Once again the call of "try to get suburbanites to pay more for the amenities we enjoy in the city". It's so refreshing.
I suggest that Mr. Leurquin go to the businesses, cultural organizations, restaurants, etc. and share his idea with them. Ask the Minnesota Orchestra and the Guthrie how they would fare if they were supposed to charge more for that major portion of their audience who don't live in the city. Ask the Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves. Ask the owners of the restaurants on Eat Street. Ask Fields. Remember that majority of the downtown workers who eat and purchase things while they are downtown. Charge more for people from outside the city to bank there, to invest with the stockbrokers there, etc. I guess that he won't mind paying more when he goes to Saint Paul, Edina, Saint Louis Park, Golden Valley, Falcon Heights (remember the State Fair), etc. It will be especially interesting to see what the prices are for the Fair for somebody from Internation Falls, both admission and all of the things purchased inside. Heck, maybe political donations should fall under this proposed surcharge. Someone from Winona giving money to a city politician would have to give more than a city resident (maybe there would be a rakeoff for the city). Don't act like this is a regional economy. If Mr. Leurquin operates a business, let him institute it now. If he works for a business, let him suggest this to management. After all, if you believe in this, you should be willing to go forward with it in a voluntary manner. I already spend my money all over the metro area (and I live in Saint Paul), but I spend as little as possible on larger purchases in the cities where the sales tax is 1/2 percent higher than elsewhere. What's that, we need a new stove? Let's go to the suburbs. The car needs to be repaired, the shop's in the suburbs. Maybe Mr. Leurquin isn't familiar with the concept of price elasticity. Metro Transit is: they know that a fare increase, even though the new fare is way below what it costs to drive and park a car, will cost a lot of riders. Does he enjoy being forced to buy from Ticketmaster and paying that surcharge? Listen to the blah-blah about lrt: even though the claim is that it's so much more enjoyable/faster/you name it, they won't charge more to ride it instead of the buses their target market won't ride. The current mystery: the proposed Northstar train between Saint Cloud and Minneapolis might charge $4-6 for a trip from Elk River and downtown and $8-12 for a trip from Saint Cloud and there are supposed to be about 2.8 million trips a year, but the fare revenue is only supposed to cover no more than 1/3 of the $15 million annual operating cost (2.8 million times $5 is $14 million). Visit www.effectivetransit.org The Independent Unsubsidized Voice of Citizens for Effective Transit in the Twin Cities * lrt isn't a poato chip, you can stop at just one * Bruce Gaarder Highland Park Saint Paul [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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
