Westchester County is approaching one million, it is time for it to have Light Rail system or become the 6th boro (New York: to rent, crime rate)
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Wrong. I posted on 4-11 at 4:25 and spoke of the politics of westchester joining NYC, the practicality of putting in a light rail system, governments taking private land, and the exciting prospects for the now closed Galleria.
20 minutes later you said "you are clearly not an educated person and you failed math and science." The first personal attack.
But it does not matter, your points are what they are. If you want to actually discuss why I vigorously disagree with your position without you calling me uneducated I am game for it.
I'm in real estate development and have worked personally on dozens of transit systems. I understand the differences between a light rail and a tram system in population dense areas like lower Westchester. I am working on two TOD developments in westchester right now. I am actually fairly well educated in these areas and enjoy discussing them. I do not enjoy being called uneducated. When someone attacks me, I attack back. I am perfectly willing to move past it now.
Now, light rail systems do in fact require a significant land investment. They are not just shoved into existing highways. The powerplants, stations, and support require land, which in Westchester simply does not exist in the current public right of ways. It would require a "takings" which I am strongly against on a personal level for any reason. The value of the land in this area is literally the most valuable in the entire US with the exception of a small part of Orange County CA. The actual creation of an effective system would require a constitutional "takings" of massive proportion.
The current Beeline bus system works for what it is, a spoke system. I fundamentally disagree with the notion that car based transportation is untenable in Westchester County. People make choices about where they want to live. I live in Westchester county on a multi acre lot butting against a protected forest. I made this choice for a reason. I love where I live. One of my siblings is in NYC and enjoys living in the urban area. Another sibling lives in a southern westchester suburb with tiny lots and her neighbors house 20 feet from her own. She loves that. Westchester strives to be able to offer housing choices to different types of people. You can live in Yonkers, New Rochelle, Peekskill and other areas if you want walkability and urban living. You can live in Somers or North Salem and other areas if you want rural living. You can live in Croton or Briarcliff or many other areas if you want something in between. Lumping westchester all together is a big mistake. But since the little tiny lot in southern westchester is likely worth more than an entire 10 acre lot in North Salem, property value is not something you can disregard if you want to talk about making an effective transportation system that would make options to avoid road car based travel possible.
Yeah, I live fairly close to the train and would NOT give up my home or lot. A lot of people on my block feel exactly the same.
Yeah, I live fairly close to the train and would NOT give up my home or lot. A lot of people on my block feel exactly the same.
Nobody is asking you to give up your home or lot. But if that guy Dr. Strangelove had his way, he would eliminate Metro-North service and build a highway which WOULD 100% take down not just your home but your entire block. At that point, your property value will fall to Newark levels, maybe even worse. You may want to read carefully and understand the situation cause any rail system is not gonna go after your home versus another highway. If it's tough for you to understand, there is always Nebraska.
So now you went from real estate agent to attorney. Next you will say that you are a movie director.
The same taxpayers in Westchester supported segregation at one time because they felt others would bring down their property values. So you can't use "i am working on behalf of the people of Westchester". No you are not working on behalf of the people but you are serving the auto industry and big oil quite well. Since you want to play majority rules, well NY state quite literally voted for the first and wants more TOD which means more expansion of the system. Not just Westchester County, but every region in New York State.
First of all, like I said you have no idea how the engineering of land works. Private property doesn't have to be demolished for any rail. There are these things calls tunnels which borrow underground OR elevated viaducts or a lane gets closed down which is public not private land. Zoning laws can be changed which is what the Governor wants to be build more housing around Metro-North stations.
Adding more homes to be build around cars, which is what you want is what creates the vicious cycle of the housing cries. That is just pure fact.
My vision is a Western European model, yours is Houston.
Such a sad person. I've never changed who I am. I also coach soccer and give as much time and money to US Soccer development on the women's side as I can. I am a father, an uncle, a brother, and a friend. Yet I can somehow do all these things without being a bad person.
