Post by spokker on Jan 20, 2010 16:14:50 GMT -8
TRAC and the Tolmach crew claim to have California's best interests at heart, but they can be just as deceptive as the CHSRA. Here’s an article they put in a recent newsletter.
calrailfoundation.org/HSR_files/eurohsr.pdf
Scroll down to the heading, “HSRA ARROGANCE INVADES EAST LA”
What is that meant to invoke? Poor, Hispanic East LA is being railroaded, so to speak, by high speed trains. They are essentially using them to drum up opposition for the route.
There’s one problem, the areas they are talking about aren’t East LA. In fact, it isn’t even Eastside Los Angeles, and many Eastside residents would be very offended by Santa Fe Springs being called East LA. In fact, some are offended when Echo Park is called the Eastside. Santa Fe Springs, La Mirada and Norwalk are NOT East LA.
HSR on the BNSF corridor is not an attempt to railroad the poorest of the poor Hispanic communities as the article implies. The average household income in Santa Fe Springs is $44,000. That's about where my family fell in Anaheim give or take a few thousand. The average household income in East Los Angeles is $28,000. There is a difference here. La Mirada, also mentioned in the article, has an average household income of over $60,000!
Here’s the facts. The BNSF ROW doesn’t abut that many houses anyway. There are a few, but the area is mostly industrial. Ride the Pacific Surfliner and you’ll have lovely views of the coast North and South of LA, and the deserted patches of dirt surrounded by fences in Santa Fe Springs. You’ll find cement factories, recycling centers, junkyards, and huge piles of dirt. Lightweight electric trains traveling at 110-125 MPH aren't any worse than the hundreds of freight and passenger trains that zip through that BNSF right of way, which is three and four tracks in some places.
I find that passage to be just as deceptive as anything the CHSRA is putting out. You cannot trust the California Rail Foundation any more than the CHSRA when they pretend to be so ignorant of the communities they claim to be standing up for.
calrailfoundation.org/HSR_files/eurohsr.pdf
Scroll down to the heading, “HSRA ARROGANCE INVADES EAST LA”
What is that meant to invoke? Poor, Hispanic East LA is being railroaded, so to speak, by high speed trains. They are essentially using them to drum up opposition for the route.
There’s one problem, the areas they are talking about aren’t East LA. In fact, it isn’t even Eastside Los Angeles, and many Eastside residents would be very offended by Santa Fe Springs being called East LA. In fact, some are offended when Echo Park is called the Eastside. Santa Fe Springs, La Mirada and Norwalk are NOT East LA.
HSR on the BNSF corridor is not an attempt to railroad the poorest of the poor Hispanic communities as the article implies. The average household income in Santa Fe Springs is $44,000. That's about where my family fell in Anaheim give or take a few thousand. The average household income in East Los Angeles is $28,000. There is a difference here. La Mirada, also mentioned in the article, has an average household income of over $60,000!
Here’s the facts. The BNSF ROW doesn’t abut that many houses anyway. There are a few, but the area is mostly industrial. Ride the Pacific Surfliner and you’ll have lovely views of the coast North and South of LA, and the deserted patches of dirt surrounded by fences in Santa Fe Springs. You’ll find cement factories, recycling centers, junkyards, and huge piles of dirt. Lightweight electric trains traveling at 110-125 MPH aren't any worse than the hundreds of freight and passenger trains that zip through that BNSF right of way, which is three and four tracks in some places.
I find that passage to be just as deceptive as anything the CHSRA is putting out. You cannot trust the California Rail Foundation any more than the CHSRA when they pretend to be so ignorant of the communities they claim to be standing up for.