Finding a better way
In reference to Jennifer Gardiner’s letter [“Choo-choo-choose wisely,” Mailbag, July 12], it’s good to engage the community in debate about the options on the table for the future of our community, and I hope to hear from more people expressing their expectations and concerns about Charlottesville Citizens for Better Rail Alternatives’ proposal for intercity rail connections to D.C., reported in your June 28 edition [“Local motion,” The Week]. But I do not believe these discussions should take the form of distressingly personal attacks that question my motives and fitness for public office and suggest that I should leave town, as Ms. Gardiner did. I don’t know anyone who would see these remarks as being fair to the issue at hand, or to the people who want and need this rail service.
We must plan our future wisely so that we make transportation investments that offer benefits to the entire community. Such a plan would include a balanced transportation system that provides more choices, makes travel safer, conserves our natural resources and offers attractive alternatives to driving. Intercity rail service is one important way we can provide these benefits for the future.
Decisions we make in 2005—especially about transportation—will shape how our neighborhoods and street corridors will look and function in the future. Portland, Oregon, is a delightful place to live and visit precisely because of community planning that began 25 years ago and the public investments made in transit (light rail, streetcars, buses) and intercity rail (The Cascades Line) to give people a variety of travel options and reduce the need for cars.
Since launching our new rail group and website (www.cvillerail.org), we’ve heard from hundreds of people who want a better way to travel to D.C. (as well as Richmond and the Roanoke Valley). Each week, thousands of seniors who no longer drive, families, tourists, UVA students, alums and business travelers will be consigned to remaining on the highway (or staying home) if we don’t seize the opportunity and give them a non-driving alternative.
“The Rail Alternative” promises a better future for our area: Fewer cars in the city, fewer in the county, fewer on 29N and I-66, significantly less pollution and significantly higher fuel efficiency—all values that responsible Charlottesville citizens support.
The consequences of each and every transportation decision we make in the coming decade will be significant for our future. We must find a better way.
Meredith Richards
Charlottesville
Train in vain
In response to Russell Richards’ oddly malicious attack on my character: Geez! [“The little engines that could,” Mailbag, July 19] The only “hate” message I was communicating in my first letter to the editor is that I absolutely hate Meredith Richards’ plan to usher in the end of the tranquility of our lovely city by opening the floodgates of development and southerly flight that would accompany bringing the VRE to Charlottesville.
While Mr. Richards may naively think that his mother’s “noble” plan is without fault, he fails to see that her intent is based on a utopian concept. Yes, in the best of all possible worlds, adding additional and more far-reaching mass transit services can benefit certain aspects of society. But the grim reality is that where regular train and subway stops go, so goes development, on a massive scale. While Mr. Richards decries the toxic emissions from the D.C.-bound cars along Route 29, he neglects to acknowledge the blanket clear-cutting of tree stands and decimation of farmland that would ultimately result from this scheme. Isn’t that just swapping out one evil for another?
Additionally, it’s silly to contend that this daily train service would help the elderly, those who are disabled, school children and such. The fact is, a) there already exists a train service to Washington for those who need to go but cannot drive; and b) witness the cost of an existing train ticket to D.C.; the VRE will, I’m sure, be no bargain and thus will likely not benefit those he contends are most in need.
If Mr. Richards wants to delude himself thinking that people would never consider commuting two and a half hours to a major city to work, then he must have blinders on. People commute into D.C. regularly in bumper-to-bumper traffic from such far-reaching locales as Fredericksburg, Dale City and Culpeper. I’m sure plenty of those commuters would see the charm in a comfortable two-and-a-half-hour train ride each morning versus a nearly two hour stop-and-start car ride alongside irate drivers on Route 29 and I-66.
Big city sprawl will extend as far as elected officials encourage it to go, and I stand by my argument that Ms. Richards’ plan is sheer folly that will, without doubt, help lead to the Northern Virginia-ization of Albemarle County.
Mr. Richards has presumed that because I vehemently disagree with a cause that has apparently become a modus operandus for his mother that I am mean-spirited, or have an agenda politically. Nothing could be further from the truth, and in fact I probably ally myself more with his mother politically than with most. And I too am very concerned about protecting our environment. But I also believe that no politician is beyond reproach, and those thin-skinned enough to think their ideas are without flaw really ought to reconsider their role as defenders of such vital public causes.
Lastly, Mr. Richards dismissed me as one of the “migration [I am] decrying.” Well, as I am in my eighth year living in Albemarle County, I hope I am now accepted as a resident of Central Virginia, and not considered part of the diaspora that is fleeing that area that was once a lovely place in which to reside. Don’t get me wrong: I have nothing against people who continue to move here as an alternative to the big, impersonal and bloated nature of Northern Virginia. But I also do not want to roll out the red carpet to coax those who would never have considered moving here, were it not for our public officials facilitating the move.
We chose to move to Charlottesville because of Albemarle County’s intent to embrace slow-growth and it’s determination to preserve neighboring farmland, thus it is greatly disappointing to envision the alternative.
I stand firm in my conviction that bringing a D.C. daily commuter train to Charlottesville will, without doubt, help to undermine the sanctity of this quaint, pleasant and user-friendly city.
Jenny Gardiner
Keswick
CORRECTIONS
Due to an editing error, last issue’s Get Out Now section incorrectly listed the time and price for the Saturday, July 30, performance of Me Too, Mr. Faulkner at the Gravity Lounge.
We omitted the byline from The Directory section of last week’s FLOW. Robbie Saville compiled the information.
Richmond recording studio owner David Lowery’s name was misspelled in last week’s Plugged In column.