LRT and busing have fit in
> > here? And it is too easy to sneer that the above looks like a privileged
> > life style so not applicable to some. Of course it's not - but there are
> > alot of parents out there like me - frantically running errands while our
> > kids
> > are in school and shuttling them around or frantically running as many
> > errands as we can stuff in after work or on our lunch hour. Trying to run a
> > household while our significant others travel, travel, travel. How does
> > this fit into the transportation equation?
> >
> > When I worked downtown (for almost 20 years) - I took the bus when I could -
> > but usually didn't. Why? Because I could often be in the office until 7, 8
> > or 9 at night, I might go out after work, I might have errands to run on the
> > way
> > home, I might not go in until late the next day if I had finished a trial
> > and was exhausted. Also - my bus stop was six blocks away, and after
> > "peak", it only ran every hour. And - I'd often be carrying a briefcase or
> > two, files, maybe dry cleaning and traveling at night. Or I'd be in NY for a
> > day. Circumstances constantly changed. Carpooling was impossible. Which is
> > how it has continued for my husband. The people for whom mass transit works
> > best are those with stable, steady schedules, going to the same place
> > everyday, or for runs out to the airport. For the rest, it doesn't work as
> > well, particularly in a city so much less dense than (as someone has
> > suggested) Paris. Even if growth stopped today - we still have 100 or so
> > square mile of city(ies) to transverse (I just made that up - I have no idea
> > how big the metro area is). I don't see it shrinking either. Our jobs and
> > shopping and errands are not like in a population dense city like Manhattan,
> > where you can literally do everything entirely in your neighborhood or take
> > the subway anywhere. I have lived in NY - and the transit was great. I
> > have lived all over the Midwest, and it is not great anywhere you don't have
> > population density.
> >
> > Please give people the benefit of the doubt that we do want to see great
> > transportation available for everyone and we don't just all want to be part
> > of the problem, racing our SUVs through freeway compromised neighborhoods.
> > Clearly - there are alot of options needed for differing circumstances -
> > some involving LRT, some busing, some street and highway travel. There are
> > obviously so many smart people reading this site, and so many knowledgeable
> > about policy issues. So what's the solution? And, no - sorry - I don't
> > accept slashing our mobility OR leaving that mobility only to "the
> > privileged" (whoever they are).
> >
> > D. Klein
> > Kenwood
> > Ward 7
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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