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Friday November 7th, 2008
4:45 p.m.
The optimist in me hopes that this blog post on the Central Florida Political Pulse is a sign that folks heretofore sitting on the fence on this issue in Polk County, are finally coming to their senses and realizing that they can't let the power and reach of one particularly powerful and popular politician like State Sen. Paula Dockery put them and their area at an economic and competitive disadvantage to others - perhaps forever- simply because of her personal parochial beliefs, since the chance to do the right thing and be part of a larger interconnected transit system may just come once. (Disclaimer: My mother lives in Polk County, specifically, Babson Park.)
http://www.flsenate.gov/Legislators/index.cfm?Members=View+Page&LastName=Dockery&District_Num_Link=015&Title=-%3ESenat
Finally some signs of push back among the business community of the sort we'll need to see much more of in the future so this state doesn't continue to be a laughingstock in so many areas of public policy and common sense, like simply getting the largest number of people from Point A to Point B as quickly and efficiently as possible.
For backgrounder info or to remember who's on what side of this argument, since it's easy to get confused, go to http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/commuter_rail/index.html
As of today I plan on being at next Friday morning's SFRTA Transportation Workshop for Miami-Dade County, below, and the one in Broward on the 19th as well.
I hope to see many of you there, too, offering your positive ideas.
By the way, thanks to Governing.com's 13th Floor blog, http://governing.typepad.com/13thfloor/
recently running a post about the American Planning Associan's (APA) Top Streets in America,
http://www.planning.org/greatplaces/streets/characteristics.htm#1 I recently learned that one of the best streets in an old neighborhood of mine during my 15 years in DC, Clarendon, in Arlington, VA, made the 2008 list. http://www.planning.org/greatplaces/streets/2008/clarendonwilson.htm
Clarendon-Wilson Corridor, Arlington, Virginia. Transit Provided Catalyst for Corridor Smart Growth
Not mentioned at the link above is that it's also home to the Little Saigon restaurant area, home of both the THE BEST and THE CHEAPEST Vietnamese restaurants in all DC, which, fortunately, in many cases were one and the same, including my beloved Queen Bee.
There is no place in South Florida even close to offering that kind of consistent quality of Vietnamese food, size of servings and price.
I'd have mentioned it by now if there was.
People from all over DC routinely hop on the Washington Metro to get around on weekends, and one of those places is that little dynamic area of Northern Virginia less than three miles from Georgetown.
Me, I often ate there the day after Thanksgiving, after the afternoon college football games, often with friends who also didn't leave for the holiday to visit their families.
That sort of dynamic template and magnet for people is the one that I always have in my head when I travel around South Florida, and see how things are done here -or aren't.
I suppose that also makes me more critical -hypercritical?- than many about many of the poorly thought-out plans I often see and read about in South Florida.
Frankly, damn few of them ever seem as either meticulously planned or as grounded in human behavior/psychology and common sense as those of Bernard Zyscovich and his team, but it doesn't mean that I don't wish that the positive neighborhood synergy self-evident at places like Clarendon & Wilson couldn't also be done here, with some local flavor.
From my experience down here the past five years, Downtown Hollywood is a perfect example of an area that would similarly boom once there's a commuter train station on Hollywood Blvd., though there are a few other areas down here that I also think would experience a similar positive jolt that could have ripple effects.
That's one of the reasons I'm such a strong proponent of the SFECC.
I know exactly what it will do for quality-of-life because I've already experienced it.
By the way, one of my former housemates when I lived in that area of Arlington in the mid-90's, which included a horrible week-long blizzard we suffered through, is Derek Schmidt, the current Senate Majority Leader in Kansas, and someone whom I'm sure who'll make it even bigger nationally in the coming years.
You heard it here first!
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There were no comments posted to the below as of 3 pm.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2008/11/polk-economic-d.html
Polk economic development group endorses commuter railposted by Orlando Sentinel on Nov 7, 2008 12:13:11 PM
A group that promotes economic development in Polk County has endorsed the Central Florida Commuter Rail Project, putting them at odds with the project's Lakeland-based critics led by Republican Sen. Paula Dockery.
The board of the Central Florida Development Council, Inc. (CFDC) unanimously endorsed the project, which would buy up 61.5 miles of CSX tracks through Central Florida to run light-rail trains from DeLand through Seminole and Orange Counties to Poinciana. The group expressed hope that ultimately the project would extend to Polk County.
"We believe the commuter rail project will stimulate growth and job opportunities in Central Florida and will greatly improve the quality of life for our citizens and visitors," said David Touchton, CFDC president. "It is more critical than ever to provide an alternative to automobile travel as gas prices escalate and new federal air quality standards for ozone put Central Florida at risk of becoming a non-attainment area which could result in sanctions and could slow much needed development."
The council is a private, non-profit 501 C-6 corporation and has a countywide board of directors interested in promoting the community and economic development of Polk County.Dockery and other Lakeland residents have protested that the commuter-rail project would also re-route CSX freight trains, sending more of them through downtown Lakeland.
She led the opposition in last year's Legislature, where the project died without coming to a vote in the Senate.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/
http://www.flsenate.gov/Legislators/index.cfm?Members=View+Page&LastName=Dockery&District_Num_Link=015&Title=-%3ESenat
