Dear "Blue State Curmudgeon",
You raise a question that I too initially asked.
Like it or not (and I generally fall into the latter category), the Twin Cities is going to expand around the fringes. We've expanded a ton since I was a kid, and walked across what is now I-394 regularly. The question is how we are going to grow. Do we add highway lanes, that encourage the more sprawling auto-oriented development? Or do we do a mix of new highways and new transit lines, that encourage the development of more traditional town centers, like those that developed in North St. Paul, Hopkins, Stillwater or Excelsior, often around the streetcars?
In the case of Northstar, there is a direct tradeoff between plowing more money into adding lanes to I-94 and US 10 that go from Minneapolis to St. Cloud. Northstar will direct us to more traditional, compact growth in town centers, and will eliminate the need to add 1.5 highway lanes (according to http://www.northstartrain.org)
I can't cite a specific study, but I understand it holds true that a train increases the likelihood that an "exurban" commuter will commute into a downtown core, and reduces congestion on urban freeways. Would you rather drive an hour, or take a train for an hour? Now you have a choice, and we Americans generally like choice. Commuter trains therefore also makes the urban core more attractive for new jobs, corporate headquarters and investment.
The link to St. Paul here is why, then, Red Rock and Rush Line are important. The train lines help direct growth to more compact town centers, as opposed to directing it to sprawled suburban development we see with a highways only approach. But most significantly for St. Paul in particular, it will provide a needed boost for downtown. And even if you never go downtown, the downtown can and should pay a big chunk of the property tax bill, so you don't have to. So in that sense, you should care.
That said, there is an order to the transit projects that is frankly pretty much written in stone at this point. Hiawatha, then Northstar, then Central Corridor, then Red Rock/Rush/Southwest (in some order). Questioning that wisdom may be a good discussion topic, but the consensus is so broad, including so many governmental units, chambers of commerce, legislators, congresspeople, and corporate leaders, that it's not really going to change. Perhaps someday our highway expenditures will receive a comparable amount of scrutiny.
Bob Spaulding Downtown
On Feb 23, 2005, at 10:38 PM, Gail wrote:
I have a hard time seeing the benefits in the Northstar line. Like other transportation projects, its highest recommendation seems to be that it's there. So we should forge ahead in order to get Federal money.... but why? So more people can move out of the Cities, taking their tax support with them? I'm not interested in supporting a megalopolis. I want efficient transit within the Cities. I don't want more and more people moving out, failing to support schools and public services, pouring back in every day to wear down our roads, use our water and sewer system, and demand services for which they don't pay. Call me a Blue State Curmudgeon.
Gail O'Hare St. Paul
T H E G O O D :
- NORTHSTAR MAY FINALLY BE FUNDED. The Republican-controlled Minnesota House, spurred by electoral losses that seemed to be related to underfunding public transit, approved funding for the Northstar Commuter Rail Line. Northstar serves Minneapolis, but it paves the way for other projects (see below). The House had not approved the Northstar funding before, yet still only approved $10 million of the required $37.5 million needed to leverage $132 million in federal funds for the train line. It is thought that the full amount will be secured in conferencce committee, with the Governor and Senate supporting the full amount ------------------------------------------------- JOIN the St. Paul Issues Forum TODAY: http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ ------------------------------------------------- POST MESSAGES HERE: [email protected]
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