The folks who want to widen Lake Street (The Southwest Journal) say we have to because of a study that predicts an increase in car traffic on Lake Street.
Experience should make us wary of men in suits holding their crystal balls...are they working for families and neighborhoods or are they working for the developers, construction companies and construction unions that have been wrecking buildings and pouring concrete and tar all over the city for decades? -We should remember the "Ten years of budget surpluses" these guys predicted a short while ago . -We should remember they predicted air traffic growth would require a giant new charter terminal AND a parking facility for the Humphrey Terminal....AND a new airport! -They also predicted the Twins would leave unless taxpayers built them a new stadium. They can't predict the future.. there a lot of facts, trends and unknown variables (like terrorists with box-cutters) that these guys aren't putting into their prognosticating balls...here's a few facts they leave out: -The Baby Boomers are getting older and will soon reach an age where they can no longer safely drive a car...to meet their needs, the city will need a more walkable, less polluted neighborhoods with traffic calming and better mass transit. -The U.S. imports over 60% of the oil we use to get from here to there in cars. Minnesota imports 100% of its oil. Much of this oil comes from places that are politically unstable...Colombia, Venezuela, Nigeria ....and the Persian Gulf where we are about to go to war with the nation that holds the second largest reserves while Saudi Arabia (a monarchy where most of the 9/11 hijackers came from) teeters on the brink. We don't really know how much oil is left in the ground because the wonderful oily folks that brought us the Enron, Harkin and Halliburton accounting fiascoes control that information...do you still trust them? -The effects of Global Warming will increase worldwide demands on the U.S. to reduce fossil fuel use...we could , when the climate gets REALLY screwed up be facing sanctions from the international community. Instead of letting these guys with the crystal balls tell us what we're going to get based on some bogus study, let's tell them what we want...I want a more beautiful, cleaner, quieter, safer, economically sustainable city that my family can walk and bike around without fear of being run over or gassed with carcinogenic exhaust fumes..I'm guessing most people who live around Lake Street would prefer that to a cross-town freeway...especially the people who have to push their groceries and kids down Lake Street in shopping carts because (duh) they can't afford a car. I want Lake Street to have a sleek, modern streetcar line (like every industrialized country and many smaller nations have) and I want bike lanes and wider sidewalks...and one lane for the horse carriages and oxcarts that are going to replace the cars and trucks when the oil runs out. Ken Avidor Kingfield _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
