Showing posts with label Tri-Rail Coastal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tri-Rail Coastal. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Long-overdue reality check for FDOT re Tri-Rail Coastal on FEC tracks: When is the Tri-Rail Coastal Station Refinement Report FINALLY going to be released?

Wednesday March 2nd, 2016
What follows below is a predicate for better understanding my tweets this afternoon to the Florida Dept. of Transportation, District 4, which covers Broward County, Florida, which are at bottom of this post.
 



Well, the facts speak for themselves.
Facts that I as a longtime public transit advocate and supporter of the SFECC Study and a Tri-Rail Coastal commuter train system between downtown Miami and Palm Beach, via the FEC tracks, find extremely frustrating and exasperating.
To say the least.

But then I've always been consistent about the fact that just because I've been a strong pro-transit advocate wherever I have lived -because I actually used it myself almost everyday in Chicago, Evanston
and Washington, D.C./Arlington- didn't mean that I would sit back quietly and accept a lack of public candor, transparency and level of public accountability from transportation officials and consultants
regarding proposed public transit projects.

Especially if they clearly have some flaws worth pointing out or exhibit a lack of common sense, logic and utility. Or, are clearly projects engaging in fanciful thinking about the public's expected behavior and future usage of a prospective system, link or improvement, because some special interest group stands to benefit
inordinately from its construction and prefers the public pay instead of an appropriate fee paid for only by actual users.
To quote myself, "Just because you're pro-transit doesn't mean you have to ignore displays of transit incompetency or mismanagement when you see it!"

The latter, sadly, are things that have been FAR too plentiful in South Florida since I returned to the area from DC in 2003, and I've continually used my blog as a forum to communicate the facts with the public and
interested parties about the problems in detail since 2007, including most recently, the lack of public engagement in Broward of officials associated with the All Aboard Florida project, who backtracked
from their initial plans to NOT having a public meeting in Broward County after I got the attention of the public, the news media and angry local public officials who were surprised to discover they were
being ignored -until I pointed it out to them.

 A refresher on that issue if you need one:

May 6, 2013 - More Transit Policy Woes in South Florida: With stealthy and self-sabotaging friends like All Aboard Florida and SFRTA/Tri-Rail, pro-transit advocates in South Florida don't need any more enemies; 'All Aboard Florida' fails to schedule a single public scoping meeting in Broward County this Spring despite Fort Lauderdale being a proposed station, while SFRTA chief refuses to answer a simple question -Will Hallandale Beach have a station under the proposed Coastal line plan?; Just because you're pro-transit doesn't mean you have to ignore displays of transit incompetency or mismanagement when you see it! 

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/more-transit-policy-woes-in-south.html

May 16, 2013 -Reverse engines! Reluctantly but prudently, All Aboard Florida wises-up and agrees to have a Fort Laudedale scoping meeting after all, on May 29th; 5 weeks later, still no response from SFRTA Executive Director Joseph Giulietti about whether or not Hallandale Beach will have a station as part of their proposed Tri-Rail Coastal plan

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/reverse-engines-reluctantly-but.html

March 26, 2015 -South Florida has once again redefined the meaning of "Free Ride." But shouldn't we all realize by now that when it comes to #TransportationPolicy in #SoFL, there's no such thing as a free ride? But #Miami pols, @Tri_Rail & @AllAboardFla can't help themslves when it comes to taking taxpayer dollars and taking credit for something BEFORE the facts are ALL in

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2015/03/south-florida-has-once-again-redefined.html

August 5, 2015 - Common sense questions about public policy, process and public engagement -to say nothing of financial risk- continue to dog @AllAboardFla and the Fortress Investment Group as they seek $1.75 billion in tax-exempt bonds from the Florida Development Finance Corporation for their planned Miami-to-Orlando express train, via Fort lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Some observations on what we know and what reporters should have been asking all along, but were NOT.

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/common-sense-questions-about-public.html

August 22, 2015 -Thoughts re role of Tri-Rail Coastal commuter rail on HB/Hollywood redevelopment, per City of Hollywood's community meeting on Monday Aug. 24 for its Regional Activity Center re-zoning, which includes U.S.-1 & Pembroke Road

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/thoughts-re-role-of-tri-rail-coastal.html

So, that said, I could have written the tweets below I sent today to FDOT over a year ago, 9 months ago, 6 months ago or at Christmas, and whenever I did so, it would be 100% true.
Just as it is today.