Yes, taxpayers in Westchester supported segregation at one time. And at that time, there were taxpayers that did not. The history of race in Westchester, the race riots, the peaceful protests, and the changing times from the exploration of the Hudson river to today are fascinating history. I'm not sure what they have to do with this issue, but you do you. I'm not arguing with you on anyone's behalf but my own. You are the one claiming to represent others. You seem to be the one claiming "i am working on behalf of the people of Westchester". No you are not working on behalf of the people.
I so enjoy when people post my own data to argue with me. I know that poll well. I LOVE Transit Oriented Districts. I hope to make a good deal of money from TODs. More and more Master Plans are promoting TODs and they are fantastic. Traditionally, there are large plots of land zoned for industrial use near rail lines. Converting the zoning makes it profitable for the industrial zone owners to sell the land to developers, who can make money developing the land around commuter rail stations. This is what I do and I so love doing it. Yes, it is happening all over the state. Lots of money to be made in TOD developments. Mixed use residential/retail with less height restrictions are the future. But light rail is not a part of this. Completely different thing. But go for it. I hope you can make some money in light rail development. I do not know anyone investing in light rail for Westchester, but if I hear of anyone, I will let you know.
If you think you can bore tunnels in lower westchester, good luck. But you sadly are mistaken in how property law works. Lanes being closed down for a tram system in a small area may work, but not in a highway system. But you clearly have a lot of experience dealing with the distinctions between local roads, county roads, state roads, and US routes and interstates, and how the process to modify roads. Its easy to do. Elevated viaducts are also used all over the state. You can see how inexpensive they are to deal with in a humid continental zone with over 30 days of sub 0 temperatures. As an engineer, you understand the concrete and steel requirements and the impact on cost to construct and maintain these. You can see why taxpayers would favor this.
Zoning laws are local, not state. Money from the state can impact anything, but its towns passing zoning changes, and citizens sitting on planning boards and zoning BOAs impacting this. Adding more homes that can use whatever form of transportation is cost effective creates the vicious cycle of life that we all live in. That is just pure fact.
IMO, your vision is unrealistic in Westchester, mine is currently here, working fine, being modified every day and still working. Also, I love Houston. Its a great town. Good barbeque and I love the suburb Frisco. The soccer hall of fame is there and lots of big investors in the women's game. Frisco is developing nicely with some very nice transit oriented districts being planned around its existing train and BUS stops. Its working beautifully. You should check it out.
Anyone that thinks we need to steal land from taxpaying citizens to spend more money to build outdated light rails (did you live in Portland in the 90s or something, light rails, really?) is a moron and should be forced out of the NYC metro area and forced to develop in rural parts of Oklahoma or North Dakota where they can just build whatever they want and not have to deal with things like existing human owners of land.
The now closed Galleria will be demolished and more home options where people in various incomes levels and life situations can live and work from their home, age in place, raise families, enjoy single life, and walk to existing transit, use shared cars, and enjoy life.
A lot of the development in WP has been inflll for now and thank god for that. I know you know this already, but for other readers, you can easily go back using Google Street View and see empty lots where a lot of recent townhouse development has taken place. The recent Galleria demolition, Lexington II, development on South Lexington Ave and the upcoming Hamilton Green will add thousands of units.
I hope it doesn't get to the point of eminent domain as there are existing homeowners who are happy where they are, but I do like that the city is making use of commercial properties that "fell out of use" like WP mall.
The underlying problem with public funded urban rail is that the government was behind the dismantling of the previous urban rail system.
This should make everyone very very suspicious.
It would be FAR BETTER to "not" use public funds for urban rail. Instead, grant tax exemption to all aspects of urban rail. It doesn't require administrative overhead to account for NOT taxing. Investment money will pour in - who doesn't like tax exempt earnings?
[] NO property tax on rail rights of way
[] NO government intrusion and fare caps
[] NO government penalty (taxes) on manufacturing, installing, operating and maintaining urban rail
Such a sad person. I've never changed who I am. I also coach soccer and give as much time and money to US Soccer development on the women's side as I can. I am a father, an uncle, a brother, and a friend. Yet I can somehow do all these things without being a bad person.
