"This election is huge," said Laurie Bright, president of the Council of Neighborhood Associations. If voters reject Measure KK and approve LL, she said, the combined effect could "destroy Berkeley as we know it."This is a perfect example of the idea that things should always stay as they have been. People are really afraid of change and expect others to take the brunt of what is coming anyway (growth). This was highlighted by opposition at a recent meeting that claimed they should build dedicated lanes in places that "needed it" like Walnut Creek. It's always exporting things to somewhere else rather than taking initiative and controlling it yourself. It's also a direct contradiction of Wendell Cox and others who believe that Smart Growth policies are the bain of housings costs. It actually seems as if its general NIMBYness.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Would Berkeley be "Destroyed"?
Regressive progressives are at it again in Berkeley. The November vote will determine if buses can have dedicated lanes in the City Limits and whether denser development can occur on transit corridors. The response by the opposition is fear:
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So much for "progressive" Berkeley.
I have been watching this situation in Berkeley with bewilderment for several years.
Its worth noting that Berkeley taxed themselves extra in the 1960s to put BART underground within city limits.
I guess they figure the bus lanes will take away road space from their volvos and suburu stationwagons.
Berkeley is not progressive, it is liberal, there is a difference, liberal is turn back the clock to the 1960s and the great society but is really just bureaucratic govt that doesnt function. These are places that think the golden years were the 1960s. Progressive (for a city think Portland and for a candidate think Obama) is lets chart a new course for the future, be willing to try new ways to solve problems and have a govt that actually works. Sure there's overlap on a good number of issues but they have quite different objectives.
OK, fair enough, Jon, but Berkeley's elite does not describe itself as liberal. They use the word progressive. I get your point, but they are not even liberal. Like most of the Bay Area, they are in fact a strange form of conservative. Afraid of change, afraid of other people unlike themselves. Sad.
There is no reason to fight BRT with dedicated lanes in Berkeley. It's needed now, and is better than nothing.
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