Mayoral hopeful Bob O'Connor is unveiling his first major economic development proposal of the young political season, saying he favors building a new streetcar line connecting Downtown and Oakland.
O'Connor said the streetcars would promote development, especially in the Hill District and other neighborhoods along the transit line, spur housing Downtown and make the city more attractive to college students and other young people. O'Connor estimated the cost at $70 million, which he said could come largely from private investors and federal transportation funds.
We are barely keeping the buses running and Bob wants to dump $70 million into streetcars. I think he left his brain in San Francisco!
4 comments:
Actually, most urban planners would tell you that linking a city's educational and business districts is a huge plus in creating a thriving city.
I don't know about $70 million, but in theory it's an awesome idea.
Business District??? There are downtown buildings being sold at Sherrif sales. So we are going to link a failing downtown district with the college campus in Oakland. Who is going to use this besides Students who don't pay for mass transit in the first place?
There are five (six?) Fortune 500 companies headquartered downtown. (Heinz, PPG, Alcoa, PNC, Mellon -- US Steel?).
Like I said, integrating the two districts is urban planning 101. It make sense in theory -- but I agree that practically speaking it's less certain.
Hey, Powerball. Here is an idea: you should have a weekly question for those who Protest the Church's authority. For example, "Where does it say in the Bible that the Bible alone is the rule of faith.-- vs 1 Tim 3:15" Or, "If the Bible is the only rule of faith, what would you believe BEFORE the Bible was compiled by the Church." Get people thinking!
I tried something similar before. I invited people to email question and I would post one a week. I did not get too many or some did not want public discussion of issues. I'll be happy to try it again if there is any interest.
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