Yes its "John Charles", the very name conjures up immediate reactions. When it comes to his views on light rail however, I cannot find fault.
Between First and Fourth avenues in Southwest Portland, Lincoln is a quiet, tree-lined street that has everything urban planners say they love: high density with a mix of land uses, regular TriMet bus service, more than 65 mature shade trees, and a wonderful north-south pedestrian walkway bisecting the street.Yet, on or before Sept. 15, TriMet will destroy all of this. The trees will be clear-cut, the street shut down, and several businesses lost, including the popular Candlelight Cafe. The reason: TriMet is taking the right-of-way for the proposed Milwaukie light-rail line
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/09/trimets_was_on_urban_livabilit.html
2 comments:
"I cannot find fault." OK well here's off the top of my head --
0) "high density with a mix of land uses". Well I wouldn't call the ~2 story DoubleTree (now PSU) with the huge parking lot as being "dense." It occupies 25% of the road frontage he's talking about.
0.5) None of the business present on Lincoln is retail -- it's all either residential or office. Again, hardly what I imagine as an "urban planner's dream."
1) "TriMet will destroy all of this". Not true - the N/S pedestrian walkway isn't going away. The "high density mixed-use development" isn't going away either.
2) The trees aren't particularly significant (by age, type, etc) -- other that the fact that they look pretty.
3) Currently as a ped or biker you don't really enjoy these trees so much because the sidewalks are small and there's basically nowhere to stop (no shops, no benches, etc).
4) "Candlelight Cafe" isn't a cafe. It's a shitty karaoke bar.
5) "clear-cut" -- using divisive language.
... of course John Charles isn't bringing up the positive aspects of PMLR:
1) The PMLR project will rebuild (widen) the sidewalks, re-landscape the area (including new street trees).
2) Increased transit access (both new bus & light rail service is coming to Lincoln) makes the neighborhood more livable.
3) Livability of this area will be increased with the addition of bike lanes and creating access to Naito via Lincoln (for peds, bikes, transit) that doesn't exist today.
4) Oh wait, we also forgot to mention the THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE that will be served by PMLR EVERY DAY -- vs. the (how many?) people who enjoy the trees today, and WON'T enjoy the new replacement trees, the new bike lanes, new widened sidewalks, new transit access, etc. Those are the people who are going to lose here. How many are there?
Of course, the whole thing is totally disingenuous - we know John Charles doesn't give a shit about trees; he just wants to see the MAX line not be built -- and he's willing to come up with any argument he can to push his right-wing conservative agenda.
STOP THE MYSTERY TRAIN TO MILWAUKIE! STOP MAKING BUS RIDERS PAY THE PRICE FOR RAIL EXPANSION!
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