Re: (erielack) Re: commuter railroads

[hoboken_@_ezrs.com]

An off-topic reply relative to the NIMBY issue.

A small railroad in South Bend, IN, wanted to buy a few miles of NS branch
to develop freight service, including coal delivery to Notre Dame
University, which currently receives coal by truck.  The city opposed it. 
The neighbors opposed it.  The University opposed it because the city
opposed it.  Why?  Because of the perceived danger and noise.  The
railroad offered to flag all crossings.  The railroad would have removed
significant truck traffic from the city streets and would have reduced
automobile exhaust.  Still, everyone was against it.  The project died
when NS decided not to sell the line.

Reducing pollution and traffic are nice in the abstract, but not in
reality.  It's sad when what would be an all-around winner is killed
because of perceived inconvenience.


>>moment.  They were dead against reactivating this phenominal rail system,
>>for all of the wrong reasons.  I >think the new term is "NIMBYs" - not in
>>my back yard.  Lots of politics, and the baloney that goes with it.  If
>
> People who live in the area of the Lackawanna Cut-off have good reason to
> fear it. And it's not just the usual "THe train will run over our
> children"
> crap. Good train service means more development, and more development
> translates into overall quality of life issues (many people moved out from
> closer suburbs because they don't like ugly sprawl), and even more
> important -- amking the trip easier will attract more development which
> ALWAYS translates into steeply higher property taxes.
>
> Construction of new homes and subdivisions -- made attractive by good rail
> service means the woods and streams get filled in by housing, the
> developers
> make a mint, and the taxpayers take up the bill for streets, schools,
> parks,
> sewers, water supply and the rest. Unlike the Netcong/Hackettstown line
> where trains can plod along, the sut-off is especially attractive for high
> speed and hence less commute time to Morristown, Newark and New York.
>
> On a macro level, a NIMBY is anyone who thinks of their home as an
> investment instead of mere shelter. The advent of NIMBYism coincides with
> the realization that a house -- what with its mortgage interest and
> property
> tax deduction and sheltering of capital gains -- is the only middle class
> tax shelter. The meteoric rise in home prices during the past 40 years
> coincides with the rise of  "Can't build anything anywhere anymore" --
> NIMBYism.
>
> We are all NIMBYs now -- though the pejorative is reserved for  the NIMBY
> somewhere elsewhere who balks at our pet project -- whether it be rail
> service or any other infrastructure improvement that will actually lift
> all
> boats.  It will not be long before America is a third world state because
> government policies and often politics behind them encourage individualist
> greed over the commonweal.
>
> Had the nation's founders believed that, we'd still be observing the
> Queen's
> birthday.
>
> BTW -- NIMBYism -- or its fear -- can sometimes work to a railfan's
> advantage. A friend of mine lives in a beautiful home overlooking a very
> scenic part of the Hudson River. His patio is a prime photo location for
> catching trains along the Hudson line -- with the light just right most of
> the day, enough height to get a great picture, no wires or homes or
> highways
> in the way -- just superb!
>
> When he was negotiating with the builder on site, a train went by abd he
> made the [smart-ass] remark that he'd be disturned by "all that train
> noise." Without blinking,  the builder took a couple of thousand dollars
> off
> the price of the house! His wife is still embarassed at that bit of
> shamelessness <g>.
>
> I wouldn't count on any Lackawanna Cut-off action in our lifetime without
> an
> adminsitration in Trenton that will clean house at NJT.
>
> Cheers,
> Jim
>
>
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