There's been nothing useful to the general public at the Tri-Rail Coastal website for over a year about the most important and most-anticipated information -the location of stations for the
initial stage of the project.
Instead, they have been content to do ZERO updates and leave it marked "Coming Soon."
No, a year is not soon!

And it's NOT how you properly engage and inform the citizenry about a project that completely depends upon public funds for its creation and maintenance.

Station Refinement Report
This report provides a summary of the planning analysis conducted to identify recommended initial station area locations on the FEC corridor. It also outlines a recommended phasing strategy for subsequent station development to assist project stakeholders with future planning efforts. The report recommendations will form the basis for the alternatives to be analyzed during the next phase (Project Development.) Coming Soon
 
And though I could have said something particularly critical about it, I chose NOT to comment in my tweets about how the information on their website labeled Station Area Opportunities reads more like like
fiction, esp. the material about Hallandale Beach.
Frankly, it's as if they swallowed whole the city's PR Kool-Aid without blinking, instead of posting objective information because they understood implicitly that area residents and business owners would both rely upon
the information to be accurate.

Station Area Opportunities

The Tri-Rail Coastal Link Station Area Opportunities publication is intended to summarize the station area visions created by many communities for their station areas, as well as provide information about the development potential for the area surrounding each station.

Download PDF (32MB)
http://tri-railcoastallink.com/downloads/Station_Area_Opportunities.pdf

So tell me, how can it be that after all this time that FDOT STILL hasn't released the initial locations of Tri-Rail Coastal stations in South Florida, and as it directly affects me and so many of you receiving this email, the location of those sites in NE Miami-Dade and SE Broward?
I know from MANY phone conversations and emails to and from many of you that station locations have been guaranteed by local city officials and Electeds to be part of the initial operation of the commuter line, when, in fact, they WON'T be?

And just as I state below in my tweets from this afternoon, I DO know the names of people who has been misleading the public and Small Business owners, trying to sell them a bogus bill of goods.
People who deserve honesty are instead receiving duplicity from public officials who are supposed to be working for them, not against them.
Another question that comes to mind is WHY is the local South Florida news media, print and electronic, has largely been snoozing on this important storythat directly affects important issues like South Florida's transportation gridlock and the local economy -and parts of local cities near the FEC
tracks that remain in a funk and economically depressed- instead of properly demanding honest answers and a thorough justification from public officials (and consultants) in charge at FDOT for their lack of candor, public engagement and snail-like pace?

Project Manager 
Amie Goddeau
FDOT Project Manager, FDOT District 4
3400 West Commercial Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309-3421
Read the tweets below from the bottom up.






































Dave 
Twitter: @hbbtruth, https://twitter.com/hbbtruth
http://www.youtube.com/user/HallandaleBeachBlog
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Thursday, October 1, 2015

Some informed thoughts and useful facts re recent Florida Bulldog article on Hollywood Comm. Peter Hernandez and his curious (and ineffective) efforts to kill the Hollywood Beach CRA. This is a perfect example of his 3 years in office so far, and why he should face tough & articulate competition in 2016

Some informed thoughts and useful facts re recent Florida Bulldog article on Hollywood Comm. Peter Hernandez and his curious (and ineffective) efforts to kill the Hollywood Beach CRA. 
This is a perfect example of his 3 years in office so far, and why he should face tough  & articulate competition in 2016

My comments are below the recent article and the public comments so far at their website.
I've held off on sending this for two weeks -plus its publication in Miami Herald on Sept. 20th- to allow a little more time to develop for people to both respond to what's written there and for the City of Hollywood's budget process to play itself out.

I wouldn't bring it up if it wasn't an important subject -CRA's- AND something I've previously
discussed publicly, including in conversations with some of you over coffee and bagels at Panera Bread and other eateries hereabouts.
Most of it was sent out as an email by me on Wednesday afternoon to people around Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and South Florida, and a few folks in Tallahassee.

Dave



---
Florida Bulldog
Hollywood Beach CRA the target of moves to cut its funding, or kill it
By William Gjebre, FloridaBulldog.org
September 15, 2015 at 6:28 am


Hollywood City Commissioner Peter Hernandez says the Beach Community Redevelopment Agency should be abolished because it has had increasing property tax funds for its use — at times exceeding its needs — while the “rest of the city is starving” to pay for operations and needed improvements.

