I think, when the prices are right, and the body politic is
alienated, it's easier to purchase private space for yourself than it
is to help maintain a public space.
Think about what that means, though. Tons of money spent on the
assumption that people couldn't live together. Tons of money spent
encouraging people to stop talking to each other, stop dealing with
each other, stop learning from each other. It's enough to make you
start wondering if this isn't all part of a huge cable-tv industry
conspiracy.
Cities make it easy to live a rich adult life. People who leave the
city to raise their children are leaving part of themselves, as
"people," behind, in order to become "parents." But the best
environment for kids is where their parents are leading full lives as
people unto themselves.
>Will the 2/3 who use cars agree to new restrictions on car use
>in the hope those restrictions will
>improve Muni? It's a no-brainer: they won't.
People could well agree to restrictions on car use if it makes living
in the city more pleasant *and* it's tied to improved service for
other modes of transit. The SFBC just won a big victory, putting bike
lanes on Valencia Street, by working the crowd to death: getting all
the neighborhood groups involved, canvassing merchants, coming up
with a plan that worked for everyone. The Liberty Hill Association
and other Guerrero Street folks are high as kites to support the bike
lanes because part of the plan calls for traffic calming on Guerrero
Street.
>None of this has anything to do with traffic. It has everything to do
>with operations.
Marketing consultant: "The system must be fixed so it's competitive
with cars, so people will buy more bus trips."
City citizen: "We have to fix the system because that will make our
city a better place to live, _and_here's_how_."
I know who'd *I'd* rather hear from.
/dtp/
-- David Powers : chromozone
-- San Francisco CA USA
-- fax 415 436.9141
-- mailto:chromo@sirius.com
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