Recognized as one of two projects nationwide with "advanced engineering and design", RTD's West light-rail line, due for completion in 2013 has secured $40 million of an overall $290 million in federal fuding, according to yesterday's DP. The Feds will cover $525 million of the approximately $880 million total cost for the southeast line.
SLC's Mayor, Rocky Anderson, a kindred spirit of Denver's Mayor Hickenlooper, talks to Grist, an environmental concern, about overcoming opposition to change, including light rail, in Utah:
We have a corresponding joke, and that is that there are two things people hate: sprawl, and density in their neighborhoods."Streetcars are for people who don't use public transportation", quotes the Christian Science Monitor in discussing the debate on the value of streetcars in cities and towns across the country, many of which have no mass transit precedent save for buses. The article cites the relatively cheap outlays for streetcars compared to commuter rails and subways and mentions cities -- Tampa, Little Rock and Kenosha, Wis. -- that have witnessed a net benefit from streetcars. The efficiency of streetcars is called into to question by ULI's Robert Dunphy, who likens them to "amenities", and a Charlotte booster describes her city's streetcar as a "moving museum" and an "attraction".
But you know, you come up against a lot of resistance to any change. When we put in the first line of light rail in the Salt Lake City area, there was greater opposition to that than anything I can remember in politics: the cost, the contention that it's outdated technology, that people won't give up their cars to ride it. We don't hear that any more, because it's been immensely successful. It's been so successful -- and this is one of those cases of success breeding more success -- communities that were adamantly opposed to light rail before the first line was ever built are now clamoring for it in their neighborhoods.
The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, introduces Jennings, Mo. and Richfield, Minn., aging suburbs of St. Louis and Minneapolis, respectively, that have survived by creating the right conditions for new development. Richfield lured Best Buy with 45 acres for its new HQ, and in Jennings facilitated the redevelopment of a shopping mall and kicked off a $63 mixed-use development that is going forward with the help of city, state and federal subsidies.
The Salem Statesman Journal reports on the partitioning of lots in this OR town of 150,000. Infill development, literally in what used to be backyards, raises concerns about changing the character of neighbhorhoods.
On Monday, Merril Lynch issued a research note that warned about the growing trend of vacant for-sale homes, triggered by the Commerce Dept.'s report of the homeowner vacancy rate rising to 2.7% in 4Q06 vs. a 50-year average of between 1% and 2%.
The University of Colorado-Boulder's Leeds School of Business has released its 42nd annual Business Economic Outlook (PDF, 110 pp.) . The summary states that
"employment growth in Colorado will be moderate, similar to the soft landing experienced by the national economy. The slower growth rates that began in mid-2006 are expected to continue through the first half of the year, followed by stronger perfromance as th presidential eletion draws near...The outlook is for employment to increase at a rate of 1.9% compared to 1.4% for the United States. This will translate into 42,300 additional jobs in 2oo7. this projected growth is above the 10-year average of 36,200 jobs per year."This is a positive outlook, but the report puts contemporary employment growth into perspective by pointing out that the average annualized rate of job growth during the 1990's was 3.8%. The report also talks about quantity (McJobs) vs. quality (high paying jobs). Positions in the Professional and Business Services category, which often fall into the latter column, netted 60,000 new jobs between 1996 and 2005. Also, the state's population is expected to grow 2% vs. 1% nationally in 2007. Other tidbits from the Outlook: "mortgage rates will stay relatively stable...retail sales will show moderate, but slower growth...the Buffs will again post a winning season in 2007". Stranger things have happened.
No comments:
Post a Comment