May, 2007 | ModeShift

The Proximate Principle: Open Space is Sound Fiscal Policy

by Keith SchneiderMay 7, 2007May 7, 20073

Â People adore parks.Â Most people also love open space. That applies even to the three Grand Traverse (MI) County commissioners who last month suggested that global climate change was a leftist conspiracy ginned up by Al Gore, and suggested that emailing the sun was a useful antidote.Â A comprehensive study by the San Francisco-based Trust For Public Land, published in early March,Â Â found sound economic evidence forÂ why regions thatÂ embrace an aggressiveÂ program of park development and open …

California Governor Tracks Back, Says He Supports High Speed Rail

by Keith SchneiderMay 6, 2007May 6, 20071

Â The push back by the old and new media to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to cut state funds to the agency overseeing the development of a 700-mile high speed rail network in California appears to have influenced the Republican governor’s view. On Friday, Schwarzenegger (see pix) published an op-ed in the Fresno Bee extolling a high speed system. Thanks to Marcel Marchon’s Trainblog for keeping us current. “The promise of high-speed rail is incredible,” wrote …

High Speed Rail Cut Stirs Response in California

by Keith SchneiderMay 3, 2007May 5, 200711

Â Â Â PROPOSED CALIFORNIA HIGH SPEED RAIL ROUTE Â California Democrats have elevated building their state’s proposed high speed rail network to the top of their legislative priorities, according to the San Francisco Bay Guardian. The Daily Kos, one of the most read blogs in the country, noted the swirl of attention that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stirred with his proposal to cut $2.5 million in state funding to the California High Speed Rail Authority, the agency overseeing …

Fast Trains There; Dreams of Fast Trains Here

by Keith SchneiderMay 2, 2007May 10, 20075

Almost three years after Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that put $2.5 million in the kitty of the California High Speed Rail Authority, which is charged with overseeing the planning of a 700-mile network of fast trains in the nation’s largest state, Schwarzenegger has had a change of heart. The governor’s 2007 budget proposal calls for cutting state appropriations for the Authority, according to an article in the April 29, 2007 edition of …