{"id":4,"date":"2005-11-10T19:12:00","date_gmt":"2005-11-11T02:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=4"},"modified":"2005-11-10T19:12:00","modified_gmt":"2005-11-11T02:12:00","slug":"notrailing-at-light-rail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/4\/notrailing-at-light-rail\/","title":{"rendered":"(not)Railing at light rail…"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Arizona Republic<\/a> blows warm, wet kisses at the light rail system currently (and essentially perpetually) under construction in Central Phoenix. It really doesn’t do to gripe about this thing. It will<\/i> happen, no matter how much it shouldn’t. But the article itself is funny, presumably without intending to be. I am obliged by my agreement with the Republic not to make fun of it, so please understand that I am only drawing attention to the particular lines of text I quote below. Like this:<\/p>\n

The spring weather is starting to heat up, and after a short bus ride to the station at Central Avenue and Camelback Road, you’re cooling your heels under one of the shade structures on the station platform.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See, the thing is, the light rail is not actually intended for people who live in Phoenix–at least not for the tax-payers, nor for the current users of public transportation. The two largest concentrations of adult bus passengers are in Sunnyslope and South Phoenix, but the trolley goes nowhere near either place. The actual ‘audience’ for the light rail are tourists. They won’t actually ride it, nor will the tax-payers, but the City wants to be able to shout, “Phoenix, too!,” to the light rail-afflicted world. It seems likely that out-of-towners are the ‘audience’ for this article, too, since everyone who lives here knows how unbearably hot it is outdoors, even in the shade.<\/p>\n

You’re ready to get on board. Looking around, you see people heading for work, Arizona State University students, airline travelers with suitcases, and a few transient types.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, prosperous people love ‘transient types.’ That’s why you see so many expensive suits on the bus. That’s why hitch-hikers jump for joy when they see a $50,000 SUV–a free ride with lumbar support!<\/p>\n

There are no advertisements inside or outside. Valley Metro put a moratorium on ads for the first year, then will decide whether to allow them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here’s an important fact: Light rail is very expensive to run. Not just to build, mind you, although it’s hugely expensive to build; the system in Phoenix will run to more than $1,000 an Read more<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Arizona Republic blows warm, wet kisses at the light rail system currently (and essentially perpetually) under construction in Central Phoenix. It really doesn’t do to gripe about this thing. It will happen, no matter how much it shouldn’t. But the article itself is funny, presumably without intending to be. I am obliged by my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-general","8":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":803,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/803\/not-just-any-fools-heavy-on-the-light-rail-propaganda-please\/","url_meta":{"origin":4,"position":0},"title":"Not just any fools: Heavy on the light rail propaganda, please . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"December 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Almost three years ago, The Goldwater Institute, a free-market think tank in Phoenix, published a devastating accounting of the light rail system now being built in Metropolitan Phoenix:[The Maricopa Association of Governments]'s public transit plans deserve close scrutiny. Use of urban public transportation systems has been in decline since the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investment"","block_context":{"text":"Investment","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/investment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/47\/corporate-welfare-in-phoenix\/","url_meta":{"origin":4,"position":1},"title":"Corporate welfare in Phoenix","author":"Odysseus","date":"January 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Arizona Republic brings us another glowing puff piece on the beauty, the splendor, the wonder, the power and the glory of the forthcoming Trolley system:Funny thing about \"knowledge workers\": They don't like to drive. That's one of the reasons Thomas Gorny decided on a site along the future light-rail\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/21\/moondacity\/","url_meta":{"origin":4,"position":2},"title":"Moondacity…","author":"Odysseus","date":"December 6, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Jon Talton is the Arizona's Republic's house Socialist. He hates just about everything associated with free enterprise, but he makes up for it by waxing rhapsodic over any stray government boondoggle. He is convinced that Phoenix will continue to go down the toilet by growing and prospering until it dares\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":344,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/344\/why-are-we-building-an-asu-campus-in-downtown-phoenix\/","url_meta":{"origin":4,"position":3},"title":"Why are we building an ASU campus in Downtown Phoenix . . . ?","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"In an involuntary spasm of honesty, the Arizona Republic admits the truth:The journalism school is considered the most crucial component of the new campus' second phase, in part because it boasts an enrollment of nearly 1,800 students. Most of those are undergraduates who are more likely to live in downtown\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":579,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/579\/should-you-trust-the-numbers-you-read-dig-deeper\/","url_meta":{"origin":4,"position":4},"title":"Should you trust the numbers you read? Dig deeper . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Republic is all atwitter today because \"Prices of new homes slip by largest amount in nearly 36 years\". What's the real news: Nationwide (a non-existent real estate market), year-over-year median prices for new homes were down 9.7%. Not great, not awful, and not really news at all. We need\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9105,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/9105\/private-ownership-of-the-land-is-the-source-not-just-of-our-freedom-but-of-our-civility-and-of-our-humanity-itself\/","url_meta":{"origin":4,"position":5},"title":"Private ownership of the land is the source not just of our freedom but of our civility and of our humanity itself","author":"Greg Swann","date":"July 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Kicking this back to the top. Happy Independence Day! -- GSS \u00a0This from my Arizona Republic real estate column (permanent link): The \"cap and trade\" bill that passed in the House of Representatives last week contains within it the seeds of a national building code. It rarely rains in Phoenix\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Mother"","block_context":{"text":"Big Mother","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/big-mother\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}