While his proposal has yet to gain support from his colleagues, Hernandez and other city commissioners, who also serve as directors of the CRA, have directed the city’s staff to explore options that would redirect the Hollywood Beach CRA funds left over at the end of the year to the city. Such a revenue give back would mark a first for a CRA in Broward.

Well, where to even begin?

Not once in this Florida Bulldog article do you see a single instance where Hollywood Commissioner Peter Hernandez speaks with any sort of specificity about any serious 
attempts by him to make a motion that would annually CAP the specific amount of money the Hollywood Beach CRA has control over.

For instance, like publicly recounting the first date that he brought it up as a topic for debate on the dais -as well as the most recent time- and summarizing what his particular logical arguments consisted of then, plus what he's learned from losing the argument that day and changed to make it more reasonable and likely to pass.

Also noteworthy for its complete absence from the Bulldog article is Hernandez detailing 
any efforts he has personally made to engage the larger Hollywood community in the weeks and months prior to his bringing it up the first time on the dais at City Hall. 

In other words, the very first thing that I and most of you know from experience would be necessary to change and improve public policy in Hollywood, regardless of the issue, given how much more of an engaged political/social culture exists in Hollywood than in other broward cities, esp. Hallandale Beach.
A level of public participation and engagement citizens and Small Business owners fully expect, and for good reason.

(Just wondering: Why has Comm. Hernandez ALSO done such a consistently dreadful job publicly of informing/educating Hollywood area residents and 
businesses about what's really going on these days with the myriad milestones of the TriRail Coastal commuter line that will run thru HIS district? 
It's positively dumbfounding! 

Even by the most charitable of standards, Hernandez has remained a virual cipher publicly about the one non-tourism issue that can most rapidly and 
dynamically improve the economic condition of Hollywood in general and its downtown area -and his neighborhood- in particular: the TriRail Coastal line. 
Frankly, I would be very surprised if his opponents in next year's election don't 
choose to ask him those very same questions in a much-less friendly way.
Wouldn't be surprised if they didn't demand some reasonable explanation from him about why he's seemed asleep at the wheel on this issue, judging by his lack 
of energy or effort.

He has nothing specific about the CRA funding issue or TriRail on his campaign's 
Facebook account,
http://www.peterforhollywood.com/index.html which doesn't seem to have had anything added to it in well over three years. So much for communicating.)

Based on my continuing conversations, emails and phone calls with Hollywood citizens, 
residents and Small Business owners, especially those over on the Beach, unless Comm. Hernandez has been acting with the sort of stealthiness that characterized the Manhattan Project, he seems to have made exactly ZERO public attempts to engage the larger Hollywood community beforehand, so that he could then make the logical case from the dais that he and his arguments represent a tangible segment of the community who want to reform the CRA by enacting a CAP.

We can all agree that a well-appointed tool box is a good thing to have around, since you never know in advance what specific tool you might need to resolve a problem around the house or office. 

But just as there's a big difference between reforming the Beach CRA and eliminating it 
completely, it's troubling to me and many others in the community that Comm. Hernandez 
seems so consistently eager to use a hammer or a saw on the problem he sees -perceives- instead of what perhaps the problem more reasonably seems to require: a well-placed screwdriver to tighten certain things up accountability-wise so that the public is satisfied.

Even worse than his bad choice of tools, though, in the opinion of some who pay attention, Comm. Hernandez seems to be woefully naive on what the logical negative consequences would likely be for the city as a whole in eliminating the Beach CRA, both as a practical matter and from a PR point-of-view. 

The latter angle -PR- carries much more weight here than in does in most communities given that tourism and hospitality -and specifically, projecting a family image- is Hollywood's economic bread and butter now and for the forseeable future.

So, despite there being plenty of options in the tool box to accomplish his goal -whatever that actually is- Comm. Hernandez seems to have compounded his problem by being apathetic and naive about engaging the Hollywood community at large.

This, DESPITE the fact that a CLEAR MAJORITY of well-informed people I know and respect in Hollywood -with very different political ideologies- are largely in agreement that more serious reforms are and have been needed at the Hollywood Beach CRA over the past few years.
And some of them have been implemented.

Most of them believe that the first step in beginning to bring back increased public support to Beach CRA activities is capping its yearly spending, and removing the (perhaps unfair) illusion that it operates like it has an unlimited credit card.

