Streetcars Get First Round of City Support (14. April 2006, 20:55 by Derek) ~ Here We Go!
I go out of town for a little more than 24 hours and look at what hits my inbox. Forget about condos, this is something much more exciting and interesting. The Tacoma City Council’s environment and public work’s committee voted unanimously to support a feasibility study of historic-style streetcars. The resolution now goes to the full city council for consideration.
Good job, Morgan.
Link to the Tacoma Daily Index
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I’m still iffy on this streetcar issue. It almost feels like a cheaper version on the monorail, doesn’t intergrate with Link. And the look of the old streetcar is well old. I’m more for modern design. Maybe if it was a ride through downtown the old streetcar would look good.. Also would this be thought as a replacement of LINK?
1 | Posted by Jake | Apr 15, 11:12 AM
Au contraire!
A major point of Tacoma Streetcar is to “link” up with LINK and the regional transit system (Sound Transit), yet provide an affordable alternative to the only other mass transit in Tacoma – the bus.
I persoanlly love the idea of the monorail. I voted for it at least once during the time I lived in Seattle. But, as we now see with the demise of the Seattle Monorail project, it is so prohibitively expensive to build that our population would need to exponentially increase in order for it to pencil out. Not the case with the modest streetcar.
Another point of Tacoma Streetcar, that may not be explicitly apparent, is the idea of giving neighborhoods – or at least the City – some voice in what style of vehicle runs on our streets. Maybe one neighborhood prefers something vintage style, while another prefers something modern. As Portland has shown, there is no reason why we can’t mix it up and have both running on the same system.
Ok, Morgan – I have also been a little iffy about the streetcars. However, I started to think twice once the legislature created the no-win scenario by linking Sound Transit with the regional roads package. The anti-tax and anti-Sound Transit zealots will be out in force in the suburbs and the anti-highway people in the cities. That creates a situation where less than ¼ of all voters are likely to vote for the measure.
In light of this, I’m curious Morgan, “What’s your game plan?†And could you tell us more about what the committee actually did? The minutes for that meeting are not available. I wish I could have attended that, actually.
3 | Posted by Chris Karnes, UWT Urban Studies | Apr 16, 12:33 PM
Exactly. We can’t – and shouldn’t – rely on outside forces (Sound Transit) to solve our problems for us. But there’s not a problem you say? Right again. Unless you are thinking 20, 30, 50 years from now. It only makes sense, in my opinion, to start thinking, studying, and implementing today for something we will need in the future. Hopefully we can have this in Tacoma, even if the voters of the region can’t get it together enough to create regional solutions.
Regarding game plan: Push for a citywide system but maybe start with a pilot project. No matter what, we have to get out of downtown. There is only one logical way to get out and that’s through the Stadium District. There are a lot of Federal dollars for a pilot project like this. I am trying not to put too much into the details because those will be constantly changing and evolving over time. Plus I am not qualified to write a detailed plan, I would rather leave that for the professionals.
Regarding the committee meeting: You didn’t miss much. Really. They are quite boring.
The committee was asked to prepare a resolution asking for: – appropriate City departments to work with Pierce Transit and Sound Transit to investigate feasibility of a streetcar system – input from neighborhood & business groups
I believe the minutes aren’t published until they are approved at the subsequent meeting.
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Hey- I saw that new pub on St. Helens was finally open today…
Cheers!
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