Peter McLaughlin said: "....Even in this prosperous time, many communities are not effectively connected to the economy. Revitalizing our south Minneapolis neighborhoods require reconnecting them to the broader economy. We can do this with infrastructure, like the Hiawatha LRT line, the Midtown Greenway, new freeway access to and from I-35W....."
I agree with Peter that even in prosperous times, many communities were not effectively connected to the economy. However, I don't believe that transportation in the city is the contributing factor. I think in part it is a lack of commuter routes in the inner and outer ring suburbs. It doesn't help a person who is bus dependent to take a bus to Eden Prairie that only drops them at the Eden Prairie Center and still leaves them miles away from their destination. I believe that has served to limit employment opportunities for people in "impacted" neighborhoods. 60% of people living in Phillips do not drive. So, tell me how a bigger badder 35W helps those people? A few years ago, NICO Plating decided to stay in Whittier and double it's operation at the current site. One contributing factor was the access to labor LIVING IN THE CITY. Outer ring suburbs like Farmington, Chaska et al, do not have the labor supply that the city has. The journey and paths this company had to take just to continue and grow it's business in the city without economically cripling them, required changing state legislation. Not a great testimony to the effort it takes to do business in the city. Unless of course, you are a non-profit developer. Then, the doors of the city are flung wide open, whether or not we can afford the cost. Barb Lickness Whittier ===== "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
