What is the deal with John Inks? I haven't been happy with his voting record thus far.

Whatever way you slice it, this HSR will mean the end to all the trees lining Central Expressway and the current Caltrain tracks. I say run it up the middle of 280 and bypass Mountain View all together. Otherwise it's going to be a huge scar running through the city.

Our council missed an excellent opportunity to look towards the future and be a a part of the new technology. HSR is coming. Why not use it to our strategic advantage. Unfortunately the no growth council members still think they live in the 1950's and long for the mountain view of old.

HSR is a pipe dream supported by people who fawn over anything labeled green or "smart" growth but don't think through the details of the construction or operation. Running a 125 MPH train through the middle of Mountain View is just one of many problems that we have to deal with in the real world.

John Inks reminds me of Waldo from Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" video - too nervous and timid.

I have to agree with John Inks vote. It's a simple straw poll that doesn't mean anything. He wants to study it more. I also think it's moot, though, cause Palo Alto will win a fight for the stop like Former Mayor Macias said. Mountain View is too crowded downtown as it is. I moved back here from San Jose because I like how Mountain View is a crossroads between big crumbling urban dumps like South San Francisco and San Jose and clean, fresh cities like Palo Alto and Los Altos. I don't "long for the 1950s" as I think of myself as a forward thinking person, but I do know that your city becomes a "dump" the day you have 20 public transit paths stacked on top of each other and crumbling on top of each other every 10 years when we have a budget issue in Sacramento.

I have to clarify one thing about my last post, I forgot to put it in. What I meant above where I said crossroads, is that I hoped to be a part of keeping Mountain View from becoming "dumpy" like those communities I mentioned. I did not like San Jose and felt I needed to be an active member of the community to keep Mountain View a clean and attractive place to live, work, play and raise a family.

"HSR is a pipe dream supported by people who fawn over anything labeled green or "smart" growth but don't think through the details of the construction or operation."

Rafael, who writes for the California High Speed Rail Blog, has thought more about the project than all of the obstructionists on the peninsula combined.

Here is one such example of his efforts: Web Link

Clem is another supporter who has done his homework.

It may be a pipe dream to some, but voters passed the bond measure to provide the funding. We already have a train system that runs through the city at 50 mph. Does it really matter how fast and quiet the new trains will be? HSR will add little in terms of track and eliminate/improve the castro and rengstroff crossing areas for bikes and pedestrians. PA does not want the stop so MV is in a better position to get the stop.

Put the terminus in San Jose, makes more sense.

Interconnect with 4 major public transport systems
BART (East Bay)
Cal Train (Peninsula, San Francisco)
SVTA (San Jose, Silicon Valley)
Amtrack (Oakland, Sacramento)

Easy access to three Major Airports

More / Cheaper land for better terminal, interconnects

Increases utility of extending BART to San Jose

Cheaper (50 fewer miles to build, leverage existing public transit lines)

Avoid Peninsula 50 nightmare (cost, litigation, 50 extra miles)

It’s going to stop in SJ any way

Inks Stinks. When he came around the neighborhood looking for votes, he refused to talk to me about some issues...he was too busy handing out flyers...

It seems like he runs from confrontations...very meek and timid.

Why is all the focus on Inks? He wasn't the only one that killed this vote. And as for the debate between MV and PA, MV has a lot of positives for it in having a HSR station there. The city shouldn't just assume it is going to lose. What a defeatist attitude.

A ganster from East LA takes HSR, get off at Mt. View to deliver his "goods" to a guy from East Palo Alto, waiting for him at the train station, and then hops on to the car driven by his buddy coming from Oakland.

Hundreds of migrant workers, just traffic-ed from Mexico, take HSR, get off at Mt. View, to be dispersed amongst south bay communities.

Imagine these scenarios. Public urination. Litted garbage. Strangers wandering on Castro...

This is not the community we'd want.

It's not a free ride to get on the HSR.

Mr. Hoosac, wow. Just wow. I was not expecting to see such shameless scare tactics from the opposition to this project, even here. You've certainly outdone yourself, good sir.

Hoosac,

Watch Lou Dobbs much? Glenn Beck? Lay off the FOX News, it's rotting your brain.

Ha! I love the line "strangers will be wandering on Castro"...oh the horror! Maybe some of those strangers that paid $40 to arrive in Mtn View will continue to spend money while wandering around.

Will Mountain View also have the same 20 foot wall going through the city?

Graffiti will like grace the walls of the train if so.

Mr. Spokker, if you've seen homeless folks peeing at a corner of the Grand Central station at NYC, or been nearly robbed by an aimless wanderer while waiting for a train, you would not have said that my comments are shameless.

To Mr. Annoyed, my brain is not rotten. You are.

I just illustrate a likely scenario. What do you think the migrant workers will do if HSR is available? Take a Grayhound?

"Mr. Spokker, if you've seen homeless folks peeing at a corner of the Grand Central station at NYC, or been nearly robbed by an aimless wanderer while waiting for a train, you would not have said that my comments are shameless."

There is nothing to suggest that trains *create* crime or allow criminals to more easily commit crimes elsewhere. Criminals also use cars. I've heard of a getaway car but I've never heard of a getaway train.

"What do you think the migrant workers will do if HSR is available? Take a Grayhound?"

Yes, they will take Greyhound because it will be cheaper. Also, I'm not scared of migrant workers. Why are you? I would be happy if they chose to ride the train if they were able to afford it. The more ridership the better.

Mr Spokker, you are misleading the people once again. How can Greyhound be any cheaper, in any significant way, than the $55 ticket your beloved HSR claims to price, in addition to HSR's superior speed (3 hr vs. 8 hr) and the convenient location at Mountain View?

I guess in your mind migrant workers have no intelligence at all.