Scott Persons wrote: Apparently, David doesn't think I've clocked enough ass time on this project to be informed about (snip)I think I've paid my dues.
David writes: Actually, I know you're informed about the project itself, what I was asking was what you base your opinion of STRIDE on, which was undoubtably influenced by comments made by the project organizers at Access Project meetings - as well as the website, as you noted. Scott Persons writes: The community time spent on evaluating and commenting on this project is astronomical and the project is better for it. David writes: This is probably true, but the "sunk cost" of time and money (over $2 million) on any project does not necessarily make it a desirable project - that's a common pitfall in both private business and government. If the project isn't right, and I don't believe an expanded freeway is, then anything you do to it from there is just lipstick on a pig. Scott writes: There has been no alternate proposal that is even near viable or funded and if MNDOT decides to do something without community input you haven't even seen excess David. David writes: I've heard this theme frequently - "the project isn't the best, but if MNDoT were doing it on their own, it would be scary". I don't respond well to scare tactics. Scott Persons: I haven't attended any of their (STRIDE)events because I felt their web materials were abusive and inappropriate. David writes: Abusive and inappropriate? The altered Tom Johnson & RT Rybak photos that were added recently might qualify, but other than that I think there is a lot of good material on the site. www.stride-mn.org Scott Persons: I'd also like to point out the other benefits to Lyndale and the region, a new, dedicated pedestrian bridge at 34th street, new bridges at 35th and 36th street with wider sidewalks and bike lanes, (snip) a transit station at 35W in Lake that is a real destination point for transit users, actual mitigation for neighbors next to 35W David writes: Many of these things are desirable, I agree - but people shouldn't need to take an expanded freeway with flyover ramps, etc to get the items we actually value. Scott writes: (the project promises)added jobs for our neighborhood residents at Wells Fargo and Abbott Hospital and whoever develops the Sears site David writes: Ah, the promise of jobs for the neighborhood - always a selling point; too bad it doesn't generally pan out that way. Phillips neighborhood has some of the highest unemployment on the south side, and even without the access project, there are more jobs in the Phillips neighborhood than residents - problem is those jobs are available to suburbanites too - if the jobs at Wells Fargo were to be filled by local residents, why would expanded freeway access be an issue? Scott writes: This isn't Target or Block E, David writes: No, it isn't; at a price tag approaching $200 million, it's over three times as expensive as Target, and about six times as expensive as Block E. Scott Persons Lyndale Neighborhood Ward 10 PAC member representing Lyndale (which unanimously approved the project in January) PS. A belated thanks to Wells Fargo for their expansion at their campus, 800 jobs that STRIDE could never provide! __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online http://webhosting.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ 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
