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1. 

   Jon Rynn Posted 10:36 am
   07 Apr 2008

   New York City should seceed..

   ...from New York, it's always being hamstrung by the rest of the state, even though it sends Albany (the capital) much more in revenues than it receives...and it always has to beg and scratch, even from the Feds, who also suck much more out of NYC than they give.

   I believe London was able to implement congestion pricing because London controls London. Can anyone confirm that?

   There's also a huge problem, obviously, that car drivers think that any restrictions will bring their downfall.  People need to be sold on the idea that a car-free or car-minimal area can be an advantage to everybody.

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2. 

   caniscandida Posted 2:55 pm
   07 Apr 2008

   Yes, we should be a city-state.

   We should be like classical Athens, or modern Singapore, or Monaco -- but with a difference.

   It is so hard to take, that we know what we want to do about how to run our lives, and yet we must kow-tow to state and federal powers.  Most outrageously, we have to give way more in state and federal taxes than we ever get back.  And then all those pious, subsidy-dependent folks in red states hate us for being wicked and depraved!  : (

   To be fair, though, the story of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's congestion-pricing plan for the City is a bit more complicated: The coalition that came together to defeat it included many in the outer boroughs; i.e., it was a civil war, with New Yorker fighting New Yorker, we in Manhattan being on the side of Heaven -- and we lost! -- , against our dear brethren in Queens and Brooklyn.  And they no doubt got moral support from our good friends across the Hudson in Jersey.

   So who knew they would get so sore, just because we refer to them as "the bridge-and-tunnel crowd"?

   Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

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3. 

   Optimistic Skeptic Posted 5:45 am
   15 Apr 2008

   Reasons for Defeat?

   What were the major reasons NYC's plan was defeated?  Here in Chicago, people have, for good reason, wondered if we truly have the alternative means of mobility to implement automobile (congestion) pricing.  We looked enviously at NYC, where as TA demonstrated, there really is a good enough public transit system to protect the mobility needs of all, including lower income folk.  Is it a war between areas well-served by public transit vs. areas not well-served?

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