steel valley outdoors on WRTA

A statement from the Steel Valley Outdoors blog:

"But sometimes, just sometimes, we end up having to pay for something just because we need to continue it. MRDD renewals almost always pass. We put up with the orange barrels for smooth roads. Educating our kids gives them good jobs, so they can then pay our Social Security."

"My wife has a vision problem. She cannot drive.

She works in Austintown. I work in Cranberry. We are not poor. We do not expect anyone to support us. I do not understand the argument that only the poor use the bus, that it’s a class warfare thing.

We do not live in the city. We live in Boardman. I do not understand the argument that this is a city thing. This is a regional thing.

This is about providing necessary services to all residents. I pass through New Castle every day. I cannot figure out how come there is a bus [system running] from the hilltop area outside Poland, to the Park and Ride in Portersville and then on to Cranberry and the North Hills, when Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley cannot fund a system that can reliably get you across town.

I said before I’m selfish. I started this blog as a way to promote those activities I like. I want to make money here and bring good jobs into the area so I won’t have to drive an hour to work. I want to teach the next generation about outdoor recreation so it’s protected for me.

And I want my wife to be able to continue to work. I don’t want to have to worry about her being stuck in weather like this, waiting for me or and friend or a taxi to get her home every single day.

We need WRTA. If it’s been mismanaged, if it doesn’t provide a service you use, I understand. But this is a service we need.

Please support it."

read more here

2 supurb opinion pieces in the vindy

The original post is at Shout Youngstown.

two great editorials this week:

Youngstown still sees its shadow by Eric Planey

No one likes to pay taxes, but WRTA provides a public service worth supporting by Timothy Wagner

are TIFs an answer?

from the GLUEspace blog:

"Three main ingredients are essential to spur the economic development that each of our Great Lakes cities sorely needs: smart people, good ideas and financing. I will talk here about one possible piece to the financing puzzle.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a tool at the disposal of municipal governments throughout the United States. In the seven-county Milwaukee region alone, over $8.5 billion of property wealth is flowing toward TIF districts. These districts fund industrial, retail, residential and office real estate development in both urban and rural settings. Some criticize TIF as “corporate welfare” and, indeed, in some cases the tool has been wielded improperly. Fortunately, TIF is being increasingly used by cities to fund ambitious and far-sighted community development projects.

The challenge is to move beyond thinking of TIF as merely a “project-based” tool and start thinking of it as a way to achieve regional and community development goals, as we build our niche in the global marketplace. Proactive regional leadership is vital to achieving such a paradigm shift. TIF can be an powerful tool for the evolution of our cities."

more here.

More on the Beltline here.

note: It's been fun to see this project go from a master's thesis at Georgia Tech to a multi-billion dollar project. Good work Ryan . . .

A Concept On Drawing Airlines To YNG

The Fly Youngstown blog compares what is going on elsewhere in the country:

"Last month I touched on a topic relating to the creation of passenger flow to the Youngstown-Warren Airport. I pointed out that even a small start in the right direction I would consider a success. This time I wish to specifically focus in on techniques that are being used at another airport to acquire airlines to it. First we need to read a rather recent short article which includes exactly what we are looking for.

more on YNG here.

cities are the solution, not the problem

Youngstown Moxie has loads of information in today's post, from info on how to ride the buses to TED videos:

"Prior to reading the post below about the WRTA please watch the video of Jaime Lerner from TED. I believe that after watching this video you will understand why the title of today's post is "Cities Aren't the Problem; They are the Solution" and you too will want to sing "The Sustainability Song" by voting yes for the WRTA levy. "

"The new tax is projected to raise 7.5 million dollars per year and would allow for the reinstatement of weekend and evening buses, more frequent city service and new routes to the suburbs. If this levy is rejected, the results could range from temporary additional cutbacks to the permanent elimination of public transportation in the city."

What do you think?

news: 19 Dec 2007

WRTA Tries to Go Countywide
some interesting bits from this story in the Vindicator:

Mahoning County commissioners passed a resolution to enable placement of a 0.25 percent, five-year sales tax to support countywide bus service.

Youngstown City Council's resolution would expand the authority's board from five members (four appointed by Youngstown's mayor and one appointed by council) to seven members, with four appointed by the county commissioners and three by the mayor of Youngstown.

WRTA has been forced this year to reduce service by about 50 percent because of state and federal funding cuts. Evening routes, routes to Warren and Saturday service has been removed along with thinning out schedules on its remaining routes. Youngstown city property tax and the fare box provide the only local revenues for WRTA.

It seems like city taxpayers are footing the bill to send people to shop in the suburbs. Maybe a city plus inner-ring suburb tax plan is best.

Youngstown-Taft Technology Center update

click here for more info.

and from the Chief Evangelist:

Wow...what a year!

Added five new B2B software companies to our growing portfolio.

High profile visitors including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Presidential candidate John Edwards, Senator Sherrod Brown, and Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher.

Construction starts on our new $6 million Taft Technology Center to accommodate the tremendous growth of YBI companies.

Secured $1.5 million in funding to establish the National Center of Excellence for Advanced Metrology and 3-Dimensional Imaging.

Portfolio company Turning Technologies tops the Weatherhead 100 list and is named by Inc. magazine as the fastest growing software company in the country.

Stay tuned in 2008. The best is yet to come!

Per Ardua Ad Astra