Rant against BestWestLRT NIMBY whiners

[McMack]

Am I the only one that is annoyed that these people have cost the city $20 million. This because the train skirted too close to a very small handful of houses... Given that these houses are located right at the intersection of Bow and Crowchild, what I don't get is how they think the C-Train line will make any difference in terms of noise and property value. Hell, maybe you'll even get lucky and the elevated line will block out some of the traffic noise.

[The Ditch]

People love complaining, personally I would love to have an LRT station right by my house, would make it a lot easier for me.

[Rhettzky]

It's really brutal. Even worse are the idiots in the SW opposing affordable housing initiatives. Listening to the one lady on the news last night just made me realize how brain dead some yuppies are. Just because people are poor does not make them cast-aways or criminals. Pull your damn head out of your pretentious arse.

Bottom line, if you move into a house and there is an empty lot beside it then be prepared for something to be developed there down the road.

[Boblobla]

I was listening this morning and now the C-Train is going to go up the middle of Bow Trail? Sucks to live anywhere in that corner of the city for the next 3 or 4 years...

[ken0042]

As somebody who lives near the future SE LRT line, not only does it annoy me that they get their leg first even though it covers a shorter distance, but also each of their self created delays ends up pushing the SE line even further back.

This line has been on the books for over 20 years. Some of the homeowners I've seen complaining aren't old enough to have owned their house that long, so it pretty much comes down to people not looking into this when buying. I know when I bought my house I looked to see where the line was going- I also wanted to be at least 500 metres away. But I see that same thing, most people in my neck of the woods don't know where the tracks are planned to go; even though there are signs up saying things like "At some point we are going to turn this basketball park into an LRT park and ride, so no bitching when that happens." (Or words to that effect.)

[4X4]

Originally Posted by ken0042

As somebody who lives near the future SE LRT line, not only does it annoy me that they get their leg first even though it covers a shorter distance, but also each of their self created delays ends up pushing the SE line even further back.

This line has been on the books for over 20 years. Some of the homeowners I've seen complaining aren't old enough to have owned their house that long, so it pretty much comes down to people not looking into this when buying. I know when I bought my house I looked to see where the line was going- I also wanted to be at least 500 metres away. But I see that same thing, most people in my neck of the woods don't know where the tracks are planned to go; even though there are signs up saying things like "At some point we are going to turn this basketball park into an LRT park and ride, so no bitching when that happens." (Or words to that effect.)

And they did exactly that with the west leg. The city has land all over the city set aside for things like future LRT stations and road widenings. I find it hilarious that people buy houses in these places and then complain when something that has been planned for decades comes to fruition.

[fredr123]

I don't mind groups like BestWestLRT getting together to oppose City Hall. Keeps the fat cats on their toes. What bothers me, though, is that some groups in certain areas seem to carry more weight with their views than others. Maybe they're just more passionate or better organized in the Sunaltas and Mount Royals and that's why they seem to get more attention. I sure hope that's the reason.

A second beef of mine is that for the life of me I can't figure out what the people of BestWestLRT want based on their website. It's just a bunch of complaining and criticism with few if any alternatives proposed. If you are going to be of any use in this process and you don't want to be perceived as a bunch of wealthy whiners and complainers than add something of value to the dialogue. Show the public an alternative to the City's plans and explain why it is better. And please tell us why it would be worthwhile to all residents of Calgary (and those who pay taxes and will be supporting this project) to increase the costs of this project.

[Dan02]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

I was listening this morning and now the C-Train is going to go up the middle of Bow Trail? Sucks to live anywhere in that corner of the city for the next 3 or 4 years...

Is this the same middle of bow trail they are current pouring new curbs on?

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by Dan02

Is this the same middle of bow trail they are current pouring new curbs on?

That is what it sounded like to me. It still needs to go through the council for approval, maybe one of them will catch on that this is ######ed...

I am not holding my breath though.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

It's really brutal. Even worse are the idiots in the SW opposing affordable housing initiatives. Listening to the one lady on the news last night just made me realize how brain dead some yuppies are. Just because people are poor does not make them cast-aways or criminals. Pull your damn head out of your pretentious arse.

Bottom line, if you move into a house and there is an empty lot beside it then be prepared for something to be developed there down the road.

Very true, but it's a NIMBY and a property value thing. I personally wouldn't want to live within 2 kms of such a place. But before buying I would make sure the potential for such a thing would be very low.

