Jul 22, 2010
Fort Worth Weekly on Streetcar Debate
By: Kevin Buchanan
Leave it to the non-Star-Telegram sources to really get the sharp point-of-view on the streetcar issue – Dan McGraw in the Fort Worth Weekly has a great story this week about the streetcar and the FTA funding debate, taking head-on the constant Tower 55 misdirection and other issues.
A few choice excerpts:
Jordan and some others on the council say the city has more pressing transportation needs. But the city has received recommendations from three council-appointed committees during the past three years, all of which were in favor of building a modern urban streetcar system. The council — as well as the planning and development staff — have supported the streetcar idea at every turn in the process.
Dan also addresses the constant “we don’t even know where the streetcar will go yet” refrain from Councilman Jordan and others like the S-T:
“We all know that [Tower 55] is the number-one priority for this city,” Jordan said. “Accepting this grant puts us in a strange predicament, because we don’t know if we need streetcars, we don’t know where they go or how we are going to pay for them.”
However, consultants have made clear recommendations on streetcar routes, public support for streetcars is high, and little of the money needed to fund the streetcar project would come from the city’s cash-strapped general fund.
And on funding:
Suggestions that local streetcar funding would worsen the city’s budget problems seem questionable. The plan is to fund most of the city’s share of streetcar costs with revenue from Tax Increment Finance [TIF] districts downtown and on the Near South Side.
TIFs freeze property values at a base level, and that taxable value goes into the city general fund. When property values rise above that base level, the extra tax revenue stays in the district, to be used for public infrastructure improvements. The TIF dollars could never be used to improve Tower 55 or fund commuter rail.
Kudos to council member Sal Espino, who (despite the Star-Telegram trying to tell us that the entire council thinks Tower 55 is a higher priority) clearly understands how the streetcar will benefit the city’s growth:
For council member Sal Espino, there is a larger issue involved. “Part of the reason we are in this huge budget deficit is that we have promoted suburban sprawl development through the years, and … doing infrastructure for those projects is very expensive,” he said. “Doing urban village developments with existing infrastructure is a much better investment, and streetcars are a part of that.
“We can’t just build more roads all the time,” Espino said.
The entire article is really nicely done. Go read Dan’s article – and definitely compare and contrast the attitude coming from our city’s weekly to that of the Star-Telegram’s Editorial Board.
What isctge readership of the star-telegram compared to fort worth weekly? Or fort worthology for that matter? Since most people get local news through tv these days anyways, what’re the local news stations saying about this?
J C,
Can’t speak for the Weekly, but our readership here is definitely much, much smaller than the S-T.
Just thought I’d note that the Fort Worth Streetcar has more Facebook Fans (1,200) than the Star-Telegram does (94).
With a day off this Friday I’m headed over to Dallas via the TRE. Living here on the “west side” I enjoy the occassional trip to Dallas. That said, I never go to Dallas on Sunday because the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) doesn’t run on Sunday (dragging an automobile around town simply ruins the experience of adventuring around a metro area).
My point-
Those living in and around Fort Worth have a reason to travel to Dallas. Once you arrive via the TRE you can utilize the DART and not be tied down needing an automobile.
Those living in and around Dallas have much less reason to travel to Fort Worth. Upon exiting the TRE in Fort Worth there is no light-rail nor street car- you need a motor vehicle and that’s a real short-coming.
The value of the TRE is greatly diminsihed in Fort Worth due to the lack of alternative transportation options once you step off the TRE
A little off-topic, but I really enjoyed ESPN’s producer saying that they chose Fort Worth for the Super Bowl broadcasts because it was more walkable and access friendly -
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/07/we_talk_with_espns_senior_prod.php#more
fortworthology has more local news and better covered than the st . great story by dan mc graw
If the elected officials ignore the will of the people to pursue streetcar service, is it not time to create a streetcar support organization that puts its political power where its mouth is and not just a social group on Facebook? Should we not organize a lobbying/PAC group to support those local officeholders/candidates who will ignore the West 7th Street gang’s interests and follow through with transit?
I really do not understand this about face with regards to streetcars. It seems like it wasn’t a year ago when the Startlegram was advocating streetcars. What are the ST puppertmasters telling the editors? What hidden agenda am I missing here?
It seems a bit ironic, as the W 7th corridor thru the Cultural District (woefully underserved by bus for our tourists and residents) up Camp Bowie to the Ridglea area would appear to be an excellent location for the first line (or some future line). Maybe it should be made the first line to stop the whining by those elected dudes who purport to represent that area. I know of real, live people who a) already live out there, and b) recently moved to FW and live out that way – both of whom would ride the rails if offered. In fact, persons b) were bummed to find out about the relative lack of service into downtown (the No. 2 notwithstanding).
I personally am a ‘near southsider’, but would consider giving up “my share” of the first line (if indeed it is to cruise Magnolia) in exchange for the W7th line.
It is a true travesty that our city council and mayor are “giving up” on the streetcar system for the Tower 55 project. It is illegal and immoral to use the FTA grant for the Tower 55 project. Those 3 council members so against the streetcars should be ousted by their constituents. I am a Burns’ constituent, but have not heard or read about his stance. Kevin, can you enlighten me on Joel’s stance?
Regarding haretip’s comment, the same thing should be done for gas drilling. We need to oust any council member that doesn’t support a moratorium or revising the regulations to support increased safety and to require the industry to install pollution prevention hardware and to disclose their fracking formula.
JohnMac,
Joel is very much in favor of the streetcar. In fact, he’s been a big part of the push – I’d say he’s the biggest streetcar supporter in City Council.
I think he’s been out of town or something, which is why he’s not been quoted in the articles lately.
John Mac,
I think it would be inaccurate to say that the Mayor and Council are “giving up” on the streetcar. In fact, my understanding of the situation is that the Mayor, the majority of Council, and NCTCOG remain very much on board with accepting the grant, completing the study now in progress, and moving forward from there. The ones who are trying to derail this are the same three who tried to derail it when it came time to decide whether or not to use the $800,000 that NCTCOG had set aside specifically for the completion of the streetcar study.
Tower 55 is (as it was at that point as well) a red herring used by these three Council members to draw this into a false dilemma between the streetcar and Tower 55. As it’s been mentioned, the federal grant (like the NCTCOG grant used to fund the streetcar study) cannot go toward Tower 55. And, frankly, I don’t believe that anyone really has any intention of trying to divert these funds toward Tower 55.
It’s simply a shameless attempt to decimate public opinion of the streetcar before the study is complete in November with the possibility of a few procedural stunts between now and then to try to cut the project off before it has a chance (or the data) to generate any real momentum. It’s just a shame that the Star-Telegram has been compliant in all of this.
Did anyone see this yet?
http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/07/26/2361964/lets-take-careful-look-at-putting.html