Raise the Hammer

What Bratina seems to have forgotten is that Portland had a much lower population density when it decided, in the 1970s, to impose a firm urban boundary and to use federal highway funding to build its first LRT line.

The high density that Bratina says is the reason for Portland's LRT success is actually a product of that city's success at directing traffic into high quality urban intensification instead of endless sprawl.

I love RTH. I belive it is stated somewhere that it is figured it recieves some 1,000 hits a day? Awesome numbers for 'alternative' media. But on this issue, RTH'ers and all those who support LRT, need to reach a braoder populous. aka The Spec.

How much would it cost 'us' to create a 10-page (or so) insert, and how much would it cost us for The Spec to place it as an insert in their say Saturday paper? A whole section dedicated to LRT.

I would donate $20 to the cause to help with printing and the Spec insertion costs.

I wouldn't mind adding something to that insertion, or work closely with other writers at creating a piece that hits on what I quoted from the story above, and my desire to see Hamilton Set Boundaries for Conservation Encroachment and Urban Sprawl. Add a little touchy feely to the message as well.

This city is changing too fast as far as I am concerned. It's time to slow down and most importantly, involve everyone. No Bill Kelly, you are not speaking on behalf of taxpayers. $125/yr for 10 years brings tonnes of local jobs and maybe something up my alley so I can work closer to home too? What is the actual investment return on that $125 that we don't see on the surface because it would never come back to us 'directly'?

We aren't hearing from the development industry perhaps, because they are too worried about the damn cross-peninsula highway.

All day GO service I don't think is all that big of a concern although of course it would be great. What needs to happen is a Niagara to Burlington route most importantly. The GO bus system for every other trip from Burlington to Hamilton isn't all that bad. I imagine during the day it's not all that desirable to bus it from Burlington or Aldershot to Hamilton but there are so many reasons why I am sold on LRT and the main one being, to stop urban sprawl and build off all the wasted space we currently have within.

Are we positive that this city really knows what's at stake here and what we stand to gain, or is the Bill Kelly show it? No offense Bill but the outcome of the show doesn't seem like it did much of a job selling any benefits of LRT. We can't afford to assume that Hamiltonians have seen the kinds of arguments and facts that exist on RTH. Not with this one. Not at what I think we stand to lose. Most importantly, our greenspaces on the outskirts of our city.

Comment edited by lawrence on 2011-07-11 17:40:41