BIKE: End of suburbia; toll roads

[Roger Baker]

I can't remember whether I posted this a few days ago, but this video 
to be shown for free at 6:45 at the main room at the Austin History 
Center a week from tomorrow is excellent in every way -- it kind of 
does for TxDOT and its obsession with roads what 'Fahrenheit 9/11' does 
for George W. Bush. It has lot of experts like Peter Calthorpe and and 
Colin Campbell and  Richard Heinberg and James Kunstler, etc.

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Please join us to screen "The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the 
Collapse of the American Dream," a 78 minute DVD.  A description 
follows.

When:  Wednesday, July 14th at 6:45;  DVD play at 7:00 p.m. sharp
Where:  Austin History Center at 810 Guadalupe (north of the main 
library), Austin
Contact:  Christine Johnson,  telephone 512-303-4716,  e-mail: 
cbmanz

Since WWII, we have invested much of our new found wealth in suburbia.  
It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life, and 
upward mobility.   As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in 
the past 50 years, so too the suburban way of life has become embedded 
in the American consciousness.

But as we enter the 21st century, serious question are beginning to 
emerge about the sustainability of this way of life.  With brutal 
honesty and a touch of irony, "The End of Suburbia" explores the 
American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a 
critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip 
supply.

As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the 
populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream?  Are 
today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow?  And what can 
be done NOW, individually and collectively to avoid The End of 
Suburbia?

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Toll roads: The number of emails opposing the toll roads is probably 
now nearly 5000, whereas the last I heard, the special interests like 
RECA and their employees together promoting these roads could only 
muster about 500 in favor.

What CAMPO "forgot" to tell the public (until I managed to get the info 
from CAMPO on June 25) is that the cost of the 922 lane miles of 
arterial expansions needed to handle the toll road traffic which falls 
directly on the city might be about $2 billion -- but unlike the toll 
roads, this burden will fall directly on Austin residents with no 
revenue stream like tolls. This unfunded mandate would be enough to 
suck up the city money needed for bike improvements forever. Thus a 
vote for toll roads is really a vote against bikes and transit.

The toll road vote/CAMPO meeting will be some time after 6 pm at the JC 
Thompson conference center this next Monday.  Hoards of pissed off toll 
road opponents will be there; as close as local politics gets to a 
circus.

-- Roger