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By LeeEdwardMcIlmoyle (registered) - website | Posted June 09, 2016 at 13:35:49
So here we are again, mixing misery and gin...
Why do so many people who have known this was in the works for almost a decade feel so comfortable throwing millions of dollars of research and taxpayer money into the waste bin because they can't bear to see their beloved Hamilton take a step into the future? They cry foul about all of the current problems that haven't been fixed yet, as if LRT can't have any useful effect on those problems, and even though these are perennial problems that have regularly been addressed at the municipal level and found that not enough public support exists to address them in a meaningful way. Even Mayor Eisenberger's poverty reduction plan is too much money for some, and too little for the rest of us aggressive urbanists who decry this stuff with eerie regularity. When is enough enough, or do we have to flog it to death yet again, and lose another modern transit system for another generation, because people with too little imagination refuse to accept that the change it truly needed, and will only become more so if we wait longer?
We say things like 'this city lacks vision' or 'this city lacks drive', but few who read these words realize that we're talking about all of us. It's a cohesive vision and drive we're lacking, and it's in large part because we get most of our news from one source: TV watchers either follow CBC or CHCH; Radio listeners get all their news from CHML; The Spec is still most paper readers' fix du jour; and all of these sources are confused on the issue, and rarely make efforts to properly and responsibly educate the residents about what LRT really means to them. Things are changing, and reeducation programs are being conducted as I type this. But the problem is, too many polarized opinions have already been formed, and intransigence is like a favourite sport in Hamilton. We'd rather continue to be wrong than change our minds on a subject we've expressed an opinion about. It's exhausting.
If we DO get LRT in place, I am absolutely convinced this whole brouhaha will be forgotten overnight, and everyone will see that it was for the best. But so long as it means making sacrifices, as all major changes must, then people who are averse to change will continue to fuss and fight until the last peg is nailed into place. I almost wish people would stop talking about it, but what really needs to happen is, more people need to cross the lines and actually talk and listen to other people about what it means. That goes for me too, but I'm pretty sure that there isn't any credible data out there that supports the arguments against LRT. The only thing I can conclude is that most folks fear change (and a little prejudiced about what sort of people we think stand to benefit from LRT the most). I'm bad with change, too, but this is something we've needed for a very, very long time. We've been hovering around the table since the late 50s, and still won't grab a plate. And we refuse to accept that the menu is steak and potatoes, when we're used to beans on toast.
Lee Edward McIlmoyle
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