The City of Omaha has approved a $440 Million project to
build a trolley system. Its’ boosters
and planners say the system, which will be tied to a new Mutual of Omaha
skyscraper in the city center, will be a substantial catalyst for development. The city’s consultants say it will pay for
itself through tax increment financing. Warren
Buffett says it’s a “mistake set in concrete.”
According to The Oracle of Omaha you are better off to invest in bus
system improvements than put all your money in hard-wired rails. To be
honest, I am not certain who is right.
But here is a story for you.
Me and my friend P.M. were recently driving home from Florida and at the
last minute changed our route (to avoid the usual I-95 mess), so that we would
overnight in Charlotte. Standard
procedure is to scan the internets about an hour out from our destination to find
lodging and food. Our goal is always a
clean, moderately-priced motel, not too far off the route, and near dinner. For dinner we had our eyes on a place called
the Aria Tuscan Grill, but conceded in advance that the Grill was too far off
the route and concluded we would have to find an alternative. So we
arrive at the motel (actually a conference center affiliated with UNC) and
discovered it is in easy walking distance of a trolley line that connects the UNC
with downtown. So down town we went.
It was a cold and rainy night but the walk to the station
was only three of four city blocks. We
ended waiting out in the bus shelter for about 15 minutes and boarded a modern,
clean train. One of our fellow
passengers, a student, suggested we get off at the arena station, as that would
provide a good chance of finding a good place to eat. The Hornets were playing that night so the
city center was crowded. (Who knew they
had an NBA team?) So we strolled around the arena in one
direction, and then reversed and strolled a few blocks in the opposite
direction and there, just two blocks from the trolley, was Aria Tuscan.
The restaurant was packed but there were seats at the
bar. The menu looked excellent and was
definitely more than what we might normally spend. But there is a prime rule about vacation…
enjoy. Might have been the best meal
ever that was not just barbeque. A good time was had by all.
On the subject of trolleys, I am still agnostic.
One of the best things I ever did in New Orleans was to take the friggin' trolley. I was hung over as f87k of course. But I did get to see parts of NOLA I would never have gotten to see otherwise. I mean, I saw the Real World house! The key is, and not to be too obvious, where are you putting the trolley? I know less about Omaha than Daryl Hannah; the only thing I know about Omaha is Marlin Perkins. It is, however, difficult to argue with Warren Buffet.
ReplyDeleteVirginia Beach has been having the train vs bus upgrades for decades. So far, they have done neither. And in 20 years they have not managed to build a suitable hotel near the Conference Center. "Just build it and they will come" is not their motto LOLOLOL.
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