(The VERY same thing that Hallandale Beach residents believe to be the case with its long troubled CRA -but for MORE and different reasons- who have also been desirous of having better oversight tools like a CAP.)

In fact, an even larger number of people probably support this CAP approach to the CRA than probably agree on any other aspect of Hollywood public policy that I can think of. 

Not only was I persuaded many years ago to the merits of a CAP on the Hollywood Beach CRA, but so was my friend, former Hollywood Balance Sheet blog co-editor Sara Case, before she left Hollywood for DC.

Sara even wrote as much on the blog, something I was reminded of recently when going thru some old email, and found her responding to someone who'd refused to really see what had been going on with the city's budget, and then suggested how it could be reformed and improved.

So what does Comm. Hernandez prefer to do instead of organizing Hollywood citizens and businesses in favor of a meaningful CAP that gives a degree of certainty? 
He blusters and seems to make ill-conceived threats that he seems to be in no serious position to carry out.

The truth is, I can't honestly say that I know Comm. Hernandez very well , since I don't, and I've never pretended otherwise on my blog or in my emails to many of you. 
I suspect Comm. Hernandez would likely recognize me on sight ONLY if I was wearing my trademark red IU ballcap, while standing behind my video-camera and tripod recording something at Hollywood City Hall, while I took copious notes.
In short, the position I've been on so many occasions over the years on so many issues large and small. 
Otherwise, to him I'm a complete stranger. 
Which is fine by me.

Whether its because he so loves the "working man" persona he's created or simply his muddled way of thinking, I can't say, but a few things are clear to me.
One is that my own sense of things from first-hand observations of him and conversations with Hollywood friends and citizens who keep on top of things at Hollywood City Hall is that Comm. Hernandez, whether intentionally or not, has created the impression that he is someone who actually enjoys being seen as combative, even when it's not necessary, and often even when it's actually MORE injurious to his particular argument, case or cause.

That doesn't make him unique in Broward or South Florida local govt., of course, but it is the particular sterotype he has largely helped craft for himself, based on his own actions and words and votes.
From a distance, it seems that what he has really built is more of a self-constructed cage than a public platform for fully engaging the community.

Perhaps because of either his ambition or ego, Comm. Hernandez not only doesn't seem to appreciate that his continuing to act like the tactics he regularly employs are actually working -when it's clear to nearly everyone that they aren't- but he also seems blind to the fact that when he specifically talks about the city having more money to spend, he has
NOT made the case that a majority of Hollywood citizens or Small Business owners necessarily believe that's a good idea.
For good reason - they DON'T!

When Hollywood citizens I know and respect hear a Hollywood Commissioner say that they want more money to spend, given what has happened there in the recent past and what was required -a bitter referendum on the city's budget priorities- those citizens immediately grab for their wallets or purses to make sure they are STILL there.

They ALSO begin to immediately suspect the Commissioner who publicly says they want more money to dole out at City Hall wants to give an even higher share of the city's limited budget to the Police and Fire Depts. -with the resultant increased pension costs and negative financial consequences sure to follow.

THAT particular approach is NOT a public policy decision those Hollywood citizens I know and respect will support, since it took so long for the city to rein those things in in the first place.
They don't want to go back to how things used to be.
If you missed my recent email to Hollywood's City Manager about what's going on with the TriRail Coastal commuter line, I've placed it on my blog here, so take a look: 
I've included some helpful Google Maps to connect-the-dots a bit.
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Saturday, September 26, 2015

The Tri-Rail Coastal commuter train in South Florida offers a dynamic opportunity to change and IMPROVE old ways of thinking and living. So why is Tri-Rail doing such a poor job of letting the public know what's REALLY going on? I ask Hollywood's City Manger that very question, since the cities of Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and Aventura are ideally positioned to benefit economically more quickly than any other cities on the commuter line

The Tri-Rail Coastal commuter train in South Florida offers a dynamic opportunity to change and IMPROVE old ways of thinking and living. So why is Tri-Rail doing such a poor job of letting the public know what's REALLY going on? I ask Hollywood's City Manger that very question, since the cities of Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and Aventura are ideally positioned to benefit economically more quickly than any other cities on the commuter line

Below is a slightly-expanded version of an email about the Tri-Rail Coastal commuter train that I sent on September 18th to the Hollywood City Manager, Dr. Wazir Ishmael. 
It follows a previous letter that was sent to him and dozens of other people in South Florida about the same subject. I've deleted some email addresses below for obvious reasons.



