Dead In Its Tracks

Still, the greatest irony may be that the inspiration for those transit impact zones, the ones that have inspired several neighborhood freak-outs and one war council at Chubby's, came from the Chamber of Commerce. "Organizations like the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce recommended that support of light rail transit in Kansas City be conditioned upon the recognition that transit development fit within a broader planning context and that private developers be willing to invest in and around new light rail corridors," reads the Central Business Corridor Transit Plan, which goes on to introduce the concept of transit impact zones.

So the Chamber of Commerce inspired the transit impact zones, which in turn inspired many citizens not only to abandon light rail but also to fight it -- which is now presumably fine by the chamber. After all, it won't have to spend any money to campaign against the plan it now opposes.

So with less than a month before the election, light rail pushers have neither the business establishment's nor the general community's support. Out of this malaise comes Citizens Against Rail Plan, an organization that, despite its grassroots nature, has a base of voters the city lacks. While the emergence of a tax-loathing anti-rail group such as Citizens for Responsible Spending was to be expected, the city could have avoided the CARPing from citizens who continue to insist that it's only the light rail plan -- not light rail itself -- they're against. Though the group is mainly against the impact zones, it intends to come at the city from all angles. It may even usher in Wendell Cox, a former Los Angeles rail planner who is notorious in transit circles for his willingness to campaign against light rail proposals anytime, anywhere.

But in the end, the city's worst enemy might be itself.

That fact may have been expressed by a citizen named Henry Hauschild in a question submitted for the July 19 light rail forum. With all the history and the resources behind this effort, Hauschild wonders, where's the leadership? Where's the grand vision that will lift spirits and inspire imaginations? "Whether light rail is good or bad, there has been no leadership that has in any way effectively presented the pro side of the issue," he laments. "There is no magic or enthusiasm. It's a lot of money to spend, and it could be spent on a lot of other things. I don't think the people have been given a reason to spend it."