Dissenting Views on Stimulus, in Congress and on Network

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.