An Open Letter to Mayor Carlos Gimenez: A World­Class Community Must Have Open Data Governance http://miamiopendata.org/docs/open-data-letter.pdf

Dr. Ishmael: 

Just a note to let you know I'll  be writing you next week with respect to how/when Hollywood might adopt some of the sort of innovative thinking described above in the tweet from Miami Open Data to Miami-Dade Mayor Gimenez.

Thanks also for your quick response to my recent email re the Tri-Rail Coastal, below.

As a result of my years taking the El train into downtown Chicago everyday from my home across the street from the Bahá'í Temple in suburban Wilmette, three blocks from the end of the EL line at the Linden CTA station, https://goo.gl/maps/84tDQ  https://goo.gl/maps/jGZHz 

and years later, from my upscale neighborhood in Arlington into Washington, DC via METRO 
everyday from the Ballston station next to the National Science Foundation HQ, 


I became over time, without realizing it at the time, a strong advocate of well-planned and sensible 
public transit. And have only gotten more personally involved in the subject once I was in DC. and then down here.

But I get VERY frustrated at what I perceive to be the snail-like pace I and other observers see from Tri-Rail these days, and the even slower public engagement approach taken by them to share what's actually happening with respect to tangible milestones with the public and the business community.

Just as is true in parts of Hallandale Beach along the FEC Corridor, it's absurd to imagine that there's an entire army of people chomping at the bit to invest in some business or property development along N. 21 Avenue and Adams BEFORE some definite word comes from Tri-Rail as to when an actual station will be near there, and making sure that everyone knows what's what.

And yet Tri-Rail now pretends that everyone in the community is psyched, and that Tri-Rail can just keep doing what they're doing.
Whatever that actually is...

 Dr. Ishmael, based on my conversations with people who keep their eyes open, everyone is, most assuredly, NOT psyched NOR convinced that Tri-Rail is doing everything they can to best effectively communicate the truth/facts to the public, whatever that is.

Seriously, they were so slow to get going on Social Media that they could NOT even get the Twitter name they wanted because other people beat them to the punch.
That damning fact is one I have shared in emails with lots of people as well as on my blog and in a few tweets.
It's indicative of many things about their counter-intuitive approach.

Most people who come to know me at least reasonably well come to appreciate that just because I'm pro-transit, doesn't mean that I will support or make excuses for truly half-assed plans, efforts or results of the sort that the public too frequently sees from transit groups and agencies down here.

I refer you to this pertinent May 6, 2013 blog post of mine:

More Transit Policy Woes in South Florida: With stealthy and self-sabotaging friends like All Aboard Florida and SFRTA/Tri-Rail, pro-transit advocates in South Florida don't need any more enemies; 'All Aboard Florida' fails to schedule a single public scoping meeting in Broward County this Spring despite Fort Lauderdale being a proposed station, while SFRTA chief refuses to answer a simple question -Will Hallandale Beach have a station under the proposed Coastal line plan?; Just because you're pro-transit doesn't mean you have to ignore displays of transit incompetency or mismanagement when you see it!


To me, in short, Tri-Rail's sitting on their hands far too much.
That is, when they aren't prematurely patting themselves on the back for being the proverbial engine bringing dynamic economic changes to the under-developed and under-utilized FEC Corridor area
Something that has YET to actually happen.

Meanwhile, in Miami, as you can see below, looks like some developers are pricing out people whom I suspect would look perfect in Hollywood, Hallandale Beach or Aventura taking the Tri-Rail Coastal to work, whether that's in downtown Miami or downtown Fort lauderdale - or neither.
But who want to avail themselves of opportunities.



@SFlaBizBandell New Wynwood could price out hipsters who made it thrive
http://
Opportunities.
Just something to think about.

Dave
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Wazir Ishmael
Date: Tue, Aug 25, 2015 at 9:13 AM
Subject: RE: re Redevelopment in Hollywood, tonight's public meeting re proposed RAC, and the role of Tri-Rail Coastal

Hello David!

Thank you for the valuable input.  We will certainly reach out to the folks at Tri-Rail to ensure their participation in any future RAC events.

