Dagnabbit, another Community Organizer bites the dust.

What is it about this streetcar? This is a big boondoggle for Hank Ashfoth, the CC hotel and about every public project along MLK.

You'd think in light of the economy they'd stop pushing or to they live in a bubble?

Now that The Zero has endoresed Fritz and Lewis has taken Sam The Sham's Chocolate Choo-Choo Pills, who am I left to vote for?

I was going to vote for Lewis given his sticking it to the COP VOE by using the funds to fill potholes. Looks like that was just a stunt now and not a real raspberry aimed at City Hall.

What a dirtbag! Speaking of dirtbags, that's what we'll have to start using now to fill all the potholes.

Jack,

I just wanted to follow up on this posting. The key portion of my support for this project was the "Eastside" component. I am still an Eastside resident, still living on a dirt road in Cully, and am still working at a nonprofit. Definitely no good old boy network for me.

I absolutely believe that Portland residents East of the river have been left out of the process. I would like to see more emphasis on economic development throughout the city, not just in the downtown area, and am excited about the prospect of more investment in East Portland. As such, I am supportive of City Council's decision in this particular case. As you know, many issues are complex and people can have multiple reasons for supporting and opposing different projects.

Take care,

Charles Lewis

Even from McCain comes a truth....politicians are like the game of Whamo, knock one down and another pops up...dey must be clones,gender not omitted.

"

Jack,

I just wanted to follow up on this posting. The key portion of my support for this project was the "Eastside" component. I am still an Eastside resident, still living on a dirt road in Cully, and am still working at a nonprofit. Definitely no good old boy network for me.

I absolutely believe that Portland residents East of the river have been left out of the process. I would like to see more emphasis on economic development throughout the city, not just in the downtown area, and am excited about the prospect of more investment in East Portland. As such, I am supportive of City Council's decision in this particular case. As you know, many issues are complex and people can have multiple reasons for supporting and opposing different projects.

Take care,

Charles Lewis
"

Does it not matter what type of Eastside investment that is? You say yourself, you live on a dirt road, yet you support the street car?

Joey, don't waste your breath. He's one of them now.

:(

Instead of building more street cars, we could pave every street in Cully with 10 inches of cement and still have money left over for five natural gas buses (aka green "trolleys" with rubber wheels).

Better yet, instead of building the light rail bridge, we could pave every unimproved road in Portland with asphalt and install cement sidewalks/drainage and still have money left over FOR THE CHILDREN.

In this transitional, small is flexible energy environment, that buses are far greener is obvious on its face. Why doesn't this even register with these people?

"As you know, many issues are complex and people can have multiple reasons for supporting and opposing different projects."

Oh the complexity!

Gee we've never heard that before.

It's clone speak for we're too stupid to understand.

Congrats Charles, you've arrived.

Why don't you throw us some bromides about Urban Renewal?

Charles, it is not that "complex". If you are going to start using that politician grabword then you should take the time to explain yourself, even here. I'm not seeing that "change" you endorse with your position on the eastside trolley.

Charles is learning the reality of politics: you gotta dance with them that brung ya.

I'm voting for Fritz, unless she comes out in favor of the Soccer Scam.

This voting choice may be too complex for the voters.

The eastside streetcar has evolved from being a transportation tool to one that is there to promote new development. The feds have balked, for now, at helping pay for it because it is grossly inefficient at moving people, especially with the new route that takes east-siders to South Waterfront. (While TriMet intends to cut our lifeline #14 bus service yet again when the mall is finished, but that's another story...)

The other problem that the feds and especially City Council needs to factor in is not just the general collapse of the economy, and credit markets, but Opus' failure to start building the Burnside Bridgehead redevelopment project as promised in 2007. PDC has spent money relocating tenants and making the site "shovel ready"...but there's no developer on board after Opus' various plans came to naught, which makes Burnside Bridgehead a money pit, rather than generating the property taxes to fund the urban renewal district as expected.

Part of the "promise" was better access to the river for our close-in neighborhoods and safer street crossings. We're still waiting.

Also remember that the trolley almost always occupies one vehicular lane. In the most anti-car light rail designs (like the MAX Yellow Line), they permanently removed TWO vehicular lanes from use.

The trolley is slower than a bus, it is MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE, it offers zero flexibility to adapt to future transit demand, and it consumes transportation funds and staff time that otherwise could be fixing our roads and bridges.

STOP BUILDING TROLLEYS AND PAVE THE ROADS!

it offers zero flexibility to adapt to future transit demand

Careful, Mister Tee. That's precisely the argument for the street car that's used to justify it. Unlike the #14 Hawthorne bus line that continues to be gutted irrespective of transit demand, the streetcar suggests more permanence.

Of course it was our original streetcars that helped the SE develop in the first place, but at least those were generally built by the people who profitted from them. A novel idea these days...

Frank, you are partially right. When Portland's SE streetcars ceased operating, it was not a government/planners decision, but free enterprise when people chose buses, and a new bus route might be a few blocks closer to one's home besides faster service.

"Zero flexibility" is just a planner's misconstrued selling point. The planners then eliminate the bus services near a trolley route, then say, " Look at the ridership on the trolley-its wonderful". But with no alternative, what is a person needing local transit to do? It is just stealing ridership producing false assumptions. Of course, you know all this.

Well, glad to see our last hope of sanity on the council has started drinking the same Kool-Aid™ that the rest of them are. I guess the council chambers are going to continue to be a Sam Adams echo chamber for the foreseeable future.

Go By Streetcar!