September 25, 2013

There are many things that can polarize a community, the Independence Avenue streetcar study being the top of that list these days. This news-dog is smellin’ something stinky and it’s coming in the form of some so-called letters of support for the Independence Avenue streetcar study from groups claiming to represent the Northeast population. This all came to light last week after some contentious banter on local social media outlets debated the merits (or lack thereof) of an Independence Avenue streetcar.

This news-pooch wonders why and when all of a sudden fancy pants, subsidized boutique transportation replaced basic infrastructure needs at the top of the food chain. These needs are so apparent along the Independence Avenue corridor. Never mind some area businesses are already threatening to shutter their operations the day construction starts on this juggernaut. They already know that if customers can’t get to their door because of construction mess, bankruptcy is waiting in the wings.

Don’t believe this newsdog? Ask the owner of an area gas station in the middle of a public works project on the Kansas side who’s slowly going broke. So bad was his business that the pastor of a neighboring church asked his parishioners to go buy gas at the station in order to keep the local guy in business.

Make no mistake, that’s what’s coming with this project. Sadly, by the time the project is complete, what was once a semi-healthy small business community on the Avenue will be a string of boarded up facades. Additionally, this dawg doubts very seriously that this train to nowhere will fix the loitering and street-level crime that currently exists along the Avenue.

If you’re one of the ones who blindly swallows the Kool-Aid these pro-streetcar robots are peddlin’, we’d like to sell you a bridge.