Government | ModeShift

Mode Shift Postcards From Around The Nation

by Keith SchneiderJune 4, 2007June 4, 20070

Â Â Though it’s completely understandable why the triple whammy of rising peak oilÂ energy prices, global climate change, and record population growth might get you down, here are a number of promising Mode Shift trends that indicate the end is not nigh. Singles now head the majority of American households and are repopulating America’s great cities. This from Baltimore, according to the May 29, 2007 edition of the Baltimore Sun: “Across Baltimore, single women – old …

The Michigan Crisis: Ideology Not Intelligence

by Keith SchneiderJune 3, 2007June 4, 20072

Â Late on the Friday night before the Memorial Day weekend, Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Michigan reached agreement with Democratic Governor Jennifer M. Granholm on a very temporary fix to close an $800 million state budget deficit. The deficit, for those who might be unfamiliar, is what happens whenÂ what the state earns in tax revenue doesn’t keep up with what itÂ spends on programs.Â Next fall theÂ crisis worsens when lawmakers look down the raw throat of …

Cities Punch Above Their Weight Economically

by Keith SchneiderMay 23, 2007May 30, 20071

Â Here areÂ two more reasonsÂ why Michigan and the American Midwest are slipping to backwater status in the United States, and whyÂ we can’t give up on the capacity of our governor and state lawmakers toÂ helpÂ work Michigan out of its economic mess.Â Fact one, according to a new analysis by the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution:Â Six of theÂ 80 old industrial cities lagging far behind in economic performance, population growth, job creation, and business development are …

Inc. Magazine Hot Cities: Not One in Upper Midwest

by Keith SchneiderMay 18, 2007June 24, 20073

The annual tally ofÂ AmericanÂ “Boom Towns” in the May issue ofÂ Inc. MagazineÂ includes not one –Â repeat, not a single large, midsize, or small cityÂ in the Great Lakes regionÂ that qualifies amongÂ the nation’s top generators of new jobs. If the entire Midwest is considered, the only two cities that sneak onto the list are Springfield, Missouri (ranked # 20 among midsize cities) and Dubuque, Iowa (#15 among small cities).Â The list does include some of our favorite Mode Shift …

Circle of Blue

by Keith SchneiderMay 16, 2007January 8, 20135

Not long after he earned a graduate degree in journalism fromÂ Northwestern University Carl Ganter made a name for himself here in Traverse City, his hometown,Â as a young writer and photojournalist with an unerring grasp for great stories, and a superb eye for color, light, character, and drama. He could make an ordinary windmill, its blades lit against a dramatic dawn sky, look like the most exotic piece of energy technology ever invented.Â His wife, Eileen Ganter, …

Barack Steps Gingerly Into the Realm of A Weakened Beast

by Keith SchneiderMay 8, 2007June 18, 20140

Democratic presidential candidate and Illinois Senator Barack ObamaÂ skipped across the big pond on Tuesday and landed in Detroit, where he stirred a modest amount of interest by scolding American auto makers for letting the Japanese take command of the industry, and then offering a federal hand in contributing to the industry’sÂ health care costs in exchange forÂ convincing auto makers to increase fuel efficiency by about 1 mile a gallon per year.Â [youtube]GpYkCNohmf8[/youtube] Big deal. Both ideas …

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 …