Currently 5 Responses
- 1.
- Daniel,
Please get informed about the Portland Streetcar situation.
http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19584-slow_ride.html
- 2.
- Anyone who thinks that a street car is a good idea for Sarasota needs a serious dose of reality. Rail project proponents always over promise and over deliver. The number of examples are too numerous to cite.
For those that think it's a good idea do some research. It's embarrassing that this idea is even up for debate. We live in the information age and no one seems to take the time to do any research.
- 3.
- Re: Derail the Streetcar
Your editorial discusses nothing; it condemns the streetcar as a frivolous expense and nothing more. Like all conservative republican budgetary arguments it offers nothing in substance.
The fact that a a streetcar trunk line would become a value added attraction to the growth of the city, the population of downtown and ultimately to the demographics of an urban-suburban area of continuing growth is one of the many issues not addressed in condemning it with regard to nothing but the thrill call of fiscal doom.
There is currently a vitality at either end of Main St between S. Washington and 5 points and the block or two heading to Bayfront Park. Very few people walk from one end to the other. One of many scenarios would put people on either end having parked at a nearby garage (or eventually transferring from another line) happy to get on a streetcar and get to the other end. Should there be a motivation to make the middle of Main St attractive to walkers, shoppers, eaters-all the more reason to have a streetcar line. And that would be a trunk-that once successful I’m sure would increase demand for feeder lines. Sarasota has the ability to be in the forefront of civic development in the 21st century provided it has leadership not mired in the early 20th.
We as a nation have become exceptional in that we no longer lead, innovate, look to the future or think in advance. We have our heads mired in fixing things after they’re broken rather than working to prevent them beforehand, which I might add costs much more and provides much less. It’s possible that as Fort Lauderdale prepares for the future, Sarasota will be a monument to the past.
Claire Morda
Sarasota
- 4.
- Still waiting to see my comment posted from yesterday...?
- 5.
- With all due respect…you are totally wrong about most everything concerning the proposed Sarasota streetcar.
The streetcar being built in Fort Lauderdale is a much more expensive Modern style streetcar system. The one being proposed by Sarasota Streetcar Initiative has a 2.3 mile route; the heritage style cars are totally electric and do not use overhead catenary wires. The estimated total cost, according to the SSI web site is 19.1 million. Once you factor in the many economic benefits…attracting 100’s of Millions in private investment… thousands of jobs… huge increases in ad valorem tax revenue…focused density where we desire it to be…reduced urban sprawl…a more walkable city…huge tourism benefits…significant advertising revenue…reduced fossil fuels…increased retail sales tax revenue… The Streetcar will bring downtown Sarasota the economic stimulus it needs to compete with the many retail centers and housing developments that are so abundant in our surrounding markets. A streetcar system is an economic stimulator with transportation benefits! Don’t take my word for it. Every single metropolitan area that has reintroduced the streetcar since Portland Oregon got the ball rolling has either expanded their systems, or is in the process of expanding. Not one city has removed or downsized their operation. Facts are facts…
- May
18 Movie and Discussion - History Channel's Ancient Alien Series
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm - May
18 Swan Lake
7:00 pm - 9:30 pm - May
19 Singles on the Go Travel Meeting
2:30 pm - 5:00 pm - May
19 2012 Merit Scholarship Recital
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
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Culinary roots
05/16/13
Trevor Kunk is the chef de cuisine at Blue Hill in New York City’s Greenwich Village, which the James Beard Foundation just named "most outstanding restaurant." -
Bright lights
05/16/13
Sarasota native and resident Bri Oliva made her TV debut May 7, on the "Rachael Ray Show." Oliva was selected to participate in a segment called "Hidden Dangers on the Playground." -
Key to the city
05/02/13
More than 100 community members and leaders, friends and family surprised Paul Thorpe, one of the founding members of the Downtown Association of Sarasota, April 25, at The Gator Club, to show their appreciation and celebrate the strides he’s made for Sarasota over the past four decades.
