John Giles & His "Salvation Train": Get-A-Clue + A Destination



O Yeah . . . It's another one of those "Believe-It-Or-Not" wish-prone stories of hoping or believing or what might be or what could be or what might happen.
Oh yeah - and still believing. [Jim Walsh's another story]
Three years and six months after Valley Metro Light Rail Service extended three miles through the Central Business it has failed to deliver on the promise to be "the engine" for economic development. Jivin' John Giles stated in August 2015 that "The Salvation  Train has arrived. . . "
Looking for salvation in all the wrong places?
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Let's get it right:
For the more-fortunate-few, public taxpayer-financed Light Rail is THE GRAVY TRAIN that delivers a windfall of millions of dollars for real estate investors and developers to drive their own private wealth-creation.
It's a risk and a gamble that's leveraged by taxpayer-funded faith that the top 10% will do the right thing to create jobs and opportunities that include and benefit everyone. 
Here in Mesa, downtown development has been taken-over by for-profit corporations of a religion where no financial details have been revealed to the public for new construction on a 9.8-acre site nearby a Light Rail station platform.
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So what do we get from one more mainstream-media Spoon-fed report?

A focus on  crime first!

. . . and then a guess by officials that declines in numbers of riders may involve a misperception that train stations are crime-prone:
Light rail crime – and ridership – declined in 2018        

By Jim Walsh, Tribune Staff Writer

East Valley Tribune | 2019-02-03T01:00:00-07:00

"For the first time since it started rolling 10 years ago, Metro Light Rail ridership dropped – and it may involve what officials say is a misperception that the train stations are crime-prone

What kinds of "crime" :

• 90 % of the incidents involve trespassing - people on the platforms without reason or riders without a ticket 
• The next biggest security issue, open container violations, is another transient-related issue.

Some examples of light rail-driven projects cited in Jim Walsh's report include:
[Images inserted do not accompany the original. They are intended for editorial comment]

The Mesa taxpayer-financed downtown Arizona State University campus
Two years ago the $200-million debt bond financing was rejected by voters. In the November 2018 General Election, a scaled-down "satellite-campus" - one building - somehow got approved in spite of much public controversy.
The Devil's-in-the-details: plans now proposed are for not one, but two or more buildings called for all intents and purposes Mesa City Center.

The Mesa LDS Temple renovations and new development under construction nearby
Please use the searchbox on this blog site to fill in any information gaps you might have.
Basically, City Creek Reserve, a for-profit affiliate of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, is in stages of construction for a scaled-down version of the 23-acre project they did for economic development close by Temple Square in Salt Lake City. It's doubled in size here from the original 4.6-acres to almost 10 acres.

Chicanos por la Causa’s development of a large apartment complex on the former Bailey’s Brakes site at Country Club Road and Main Street.
This plan has been either stalled, or "put-on-hold", for more than three years.
It got side-lined by shady land sales-deals at Mesa Royale.
Other arrangements for financing and choice of the developer have apparently "fallen-into-place for the time being.
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“This is what it costs for us to have light rail in Mesa,’’
Giles said.
“Mass transit doesn’t pay for itself, either. Transportation is not a money-maker.’’
Blogger Note:
What is a Money-Maker is Suburban Sprawl

" . . . But he said transportation is an essential service and part of having a functional, well-rounded community." 

" . . . Mayor John Giles said he still believes Metro Light Rail is worth it, because of its economic development potential."

- End of Story -  

 

Light rail crime – and ridership – declined in 2018        

By Jim Walsh, Tribune Staff Writer

East Valley Tribune | 2019-02-03T01:00:00-07:00