Dissenting Voices on Stimulus, on the Network and in Congress

The Streetsblog Network is continuing to digest the draft of stimulus legislation that came out of the House Appropriations Committee yesterday. We’re featuring a post from Design New Haven that offers a pretty tough evaluation:

Despite all the evidence that transit-oriented development creates jobs by dramatically saving large numbers of people time and commuting expenses, the stimulus bill seems more like it is shaping up to be a recipe for oil company profits than for smarter growth in metropolitan areas like New Haven.

Bottom line is that it appears that Congress believes that highways should be expanded even as bridges across the country continue to catastrophically fail and crumble; even as families, children and senior citizens literally find it impossible to walk more than a couple of blocks in their own neighborhoods due to the lack of proper pedestrian facilities; and even as many major cities less than 30 miles apart — like Hartford, Waterbury and New
Haven — continue to have absolutely no viable mass transportation connections.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR

The Transport Politic continues its close coverage of the stimulus, excerpting a piece from the Wall Street Journal that reports some Democratic members of the Transportation Committee are considering an objection to the transport section of the bill. From the WSJ:

Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D., Ore.) suggested the committee draft a letter or resolution to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi objecting to the transport section of the stimulus
bill.

Rep. Oberstar suggested the committee “mobilize those practitioners of infrastructure” at a hearing next week to demonstrate the need to increase spending levels on shovel-ready projects. “Then I think we make the move on the House leadership and the incoming Obama administration,” he said.