As for the "Best West LRT" group, I think that on the surface they are most certainly a NIMBY group, but there is some method to the madness. In some places it will be level crossings with intersections, which is terrible for mobility and traffic. The city is trying to do this line very cheaply and cost now is taking precidence over common sense when it comes to optimal mobility. If they end up changing the route or burrying portions of the line to reduce level crossings that are unsafe and tie up traffic as a result of the Best West LRT group I'll be very happy with the outcome.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by McMack

Am I the only one that is annoyed that these people have cost the city $20 million. This because the train skirted too close to a very small handful of houses... Given that these houses are located right at the intersection of Bow and Crowchild, what I don't get is how they think the C-Train line will make any difference in terms of noise and property value. Hell, maybe you'll even get lucky and the elevated line will block out some of the traffic noise.

City Council still has to approve it June 9th.

[The Goon]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

I was listening this morning and now the C-Train is going to go up the middle of Bow Trail? Sucks to live anywhere in that corner of the city for the next 3 or 4 years...

Uh, yeah...I'll be looking out at construction from my bedroom window facing 17th Ave for a while (Signal Hill).

[McMack]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

Very true, but it's a NIMBY and a property value thing. I personally wouldn't want to live within 2 kms of such a place. But before buying I would make sure the potential for such a thing would be very low.

As for the "Best West LRT" group, I think that on the surface they are most certainly a NIMBY group, but there is some method to the madness. In some places it will be level crossings with intersections, which is terrible for mobility and traffic. The city is trying to do this line very cheaply and cost now is taking precidence over common sense when it comes to optimal mobility. If they end up changing the route or burrying portions of the line to reduce level crossings that are unsafe and tie up traffic as a result of the Best West LRT group I'll be very happy with the outcome.

I first visited this web site a couple of weeks ago expecting something about reducing level crossings and making the line run faster, but what I discovered instead is that all they cared about was elevated lines messing up their view in their own little tidbit of the proposed line. They even have hysterical artist mock-ups of grafitti painted concrete pillars with drug dealers hanging about. (No joke, go check for yourself.)

FYI, some of these changes would involve huge disruptions to Bow Trail and intentionally NOT making any upgrades to traffic flow on Bow at the same time. Crazy.

EDIT: This group is now proposing another $80mil in changes. That's $100 mil total and $100 for every man, woman, child and baby in Calgary.

[SteveToms]

The city needs to tell these people to F off, and move out of their way.

[Bobblehead]

It is happening in the NE as well. The NE isn't getting the coverage (colour me surprised) but people are whining that their greenbelt behind their house is where the new track is going. Again, this has been on the books for a long time.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&...40169&t=k&z=15

That line is pretty obvious.

[Boblobla]

Noone cares about the NE.

[J pold]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

It's really brutal. Even worse are the idiots in the SW opposing affordable housing initiatives. Listening to the one lady on the news last night just made me realize how brain dead some yuppies are. Just because people are poor does not make them cast-aways or criminals. Pull your damn head out of your pretentious arse.

Bottom line, if you move into a house and there is an empty lot beside it then be prepared for something to be developed there down the road.

No kidding I was listening too the CBC this morning and they interviewed a woman who was oppose too this

Her reasoning was as follows

“Well what if they can’t afford curtains, and they hang flags in the windows!!!”

For the love of God anything but the flags!

[SteveToms]

If they do make the plan to median it thru Bow Trail, then I will have one very long commute to school.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by SteveToms

The city needs to tell these people to F off, and move out of their way.

Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner.

The city needs to stop giving a crap about people whining that their property values are going to go down. I actually think the bureaucrats were pursuing this course of action till the vote sensitive politicians stepped in...

Newsflash, Calgary NEEDS more public transit. Calgary NEEDS higher density housing. No, you do not NEED a 2000 sq ft house with a massive back yard to raise kids. Too many oil rich yuppie families are screwing over the development of this city.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by J pold

No kidding I was listening too the CBC this morning and they interviewed a woman who was oppose too this

Her reasoning was as follows

“Well what if they can’t afford curtains, and they hang flags in the windows!!!”

For the love of God anything but the flags!

I know, I nearly drove off the road when I heard that. If I lived in that area I would hand a flag in my window out of spit. Flags are awesome.

I really dont think she could have sounded much more ignorant than she did right there unless she started with the racial slurs.