1. Don Young

   um, this is great guys. It’s kind of like discussing what’s new on Broadway the evening of 9/11/01. We have a gargantuan problem in Fort Worth - right now - with urban gas drilling and Joel is… No wonder there are no comments posted.

   My neighborhood, like many others in this godforsaken city, is being systematically ravaged by decisions made by Moncrief, staff and council. I don’t really give a damn about a hydrology study right now.

   I don’t care if it’s old news or boring news or depressing news. I want Joel and the rest of council to be thinking about, talking about, raising hell about, taking videos of and taking a vocal, public stand on the goddam pillage going on in Fort Worth, Texas.

   That includes, not JUST Eighth Avenue, but also, Scott Avenue, Greenwood, Carter Park, the stupid Task Force, all of it. Somebody’s priorities are out of whack.

   The rig for the Thomas gas well will be threading Scott Avenue any day now. Imagine such a scene on Eighth Avenue and you might begin to feel my pain. Seattle and Tacoma can wait. We need strong leadership on this issue - right now. Yesterday would have been better. If we don’t fix this problem, no one is going to give a damn about the drainage flow of TRV or streetcars down W. 7th.

   Oct 2nd, 2008

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2. Kevin Buchanan

   Don,

   1) The gas drilling issues are not the only thing of importance going on in this city, at least from my point of view. They’re an immediate issue, yes - but as Pete said yesterday, the city council needs to be able to do more than one thing at once. Like Pete, I applaud the council again for looking at the long term transit needs of the city and planning for the future - we’re already behind in this regard and it’s a good thing that we’re starting to take it seriously at last.

   2) West And Clear isn’t All Gas Drilling, All The Time. As the guy who sort of facilitated Joel’s contributions here I am not ashamed at all for having some varied content. I view the streetcar system as extremely important to this city’s future, and while I’m also a big supporter of the TRV I also feel that big models of things are just plain cool regardless. The streetcar project and the TRV are both big deals in this city and I think covering these things is worthwhile.

   Oct 3rd, 2008

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3. jacko

   I was attacked by a gang of rabid gas wells last night when I was walking through sundance square. I think Moncrief sent them after me.

   Seriously Don? Your penchant for hyperbole is absurd. Do you actually believe the gas well issue in Fort Worth is as big of an issue as 9/11? Or do you think that the public transit issue is so miniscule as to not even be deserving of our attention?

   When I first started reading your posts I thought it was great that you had such enthusiasm. But now I see that you litter your arguments with such ridiculous comments that I just write off whatever you say.

   Just my two cents. But I imagine others would agree.

   Kevin, you’re exactly right about the streetcar system and the TRV. Fort Worth and Tarrant County are going to see incredible population growth over the next few decades and everything we can do to prepare will help. That includes providing transportation and urban living options for all of our new neighbors.

   Oct 3rd, 2008

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4. Don Young

   Kevin and Joel are two of the good guys and I respect them both. I am offended that Joel and other council members (with the exception of K. Hicks) have not visited Scott Avenue to see what they have allowed Chesapeake to get away with and YET they find time to tour Seattle. It’s about timing and priorities, not streetcars and hydrology. The Scott-Carter Ave. problems need their full attention here and now.

   One point I’m trying to make is that urban gas drilling is Fort Worth’s version of the New York event, only a slow erosion of health and safety rather than a sudden, incomprehensible disaster. The end result has undeniable potential to be devastating and, of course, we are on track to have our own significant event-type disaster if we don’t act very soon. There is nothing ridiculous about that statement, mr. jacko.

   I have no problem with streetcars and other earth-friendly issues. (If you doubt my concern and enthusiasm check out, http://www.tandyhills.org.) Nor do I expect W&C to be all gas all the time. I get just as sick of the topic as anyone.

   BTW, Jacko: Recent reports that gas drilling operations in FW cause more than double the amount of pollution as all DFW vehicles combined is not hyperbole. It’s from Prof. Al Aremendariz of SMU after careful, peer-reviewed research. But unless you attended his recent talk at the FWLNA meeting you wouldn’t know that. The S-T didn’t bother to send a reporter. So, your own sci-fi scenario of rabid gas wells may be closer to reality than you imagine. Please be more careful how you spend your two cents.

   Oct 3rd, 2008

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5. Suzette Watkins

   Of course our City Government needs to be analyzing, getting the facts, doing 1st hand observations, laying out the costs & benefits, and creating plans for many things that are of importance to us who live, work, pay taxes and visit here. Duh, that’s what we are paying them to do. When they are handing out thank yous to people who have donated funding for such, the taxpayers should not be left off of the list and/or hidden, forgotten as if that money is a given and taken for granted. It’s very suspicious that gas drilling was not weighed, studied, field trips taken to analyze the costs and benefits, blah blah blah, before the first urban well was drilled. I don’t understand why gas drilling is overlooked from a planning point of view. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Gas Drilling, it’s costs and benefits are just as important as transportation, smart growth, etc. Why is it being handled differently? When the taxpayers are part of funding for anything, it should be transparent, visible and be able to be counted.

   Oct 3rd, 2008

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6. John MacFarlane

   I agree with Jacko, the assumption that gas drilling in FW is anywhere near the impacts of 9/11, is crazy. Believe me, I am avidly opposed to the absurd way that CHK is littering our city with wells with essentially no restrictions, and I will be at the meeting on Oct 7 “wearing a red shirt”.

   I agree that the model is pretty cool, but the TRVis a tremendous waste of money, time and effort. FW hasn’t had a catastrophic flood in many many years, so why are they so concerned about flooding now? Oh yea, I remember, the profiteers in FW want to rack up $ on new commercial, retail, and residential developments with no respect to the business owners who they kicked out. By the way, eminent domain is only supposed to be used for projects which benefit the greater good. This only benefits the Grangers and other developers.

