[Grovenet] What makes a city livable? Was: ACTION ALERT: Call for Measure 37 Suspension & Hearings

[David Morelli]

On Dec 12, 2006, at 9:41 AM, Steven wrote:

> This is one of the problems I've seen with the Metro. Back to the  
> rail.  The Bay Area has BART. Basically, the speed of the train  
> changes to meet the need. I can get from east bay to downtown  
> farther and faster than our horse drawn carts.  We could have  
> easily put our new growth in less useful land. Keep the farms in  
> between for their benefits.  With the interstate highway system, we  
> do concentric circles around the metro. Imagine a large circle for  
> the rail. From Salem to Mac to FG to PDX to Oregon City.

Rail from Salem to Mac to FG to PDX?  Been there done that.  Southern  
Pacific ran that route last century and pulled the rails within the  
last 20 years.

We currently do a lot of traveling, fueled by inexpensive petroleum.   
The transportation system could well last beyond the supply of cheap  
petroleum.  Yes, alternatives do exist and they can be brought on  
line to provide a replacement.  Just remember to bring a calendar.   
These things take time, years at least and decades usually.  Not only  
do we need to admit the need for alternatives, we need to get started  
making them available and affordable, or the transition will come  
after the oil runs short.

For a few centuries we had a myth that we can foul one place and move  
on.  Now we seem to separate ourselves from the surrounding world.   
As we walk around listening to iPods and cell phones we are in our  
own separate world independent of our location.  We do the same with  
our private transportation.  We behave as if we are independent of  
the reality that we share with those around us.  We separate and  
compartmentalize our lives as well.  We live in one world with our  
family, one world with our work, and one world for our entertainment,  
as if they are not connected.  To that end we use transportation both  
to connect us with our separated worlds, and to act as the agent that  
allows us to keep separate worlds.  Many times we have heard that our  
automobiles are a cocoon that insulates us from direct interaction  
with our surroundings and the people that inhabit them.  Whether that  
is desirable or not is a personal decision.  In any case it is an  
expensive decision.

So, as we plan for the future hopefully the first question addressed  
when we look at our transportation future would be "where do we want  
to go, and how often do we need to go there?"

There are very different systems needed for different goals.

If we are trying to promote daily long distance commutes between FG  
and Salem we build something different than if we are trying to move  
people around the local area.  And like most economic realities, when  
we choose one, we have less money to do anything else.

David