Yes, taxpayers in Westchester supported segregation at one time. And at that time, there were taxpayers that did not. The history of race in Westchester, the race riots, the peaceful protests, and the changing times from the exploration of the Hudson river to today are fascinating history. I'm not sure what they have to do with this issue, but you do you. I'm not arguing with you on anyone's behalf but my own. You are the one claiming to represent others. You seem to be the one claiming "i am working on behalf of the people of Westchester". No you are not working on behalf of the people.
I so enjoy when people post my own data to argue with me. I know that poll well. I LOVE Transit Oriented Districts. I hope to make a good deal of money from TODs. More and more Master Plans are promoting TODs and they are fantastic. Traditionally, there are large plots of land zoned for industrial use near rail lines. Converting the zoning makes it profitable for the industrial zone owners to sell the land to developers, who can make money developing the land around commuter rail stations. This is what I do and I so love doing it. Yes, it is happening all over the state. Lots of money to be made in TOD developments. Mixed use residential/retail with less height restrictions are the future. But light rail is not a part of this. Completely different thing. But go for it. I hope you can make some money in light rail development. I do not know anyone investing in light rail for Westchester, but if I hear of anyone, I will let you know.
If you think you can bore tunnels in lower westchester, good luck. But you sadly are mistaken in how property law works. Lanes being closed down for a tram system in a small area may work, but not in a highway system. But you clearly have a lot of experience dealing with the distinctions between local roads, county roads, state roads, and US routes and interstates, and how the process to modify roads. Its easy to do. Elevated viaducts are also used all over the state. You can see how inexpensive they are to deal with in a humid continental zone with over 30 days of sub 0 temperatures. As an engineer, you understand the concrete and steel requirements and the impact on cost to construct and maintain these. You can see why taxpayers would favor this.
Zoning laws are local, not state. Money from the state can impact anything, but its towns passing zoning changes, and citizens sitting on planning boards and zoning BOAs impacting this. Adding more homes that can use whatever form of transportation is cost effective creates the vicious cycle of life that we all live in. That is just pure fact.
IMO, your vision is unrealistic in Westchester, mine is currently here, working fine, being modified every day and still working. Also, I love Houston. Its a great town. Good barbeque and I love the suburb Frisco. The soccer hall of fame is there and lots of big investors in the women's game. Frisco is developing nicely with some very nice transit oriented districts being planned around its existing train and BUS stops. Its working beautifully. You should check it out.
Houston has light rail mostly in the downtown and it's length is 20 miles, which is quite pathetic since it's the 4th largest city in America. That city should be having a subway system just like the top three cities have. Although second largest, Los Angeles has a lot work to do. Although Houston has it's wonderful road rage thank to not having a transit system. But that's another topic.
As for boring tunnels, there is a country which I been to many times that has constructed tunnels underground many times in heavily mountainous areas and they are called Switzerland. Southern Westchester has nothing on Switzerland. But like I said, that's only if Westchester became the sixth boro.
Zoning laws can be changed and if you don't want to follow the governor, then prepare to pay a higher taxes and then you will be certainly priced out.
If you think your vision is working fine, then I see why you are an attorney and not an engineer since it seems they are not checking for certain PCPs during testing.
I never said anything about adding light rail on the highways which would be dumb to begin with since it defeats the purpose of mass transit. I was referring to local roads.
The reality is, your kind has outgrown it's use in Westchester. You should ask why most kids that reach adulthood leave Westchester and never to come back. Most end up picking places that are walkable and have mass transit aka trains. In Amsterdam, young kids are far more independent versus in Westchester, they need mommy and daddy to drive them all over the place. The car-centric society you want to keep is destructive. If you truly support TOD, then you would support moving towards the direction of Western Europe/civilization rather than Oklahoma.
As for soccer, well it's a girls sports in the United States. I will take the NFL. That's the only thing the USA did right.
Houston has light rail mostly in the downtown and it's length is 20 miles, which is quite pathetic since it's the 4th largest city in America. That city should be having a subway system just like the top three cities have. Although second largest, Los Angeles has a lot work to do. Although Houston has it's wonderful road rage thank to not having a transit system. But that's another topic.
As for boring tunnels, there is a country which I been to many times that has constructed tunnels underground many times in heavily mountainous areas and they are called Switzerland. Southern Westchester has nothing on Switzerland. But like I said, that's only if Westchester became the sixth boro.
