http://www.youtube.com/v/h5C65fZLwg8?fs=1&hl=en_US
Just swap the words LOS ANGELES for JACKSONVILLE and you'll get a pretty good idea of how to drive that economic engine you dream of. Remember too that when Portland started this they were the same size as Jacksonville, in fact this old port city (incorporated in 1851) on an inland river had a metro population of 1,106,000... Sound familiar? Jacksonville, an old port city (incorporated in 1859) on another inland river has a metro population of 1,328,144. As of 1976, when I lived in Portland, (actually in Boring, Oregon! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boring,_Oregon ) Portland's remarkable transit agency TRI-MET was just 6 years old. JTA dates back to 1955, but their transit operations date to 1971. The difference is in the results, what has JTA given us that equals the dynamic energy of Portland? As someone who is running for mayor, consider what JTA COULD GIVE US that would give us this energy?
Meanwhile back in Los Angeles, they started their electric streetcar system, LARY, in 1898, we started ours in 1895. We scrapped ours in 1936 and transit ridership crashed, Los Angeles scrapped theirs in 1955 and transit ridership crashed... You have to wonder, who won?
OCKLAWAHA
Good stuff. All Aboard!