The Hillsborough Planning Commission conducts an annual survey asking residents to opine on the quality of life here. This year, 81% of residents say Hillsborough will need mass transit in the next 50 years. Check out these interesting results (from the Tribune article):
Compared to previous years:
This year, the 1,086 people who responded to the 22 questions ranked the county’s quality of life the lowest in the survey’s five-year history.
Residents ranked their satisfaction with entertainment, transportation and affordable housing options lower than in previous years.
Yet your leaders still wanna make developers out to be the poor, bullied stepchild. Ed Turanchik says
“Rail transit has been obstructed by a minority of people who have prevented elected officials from bringing the matter forward.”
I’d say that the “minority of people” he’s talking about is developers, doncha think? But here he goes, immediately giving them more leverage:
He noted the tough position county leaders are in, with many residents demanding tax relief, yet wanting to shorten their commutes… The trick is not to raise developer fees so high that growth stalls and property values fall, Turanchik said.
That’s the trick, alright.
voxpop
2 years ago
wow, tampa learns nada. they could really get someone other than choo choo to make these statements.
oh yeah, those poooooor developers …
and those county leaders?
Oh man I feel so sad, now.
C.W.
2 years ago
Is Choo Choo in reference to Turanchik? If so that’s just dumb and anybody who calls him that should run for county commish too.
Meredith
2 years ago
Imagine how cool it will be to get around the Bay area using light rail. Take the metro to work, bring your iPod, read the paper (if there still is one…) and relax instead of getting torqued up in traffic. Imagine taking the metro to Ybor or Channelside, and not worrying about who’s sober enough to drive home. Imagine heading across the bridge to see friends and not sucking down a quarter tank of gas roundtrip.
John
2 years ago
I love (sarcasm) how open ended the mass transit question is…
“Will hillsborough County need mass transit in the next FIFTY YEARS.”
While they are at it, why don’t they ask if cars will be able to fly sometime in the next Fifty Years? Or if there will be another global crisis in the next fifty years.
The timespan is too open ended. It presents the issue like a long long term agenda. Not “We have issues now and we are looking at solutions.”
james
2 years ago
Thanks to greedy developers who influenced the Hillsborough Commissioners 15-20 years ago, the ENTIRE AREA is behind and hurting in mass transit. Ed was the only one who thought of the whole area in terms of transit. I really am sick of this one group of folks in Hillsborough County keep ALL of down!
voxpop
2 years ago
err I hate to be the one to break it to you but ed happens to be on that list of ‘greedy developers’ james. And that, is NOT my fault. Ask him why he’s on that list.
Tom
2 years ago
We some new thinking on transit. It’s not a choice between cars and transit so much as it is a choice between gridlock and a better transit system with a bigger % of rush hour traffic on the bus or carpooling. Those who chose to ride alone will benefit from lighter traffic.
For rail and express bus service to work we need higher densities near transit stops. But people want cheaper homes out in the burbs. City homes could be more affordable with government action.
Patrick Hare has some ideas worth looking at. He says “Another public debate should revolve around how the mortgage banking system ignores household transportation costs. The predominant thinking by lenders means that households can “afford” to buy a home in a far-out exurban community, even though many of those homebuyers will now have car costs that will in some cases be higher than their housing costs. But what are the economic and environmental savings if a household could “afford” to buy a more expensive home in a centrally located community with good transit access?”
We also need to stop pouring money into the road network. The expressway is recognized as a sprawl builder. The new TPA parking garage is also a big investment in more cars on the road and a lost opportunity for transit. For two years St. Pete has subsidized free parking at the Rays games at a cost of about $2 million(10% city money). This money would be better spent on park and ride lots and bus service.
Links: http://www.planetizen.com/node/20698
http://www.vtpi.org/redlining.pdf
james
2 years ago
In terms of developers yes Ed is one but he has shown that he has a brain and thinks about how it should be done. To me he is the only developer out there with a conscience.