Headphones On

Since I read "The Rise of the Creative Class" a few years ago I've been a believer in Richard Florida's theories of urban planning. Cities like Chicago need to become hubs organized to the benefit it's diverse and creative populations. Our city services (and especially transportation) need to serve to make life easier because without these cities, regional (and then national) economic prospects dwindle and die.

This makes today's editorial in the Chicago Sun-Times by John Norquist on the horrible misstep by our state and city government on regional transit all the more poignant.

We aren't asking for a lot. We want a quality transit system that is reliable and doesn't strand people for hours in the dark after a holiday or on tracks in the 90 degree heat until 16 people are hospitalized. Study after study shows how reliable public transit is an intricate part of any successful city plan so WHY does the state government continue to drag their feet over funding for Chicago's regional transit? The Siemens AG study that was released in May ("Megacity Challenges: A Stakeholder's Perspective.") demonstrates exactly how under-funded our public transit has been over the past few decades compared to systems that serve a similarly sized population:

Paris
Population: 9.2 million
Area: 2600 sq. kilometers
Transit operating funding (2005): $4,986,000,000
Funding per person: $542
Funding per sq. kilometer: $1,917,695

London
Population: 7.6 million
Area: 1600 sq. kilometers
Transit operating funding (2005): $7,804,000,000
Funding per person: $1,027
Funding per sq. kilometer: $4,877,500

Chicago
Population: 9.2 million
Area: 8000 kilometers
Transit operating funding (2005): $1,685,000,000
Funding per person: $183
Funding per sq. kilometer: $210,625¹

This is ridiculous and it's enough to make me consider finally packing up and moving to Brooklyn.

¹ See Sick Transit Chicago for more info.

Buy some: Tahiti 80, Eggstone