Zoning laws can be changed and if you don't want to follow the governor, then prepare to pay a higher taxes and then you will be certainly priced out.
If you think your vision is working fine, then I see why you are an attorney and not an engineer since it seems they are not checking for certain PCPs during testing.
I never said anything about adding light rail on the highways which would be dumb to begin with since it defeats the purpose of mass transit. I was referring to local roads.
The reality is, your kind has outgrown it's use in Westchester. You should ask why most kids that reach adulthood leave Westchester and never to come back. Most end up picking places that are walkable and have mass transit aka trains. In Amsterdam, young kids are far more independent versus in Westchester, they need mommy and daddy to drive them all over the place. The car-centric society you want to keep is destructive. If you truly support TOD, then you would support moving towards the direction of Western Europe/civilization rather than Oklahoma.
As for soccer, well it's a girls sports in the United States. I will take the NFL. That's the only thing the USA did right.
This has been an excellent conversation. But with all due respect, I don't think the topography of Houston would allow for a subway system. It's all swamp.
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This has been an excellent conversation. But with all due respect, I don't think the topography of Houston would allow for a subway system. It's all swamp.
Thanks, but Houston's topography of swamp does not preclude it from having a subway system. The big cities in Brazil such as Sao Paulo, Rio De Janeiro, and Brasilla have subway systems. Common theme with theses cities is they are jungle humid climate that includes stretches of swamp. The same can be said about some of the big cities in India that also have jungle, tropical, humid, that include swamp.
Washington, DC itself was literally built on a swamp as well but not the swamp we think of compared to the others and it create a subway system in the 1970s which I will say has many pluses with a few minuses.
But if underground tunneling is the fear, then Houston can follow Chicago's model and build elevated lines very similiar to the 1, 7, 4,5,6, N, J, Q, R, F, and A lines in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and uptown Manhattan.
Thanks, but Houston's topography of swamp does not preclude it from having a subway system. The big cities in Brazil such as Sao Paulo, Rio De Janeiro, and Brasilla have subway systems. Common theme with theses cities is they are jungle humid climate that includes stretches of swamp. The same can be said about some of the big cities in India that also have jungle, tropical, humid, that include swamp.
Washington, DC itself was literally built on a swamp as well but not the swamp we think of compared to the others and it create a subway system in the 1970s which I will say has many pluses with a few minuses.
But if underground tunneling is the fear, then Houston can follow Chicago's model and build elevated lines very similiar to the 1, 7, 4,5,6, N, J, Q, R, F, and A lines in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and uptown Manhattan.
Nope! All you want to do is have the government take land from private citizens, then tax people to pay for that land and build your useless systems. Good luck. I will enjoy living in the real world of our fabulous county. I thin you should move to Europe because you like it so much.
Nope! All you want to do is have the government take land from private citizens, then tax people to pay for that land and build your useless systems. Good luck. I will enjoy living in the real world of our fabulous county. I thin you should move to Europe because you like it so much.
Yeah sorry, in your subhuman world, we wouldn't have any mass transit and live like Mogadishu because I have caught you again in another lie. I think you would love living in those places because all the build is highways after highways. First you support TOD, now you came up with the classic "those countries are socialist" in a paraphrase. It looks like you failed basic U.S. and world history but just so you know, Japan is more capitalistic than the USA. The same story with Switzerland.
The difference between you and myself is I lived in many places, both urban, suburban, jungle, swamp, mountains, and desert so your life experiences are kinda worthless in the grand scheme of things. The highlight of your life in a nasaly voice is "i am going to Boca Raton".
Western European cities are better than the vast majority than American cities because their leaders care about their well being more than our leaders care for us. This applies to both our parties and it's proven fact.
I will tell you one thing thought, you do make a great dog for the auto and oil industry. I am sure they are all proud of you now.
In the history of the world, rail never takes private land from people or the amount is minimum compared with your glorious highways which demolished neighborhoods and displaced people and led to ghettos which happened in large parts of NYC and NJ.
Your future for Westchester county is one that leads to this:
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