The rail portion could prove to be an integral component to the future success of the RAC and having spent time in Portland, Oregon and the UK I am very familiar with the incorporation of multi-modal opportunities as significant catalysts to development and redevelopment.

Once again, thank you for your insights and suggestion.

Sincerely,

Wazir Ishmael, Ph.D.
City Manager
cid:image001.png@01CE03C1.B20C11F0
City of Hollywood
2600 Hollywood Boulevard
P.O. Box 229045
Hollywood, FL  33020
Office:  (954) 921-3201
Fax:     (954) 921-3314
wishmael@hollywoodfl.org


Sent: Monday, August 24, 2015 4:06 PM
To: Wazir Ishmael
Cc: Patricia Asseff; Jaye Epstein
Subject: re Redevelopment in Hollywood, tonight's public meeting re proposed RAC, and the role of Tri-Rail Coastal

August 24, 2015 

Dear Dr. Ishmael:

I'm writing you today to follow up on an email -below- that I sent out last week 
to a few hundred concerned residents and Small Business owners in Hollywood
and Hallandale Beach regarding tonight's public meeting re a proposed RAC 
for Hollywood, a plan that includes U.S.-1, Pembroke Road and what I believe 
continues to be the greatly under-developed and under-utilized area along the 
FEC corridor, which could and should be a dynamic that adds much to the city's 
future success.

I quite realize that at this point that it's too late for the city to arrange for some 
well-informed reps from Tri-Rail to be present at tonight's meeting -so that they 
can add some valuable information to the mix so that everyone attending has 
THE most-recent and accurate information.
Rather, I'm writing in part today to encourage you to do whatever you have to 
do in the future to make sure that subsequent public meetings on this important 
subject include them.

That is, so long as they are prepared to state specifics, since my experience 
over the past few years as a longtime civic activist and public transit advocate 
-borne of experience in Chicago/Evanston/Wilmette and Washington,D.C./
Arlington County, VA- is that Tri-Rail seems to often hedge their bets depending 
upon whom their audience is.
Upbeat and somewhat specific to the local news media, but reticent and evasive 
when the public wants some specific answers to simple questions that are not 
available on their website and which their officials do not respond to.




---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Date: Thu, Aug 20, 2015 at 4:13 PM
Subject: Thoughts re role of Tri-Rail Coastal on HB/Hollywood development, per City of Hollywood community meeting on Aug. 24 for Regional Activity Center Re-zoning that includes U.S.-1 & Pembroke Road


My comments follow the announcement.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: News and Announcements <listserv@civicplus.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 18, 2015 at 5:38 PM
Subject: Community Meeting for Regional Activity Center Re-zoning - August 24


Email Notifications
Learn About Proposed Zoning Changes in the Regional Activity Center
The City of Hollywood invites you to a community meeting on Monday, August 24 at 6:00 p.m. at Hollywood City Hall, 2600 Hollywood Boulevard, Room 219 to discuss the planned re-zoning of the Regional Activity Center (RAC).

The RAC encompasses Downtown Hollywood and includes Federal Highway from Sheridan Street to Pembroke Road and Hollywood Boulevard from US-1 to Interstate 95. The Regional Activity Center land use designation is intended to encourage attractive and functional mixed living, working, shopping, education, and recreational activities, in areas of regional importance. To guide sustainable development, the City is undertaking ambitious zoning changes in the RAC to accommodate future growth, while preserving the character of existing neighborhoods.

The Hollywood Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), Department of Community and Economic Development and Department of Planning have hosted a series of community meetings with residents living in and around the RAC to review the proposed zoning changes. This community meeting is open to all residents interested in the RAC re-zoning.  

For additional information, contact the Department of Community and Economic Development at 954.921.3271 or go to RAC Re-zoning.


      
I'm going to make some phone calls and find out who will be speaking
at this meeting next Monday at Hollywood City Hall.

I'm especially interested in finding out if anyone from Tri-Rail will be present
to publicly speak about the latest estimates and deadlines about the Tri-Rail
Coastal service, since from the looks of things, there doesn't seem to be anyone
locally following up on that and holding them to account in turning big words
into some tangible action.