   I would actually like to go up there and see the model, but why is it way up in BC? Couldn’t the city find a hydrologist in the north central Texas area?

   Oct 3rd, 2008

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7. Kevin Buchanan

   As you might expect, I am a strong supporter of the TRV. Rather than a waste of money, I see it as being a great deal - a way to open up a large swath of land for urban development and see it as another way to combat sprawl which is crucial to the way this city will develop in the future.

   But that’s me. The developments sometimes called just benefits for developers I see as important additions to the city’s fabric and I hope the TRV brings plenty of them.

   Oct 3rd, 2008

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8. John MacFarlane

   @ Kevin, I too am all for urban renewal/regrowth/reuse of old buildings and against urban sprawl. But, this project, which will spawn regrowth and urban renewal, was sold as a flood project. Do you think it’s right to fund a redevelopment project with taxpayer dollars and wrap it all up as a flood project? If FW leaders wanted a redevelopment/waterfront project, then fund it with private money. Don’t ask the US Army Corps of Engineers to write an Environmental Impact Statement with tax dollars and then fund the project with tax dollars. And then both Kay and Kay fund it with earmarks (porkbarrel) and put Kay’s son in charge of the whole development project. There could have been a better more transparent way of doing this project.

   Oct 5th, 2008

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9. John Peter Smith

   “Do you think it’s right to fund a redevelopment project with taxpayer dollars and wrap it all up as a flood project?”

   John: It may not be right but it’s the way Cowtown has done things for years. When Jim Wright ran Congress he put money to redevelop the stockyards into a Corps of Engineers spending bill and called it “flood control.” When asked by the Startlegram, the Corps couldn’t even identify which creek the money was supposed to be used on to control flooding.

   Kay Granger represents Jim Wright’s district and she does it in Jim Wright pork-barrel style.

   Oct 5th, 2008

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10. Don Young

    So, JPS, I take you are not an advocate for the The First Rule of Holes. No pun intended.

    I’m with you. Let’s keep digging and drilling away so we can get on with the End of Days. In my estimation those folks still living in Dirty Ol’ Town will get to Heaven, or wherever, sooner than most.

    That makes me think of that final scene in Dr. Strangelove: How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb. Cool.

    Oct 5th, 2008

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11. Greg

    I can’t stop thinking, what a cool toy. Where are the rubber ducks?

    And I respect that there are modes of learning that require riding streetcars to make transportation policy decisions. But I don’t quite get why TEN members of the Planning Department need that first hand experience. Must be a collaboration thing.

    To echo Suzette: Where is the same level of care when it comes to gas production policy? And on Don’s and Jacko’s 9/11 notes: NYC overall is fine after 9/11. Aside from those left to grieve and those individuals rebuilding shattered lives, that is. On a city level, though, what happens as a result of unfettered gas production in Fort Worth will harm Fort Worth proportionally far more than 9/11 hurt NYC.

    Unfortunately it will be in slow motion so it won’t be declared a disaster eligible for federal funds.

    Oct 5th, 2008

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12. Ben

    Greg - Why don’t you & Don Young hunker down in his bunker & plan the “End of Days” together. Let the rest of us worry about public projects and cool new places to eat.
    Good thing we have natural gas drilling! I would hate to think what our economy would look like if all we had were AA & the millitary contractors.

    Oct 6th, 2008

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13. Greg

    Darn it, Ben, rather than “worry about public projects,” I think beng active is a bit more worthwhile. For example, providing executive oversight and coordinating with DART to bring the TRE into Fort Worth. That was doggone fun, if a lot of work. All volunteer time, I might add. It was like sitting around worrying about something, but with the responsibility for getting it done!

    I especially liked being a part of the committee that selected the artist for the bas relief wall at the Intermodal Transportation Center. It celebrates the history of the African American community in Fort Worth. In case anyone has missed it: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/8499158 but it looks better in person.

    You’d have to check with him, but I’m pretty sure Don would rather spend his time working on public activities like Prairie Fest that so many people enjoy. Food, music, enjoying the outdoors. That’s the fun kind of public service so many of us have grown up on.

    Generally the people who are working with us have interesting lives they would prefer to be living. Instead we find ourselves trying to warn that the cool new places to eat will not choose an industrial zone for a location. And to ask who will populate the TRV if industrial activity is all around and through it? Upscale shoppers?

    The short term thought is, as you mention, “where do we eat?” I rarely venture outside the loop for food, but I must say try Cafe Medi on Grapevine Highway in Hurst. Outstanding Mediterranean food and it’s BYOB.

    Oct 6th, 2008

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14. Don Young

    “The U.S. has been hit with an ‘economic Pearl Harbor.’ That sounds melodramatic, but I’ve never used that phrase before. And this really is one.”

    Jacko & Ben- Do those words spoken by Warren Buffet about the Wall Street fallout sound like absurd hyperbole or right on target? No pun intended, again.

    Sometimes dramatic metaphors ring true. Why is the looming disaster in the Barnett Shale different than the one on Wall Street? Should I have used Pearl Harbor rather than 9-11? Or have you also written off Mr. Buffet?

    Oct 6th, 2008

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15. Ben

    Warren Buffett is the richest man in the world. He doesn’t have to worry about offending people. You, on the other hand are apparently trying to win friends & influence people. Hijacking threads by bringing up unrelated issues is not helping your cause & is down right annoying to most people still on the fence. Keep up the Can’t Do attitude!

    Oct 6th, 2008

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