1988 DART Rail Vote: Photomemory of DMN insert cover

[CTroyMathis]

If and when I get the time, I roll a ( likely gritty/blurry ;) ) flip-book photo post of the contents of the insert.

Anyone remember this old stuff?


http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2435

[Columbus Civil]

I wasn't even alive in '88.

[gc]

Whoa, I do not remember that.

[F4shionablecHa0s]

The proposition was shot down, of course.

[Man of Leisure]

....vaguely. Good find!

[CTroyMathis]

Okay, so here we go...

[CTroyMathis]

http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2518


http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2519


http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2520


http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2521


http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2522


http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2523


http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2524


http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2525


http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2526


http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2527


http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2528

[FoUTASportscaster]

I read this and I am glad some of the anti-transit assholes took it in the ass. This really riles me up. I read their crap and lies and it makes me so mad. I am glad that in the long run, their crap was shoved back in their face.
Some of the lies include it won't decrease congestion, people won't ride, the area is too spread out for rail, costs too much, automobiles are the only way to go, people won't give them up, downtown is on the way down so it doesn't make sense to have everything lead that way, there's no economic impact from rail, there area would benefit more from the addition of highways and tollways rather than rail, sububanization is the way things will be from here on out, blah, blah, blah.
One guy in particular I am going to try to track down and taunt is Bill Ceverha, a member of SMART who said that the other side makes a compelling arguement, but they have facts on their side. I love it!


EDIT: These are also the excuses that Houston is giving for their reasons as to why rail won't work

[FoUTASportscaster]

Boy, the more I read about Bill Ceverha, the more I realize he's shady. He's been linked to Tom DeLay's mess, has been sued a couple of times, and was involved in the Trinity River election as a proponent, but was linked to a property owner who would make a fortune on the deal. Yet he got credit for battling DART and winning, yet it is DART that has proven their worth.


EDIT: Texas Monthly also listed him as the second worst state legislator in 1985.

[Mballar]

1988. . .hey wasn't that back when Dallas had 2 newspapers?

I'm glad DART proved the naysayers wrong. I'm also glad DART decided to go with light rail, as opposed to a subway.

[FoUTASportscaster]

I wish DTD had a subway.

[RedSox]

Does anyone have a map that they can post up on the proposed 147-mile system that was considered back in 1983 or 1984.

Also, what streets would the subways have traveled on in Downtown Dallas.

[FoUTASportscaster]

Those, like the second line through downtown, to the nearest of my understanding, weren't finalized and were the conceptual plans. There's no point in fine tuning the details if you don't have the money yet. It is like the DFW line from Love. There's only one station finalized, and that's because it is already there. But they already have the funding for the line.

[kenc]

I wasn't even alive in '88.

Yor missed a really hot decade. I was especially fond of 1982-1986, and I'm not talking about the building boom!

[freewaytincan]

Yor missed a really hot decade. I was especially fond of 1982-1986, and I'm not talking about the building boom!

Yes. CC is only eighteen...

I was two in 1988, and that's actually true.

[incrediculous]

I was Batman in 1988.

[FoUTASportscaster]

I'm having an e-mail conversation with Peter Gordon quoted in the suburbanization article.

[940]

I was hanging onto the railing and dancing on the stairs at The Starck Club near downtown in 1988..sigh..good memories.. :D

[CityLove]

I first became a Texan in the summer of '88, when my mom and I moved to Fort Worth. I was 7.

[FoUTASportscaster]

On another note, can someone with life experience tell me which suburbs voted in the DART election? I have seen an archived NY Times article that said DART was ahead in 20 cities and I found this quote found here: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30B14FF3D5C0C768DDDA10894DB484D 81


Voters have approved creation of a regional transportation authority to cover this city and 13 suburbs, setting in motion plans for a bus and rail program that would include the biggest public works program in the city's history. Residents in seven of the 21 cities voting on the plan...

I am curious of the cities that said no. I believe Mesquite and Grand Prairie were among the 6.

[940]

I found this from the Dallas Morning News June 2006...



"Getting the trains rolling was not easy.

The Legislature created DART as an interim authority in 1981. Voters in 14 cities then approved the transit agency's creation in 1983 and provided a 1 percent sales tax rate as funding. But DART still had to fight for its vision to build the first light-rail system in the Southwest.

Not all cities embraced the plan. Voters in Duncanville, Grand Prairie, Lancaster, Mesquite, The Colony and Wilmer
rejected the transit agency's plan for immediate bus service and eventual rail connections.

"Our citizens on two separate votes turned it down," said Duncanville Mayor David Green. "It was going to be 25 years out before we would get rail service out our way. At the time, we felt it was not worth it." "


O ye, of little faith...

[FoUTASportscaster]

I'm stupid. I remember reading that. Thank you so much for bringing that to the surface. In a way, it is impressive that out of all the north suburbs, only The Colony said no. Later, Coppell and Flower Mound would withdraw, but there was no stuffy NIMBY's there. Funny that it was in the southern sector.

If one or all of the combination of Grand Prairie, Mesquite or Lancaster joined DART, we could start to bring a balance to the eastern portion of the metroplex. Of the ones that said no, my choice for membership is in this order, Grand Prairie, for the pop growth and therefore sales tax growth, Mesquite, as its growth potential is lower, but they do have a big population base, Lancaster, as it would be the first southern sector city with LRT service, Wilmer for the intermodal yard, Duncanville, for more balance and The Colony.