Most of you know from experience that I'm someone who has been a longtime
public advocate for much-better public transit service and facilities in SE Broward
County, and have long lamented publicly at both City Halls how often Hallandale
Beach and Hollywood residents seemed to constantly take it on the chin on 
common sense matters that are relatively easy to resolve policy-wise and would
be supported by the public, but, for whatever reason, always seemed to lack an
advocate for the public at City Hall willing to push their own bureaucrats into action.
Perhaps because they are not considered sexy issues.

For instance, to mention but a few things I've written about frequently with
photos to show the sad reality of what SE Broward transit riders are forced
to put up with,

1.) How about making sure there are actually some bus shelters on the east
side of U.S.-1 in Hallandale Beach, instead of just one, located one block south
of Pembroke Road, practically in Hollywood? Really.

2.) How many years has the Buzz #1 Express to downtown Fort Lauderdale
-that begins at Aventura Mall on north-bound trips- used the two small bus
benches opposite the McDonald's on U.S.-1 as their ONLY Hallandale Beach
stop on the northbound trip, instead of the under-utilized SuperStop bus 
shelter in front of Gulfstream Park, opposite the Flashback Diner?

Yes, the expensive, under-utilized SuperStop bus shelter that the County
and the City of HB required Forest City and MAGNA/Gulfstream Park to build 
as part of the development agreement to create The Village at Gulfstream Park.
You'll recall that the developers said they'd provide shuttle service from that
site to the Tri-Rail station on Hollywood Blvd. -but they never did, did they?
NOPE!!!

Yes, as some of you may recall, that would be the same SuperStop that was 
used as a de facto home base by an army of homeless people for at least 
six-to-eight months from late 2013 to 2014, despite being located less than 
two blocks from Hallandale Beach City Hall and HB Police Dept. HQ.
Both looked the other way at what was happening, which made both bus riders
and bus drivers angry since it was pitch-black at night -on purpose. 
How did HB City Hall and HBPD ignore what was right in front of them???

3.) Honestly, how is it that so many years after the Hollywood ArtsPark was
created by Broward County that Hollywood residents have had to tolerate
ZERO bus shelters at Young Circle, near the Publix, to keep them out of the
sun & downpours?
That should have been done at least eight years ago, with advertising revenue
used to defray the costs of several attractive state-of-the-art bus shelters 
at the site that's not only where the largest number of passengers south
of downtown FTL get off and on, but also right near the two corners of the
Circle where Hollywood City Hall and the Hollywood business community
have long claimed that they wanted to see interesting upscale retail and
residential living located, to give the city some dynamic activity.

As I've written many times before on my blog and said aloud at transportation
forums throughout South Florida, one of the most positive things that can help
jolt the Hollywood and Hallandale Beach economies -not just the downtown
areas of Hollywood and HB but especially the under-developed and under-
utilized areas along the FEC tracks that are perfect for Transit Oriented
Corridor related development, i.e. mixed-use building with retail on the
bottom floor and reasonably-priced residential above- is reliable and safe 
Tri-Rail Coastal service to Downtown Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

(Yes, as many of you know from past conversations with me, because
I've seen how beautifully it works like a charm in Stockholm (especially
in the fascinating and trendy Södermalm neighborhood that I vacationed
in two years ago, which is everything that Coconut Grove and parts of 
Coral Gables near the University of Miami wish they were now but aren't.
We don't need to reinvent the wheel, just make it possible for it to succeed.)

Why? Because giving people the option to be able to relax in the morning and drink
their coffee/smoothies and read a newspaper or zone out on their devices on a train
before they get to work beats the hell out of driving to work thru frustrating gridlock.
And people will pay for that option.

I know because when I lived and worked in the Washington, D.C. area for 15 years,
my housing options always put a premium on access and proximity to the a Metrorail
station. That's why I lived where I did in Arlington County and paid a premium in rent
for the privilege of always being a 15-20 minute walk to a Metro station.
Those last seven years, that meant living in a great residential area of hilly Arlington
less than a mile from the Ballston Metro station, which itself was located below
a Hilton hotel and a block from the National Science Foundation HQ and several
federal govt. agencies.

(And as longtime readers of the blog know, that was the townhouse that President
Ford's daughter Susan used to live in, which still had the Secret Service intercom
system in it when I was there.)

As most of you know, I have long felt that Hollywood and Hallandale Beach could 
benefit from that Coastal service faster and in more tangible and positive ways than
any other two cities in Broward.
So why aren't we hearing from our elected officials about what's really going on with it?


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