Light Rail (following Cresa idea..)

[Waterbuffalo]

(Moved this commentary off the Cresa vote subject and put it here. Chief you have to STOP inspiring me! ~WB)

I love the analysis for another subject. Light Rail.. How about we charge all of the businesses in Downtown Vancouver in subdistrict of that City of Vancouver Light rail district a nice density fee for being so close to an opportune place to conduct business right along the right rail?

Would not every business in that area be benefiting from all their workers coming from Portland to work in the offices need a direct link to their business?

Who will be most benefiting from the increased density requirements? There is a group in Clark County that seems to be benefiting from it nicely, should it not be paying for this ripe access point into Portland?

edit: may be it should be called "Fast Track Authority" for the new entity from City of Vancouver into Portland?
Would all of the people who will be living in all of the new developments want to be going into Portland to have dinner and enjoy all of the emenities that they offer? Sounds like the Light Rail would be one of the fastest ways to get there?

How about taxing all of the business signs that surely will go up as soon as Light Rail comes into Vancouver? Boy, this brought UP so many wonderful ideas to SW CLARK COUNTY and new initiatives for this small subdistrict.....

(this isn't a joke or game I am writing. Just thought that came to me this morning...)

[Chief]

There was legislation presented in Olympia this last session that would essentially allow localities to do what you describe; that is, impose a surcharge on the specific areas that would "benefit" the most from Loot rail. \

It failed this time around but will no doubt be back abain in the next legislative session.

8)

[Waterbuffalo]

May be it could be called "Fast Track Authority?" to take people into Portland?

[Chief]

If light rail is worth doing, then it's worth doing right. Instead of beating around the bush, put a bond measure on the ballot that will really fund light rail, and send it to the voters.

I heard one estimate several months ago when the full system was still a consideration, that it would cost $50 Million annually to maintain and operate the $6 Billion Dollar system. That included the Park and Rides and all of the stops along the way to the Kiggins Bowl as it was being proposed.

I believe the realization of that $50 Million number is what shot the whole idea down in flames and sparked the conversion to the so-called "Minimal Operating Segment" that terminates at a parking lot near Clark College, that only costs $3.5 Million to operate (in the first year).

[Waterbuffalo]

Agree with you whole heartedly Chief.


Want it built right, told to us HOW much its going to cost and make the people who benefit most pay for it. Don't think Cascade Park, Orchards or Eastern Vancouver is going to be seeing any benefit from it. So why are they going to be forced to pay for it?

So it if costs 3 Million a year, lets set up a Public Utility District that will charge each business owner, land owner by acre size or building square footage? (hey this would work JUST FINE for all the new high rises that will be going into that area.) or some other fine tax assessment.

May charge $.25 per sq. ft as a building fee? If there is a million square feet at 25 or 50 cents, how about a 1.25? If the fee is $3 million and there is a million square feet example and should they pay 1/2 of the MOS fees?

[Chief]

Agree with you whole heartedly Chief.


Want it built right, told to us HOW much its going to cost and make the people who benefit most pay for it. Don't think Cascade Park, Orchards or Eastern Vancouver is going to be seeing any benefit from it. So why are they going to be forced to pay for it?

So it if costs 3 Million a year, lets set up a Public Utility District that will charge each business owner, land owner by acre size or building square footage? (hey this would work JUST FINE for all the new high rises that will be going into that area.) or some other fine tax assessment.

May charge $.25 per sq. ft as a building fee? If there is a million square feet at 25 or 50 cents, how about a 1.25? If the fee is $3 million and there is a million square feet example and should they pay 1/2 of the MOS fees?

Go to the head of the class WB! You understand my points exactly.

The problem with my proposal though, is that there simply is no way to package things like this honestly, because if you really went to the voters with the truth, there wouldn't be a snowball's chance in hell of getting it approved.

Bet me a Buffalo Nickel that the staff at the CRCP and Gramor are looking at the results from the vote on the CRESA sales tax increase and wondering if it's worth continuing...

[Waterbuffalo]

Buffalo Nickle? I'll bet you one better, a dinner at burgerville..

Ok, so I've been really, really dispassionate and little vitriol hellion in my posts the past few weeks. But I think I need to say some thing else.

Look I want to see a Clark County AND City of Vancouver that can move forward that can bring benefits of this community not to just one part of the community but a whole bunch. Clark County government has shown that they are interested in changing some things to benefit a bunch. Light Rail seems suck a lot of energy, financial resources and a lot of other things.

I'll be looking forward to helping this community to look at other projects that will benefit us beyond this one. There seems to be some concern, questioning and outright need by our elected officials to REALLY tell us why we need this project.

One thing I'll agree, there is a need for a bridge to help clear out the congestion, create better way to get our problems solved and to move forward. Though there seems to be one central issue to this project that still remains, what will the central transit going over the bridge and into Portland.

Two options remain, one is an inflexible but highly concentrated form of density that is needed right or near its central core to make it usable through a central core from Downtown Portland along Interstate Avenue to Expo then over Interstate Bridges and on to Downtown and up along I-5 or some other Right-of-Way.

One question that is still haunting me till this very post and I think should be asked. The Yellow line was built with in the 10 years. I ask every reader of this post to please go allow Interstate Avenue at ANY point and get off at several of the stops along it. Go east and west of that stop along the Light Rail line and take a look about how much 'current" density is there now? Even if they add some infill (in the future,) do you think there is Enough density to support or make Light Rail support self-sufficient?

Go around all of the Blue, Red, Yellow lines. Go out to Hillsboro, Forest Grove, Portland Airport, Gresham, Gateway, Clackamas, look around at all of the lines that now currently available. Put the newspaper down, book from Powells, Starbucks coffee cup from the mouth and OBSERVE!

Some of us here do ride the train into downtown Portland but like to put up mind numbing devices in front of ours eyes for the same monotonous ride. Please take an hour or two if you do ride into work or if you don't go to Portland to work, please take a ride yourself for a few hours, Park at Gateway or one of the Other transit centers and get significant view of what this mode of transportation could look in Downtown Vancouver and on to Clark College.

And what the financial, future vision of what this could look in our community, and many other issues that have been brought up here and in community forums.

Because Bus Rapid transit has similar Guideways, functioning infrastructure and bridge supports into Portland over the new Columbia River Crossing, this transit operation could be a precursor to a later light rail line and system into Vancouver, but financially the voters vote the Light Rail issue down but this issue could come up at a later date and time in the future to new leadership through out our community as the generation pass through time.

So I'm asking all of our readers that have not done just our venerable Tefen and myself or the people who have done this.

I'm not just asking the moldie oldies who are here but the younger kids like Joseph James, Jamie Herrera, Tim Probst and all the candidates who are running for visible state and local offices. Please take a few hours, if you have kids, take them along and ride. This is going to be a generations project. Its going effect your taxes, your lives and every thing Clark County is.

Light Rail in its prosterity could go all they way from its beginning base base from Downtown all the way up to 219th and Back down I-205 into Gateway in the next 30 years. (Reference RTC documents.)

Are all of you ready to make the financial hits, sacrifices and working yourself to the bone to ride an electrified metal box from work to home that could be held up as a future model that can't handle the congestion because its too small for the amount of people that might be moving here generations from now?

[Chief]

When you say "moldie oldies", I hope you are not referring to yours truly....I will have you know I am only 46 days older than Angus Young of AC/DC...

mrgrn

[Waterbuffalo]

Not saying a word about the age.. People know whom its meant for..