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 Post subject: Chicago Metra v. SouthShore is an utterly false comparison
PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 9:59 am 
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The current population of the City of Chicago is 2.715 million. This figure is exclusive of the suburbs. By contrast, the population of Lake County - the entire county - is 400,000 plus. Throw in Porter County's 60K, and the minuscule census results from Jasper & Newton counties, it is still under 600,000. (This is just raw population, not a net figure of actual riders. My guess is, like the argument used to inflate bus usage, the ridership figures reflect the projected number of rides, not riders)

Yet we have the Times' Keith Benmen carrying water for the powers that be who desire a big chunk of the county income tax allocated to cities and towns their shares for economic development.

Whatever the merits of the proposal, one that Visclosky and the Times fear putting to referendum vote, the metric used to frame and define it are propagandistic and false. Note, the project is touted in terms of "potential" based on a study commissioned by South Shore. These projections are fictions and a deliberate inflation of any realistic probability.

From the Times' lead paragraphs today:

"In a renewed push to extend the South Shore commuter rail line, proponents are touting its unparalleled economic development potential and saying no new taxes will be needed to build it.

"Their enthusiasm is boosted in part by a new study commissioned by the South Shore's operator that finds an extension to Dyer would result in 5,600 new daily riders hauling about $147 million per year in paychecks back to Northwest Indiana from Chicago.

(This is fictional projection)

"That economic benefit does not even count the jobs that would be created by those South Shore commuters spending their checks in the region. Those jobs COULD total more than 5,000 if the rail line someday reached its ultimate goal of Lowell and Valparaiso.

"That means extending the South Shore to Dyer, and then to Lowell and Valparaiso, could easily outperform the economic impact of any single project since the establishment of Bethlehem Steel here in the 1960s.

"Northwest Indiana has an opportunity to lay the foundation for transformational infrastructure investment by extending the South Shore line," said U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville. "This is a generational opportunity to create jobs. The time is now."
---------

Finally, the real rub. It is a construction industry project whose proposal is devoid of the subsequent consideration for future maintenance and operation costs and before/after new generations of White flight fully gut the south shore cities and towns.

It sounds a lot like the solid waste-to-fuel project touted by Gerry Scheub and the construction industry. This project was so bogus it was an insult, yet Scheub controlled the solid waste board Democrats and perpetuated the propsal, literally for years, irrespective of whether the project was actually viable on the scale on which it was proposed. Here the SouthShore extension seeds the lending market for bankers and subsidizes for real estate developers' the cost of providing infrastructure supporting and encouraging more flight to the suburbs.

The article concludes with: "Still fresh in everyone's mind are the ill-fated November 2009 voter referendums to create a Regional Transportation District that could have aided in extending the South Shore. The plan was soundly defeated in votes in Porter and St. Joseph counties. In Lake and LaPorte, county officials simply called off the votes."

"No referendum will be needed this time, in part because of the no new tax pledge."

They've completely circumvented the People's input by emphasizing only start up costs, not long term future operation and maintenance.


Last edited by Neometric on Sun Jan 19, 2014 9:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Chicago Metra v. SouthShore is an utterly false comparison
PostPosted: Sun Jan 19, 2014 4:49 pm 
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Location: Stupid Liberals!
Vote Republican.

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