>>>>> "EK" == Ed Kohler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
EK> I'm still trying to understand the resistance to the Lagoon
EK> Project.
Here are four reasons why I resist the project:
1. It seems to reflect a capricious flouting of the existing zoning
ordinances and planning. I don't want to see every project
considered in isolation; if the zoning rules are busted, let's fix
them. If not, let's apply them. But let's not just ignore them
this way.
2. Height/skyline. I don't have any huge objections to this height *in this
location*. But I see the height restrictions being blown away on
the shores of Lake Calhoun, and I sure as heck object to *that*.
Given the choice, I'd rather hold the line everywhere, even where
it doesn't matter so much, than cave in everywhere and let us turn
Lake Calhoun into a cavern. The Edgewater development's
successful variance shows that this is a real threat. I don't see
the downside of changing this development as anywhere near the
downside to losing height restrictions in a piecemeal way.
3. Transit. You wrote:
EK> Another concern is transit implications. The building be at
EK> the intersection of the 21, 12, 17, 6, 861, 114, 115, 23, and
EK> 53 bus services, and within walking distance of the 4. It's
EK> also Midtown Greenway. There can't be many more already
EK> transit friendly spots available in the Metro than this.
Bus transit is fine and dandy. *IF* people use it. I'm not
convinced they will. I think it's a lot more likely that this
development is going to cause the area to be flooded with yet more
cars, and I haven't read any argument that convinces me that
people living here will, in fact, use buses and not own cars.
4. Other infrastructure
EK> As far as I can tell, the neighborhood can sustain the growth,
I live in this area, and I experience incredibly frequent power
outages in the summer. At times we have *daily* micro-blackouts
(lose power for not more than 1 minute). What's it going to do to
put a big building like this in the area.
EK> I'm having a hard time understanding the argument against this
EK> project.
Notice that ## 1 & 2 above are "slippery slope" arguments, and pertain
to the process rather than simply this project on its own merits.
BTW, David Greene has been suggesting that tons of people are going to
be moving in in the near future. Is this really true? My impression
is that, with exceptions in favored neighborhoods, the central cities
are going to continue to go *DOWN* in population, while the further
out suburbs are going to continue to grow. I'm not saying that's a
great thing, mind you, but I don't see that getting more people into
the cities is going to be a big issue. Just keeping the city
population from slumping too badly is the big challenge, as withness
the public schools cratering... And building up in-city density isn't
going to help hugely as more jobs go out of the city to big office
boxes, for which we can't provide public transit (because they're too
scattered).
Another Uptown aside: I've wondered was whether we could dig
Paris-style underpasses (through traffic goes under, local traffic
stays up) into Uptown, so that people just driving to points East or
West could be removed from our traffic flow. Most importantly from my
point of view, such structures would remove we pedestrians from threat
that comes with drivers who are exploding with stress because they
aren't moving fast enough through the neighborhood.
--
Robert P. Goldman
ECCO
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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