F*$% I NEED to stop reading forums... (light rail related)

[HX_Guy]

I think my head is seriously going to explode! AAHHHHH!!!!

http://www.city-data.com/forum/phoen...l-never-5.html

[PHX31]

I've never read that forum (save for the one or two times it has been brought up here), but I'm glad. There is no sense in wasting your time arguing with people (trying to change their opinion) on the internet. Even when I get caught up in it here, I feel gross afterward and stop posting.

That Chandler guy seems like a complete jackass though.

Hopefully he doesn't say something like "see, the trains aren't full, what a waste of money!" to your picture proving people can (obviously) easily take their luggage on the train to the airport.

[HX_Guy]

I've actually tried on a couple occasions to stop going to that damn website but keep checking back every now and then and get caught up on some stupid shit like that thread. I think this could be the final time though.

[HooverDam]

Ive checked out that forum a few times its a glorified AZCentral comments section. I'll stick to this forum where while we do argue, I don't think any of our regular Phx posters are retards, I can't say the same about that place.

[The Dirt]

Idiots. Here's a gem of wisdom about Woodland Park, CO (a tiny mountain town):

Originally Posted by cheeko

yuppieville
and walmart
yup..thats "mountain living."
another 5 years it will be just like denver..stinky and crime ridden.

That's probably one of the more intelligent examples.

[Sonoran_Dweller]

I already used the light rail to leave the airport and I did not have a problem. I had two suitcases and was riding on a PACKED train and I did not have a problem. I was standing in an aisle right by the door and did not seem to get in anyones way who was either getting on or off. Carrying suitcases did not pose any problem.

[mgmAZCO]

The negativity that some people put out there is astounding. It's one thing to support a cause or to get behind or against something. However, when you're so ignorant that you can't see both sides of the issue...it's infuriating. Some people see things in black and white and refuse to keep an open mind.

[Strange Meat]

Originally Posted by mgmAZCO

Some people see things in black and white and refuse to keep an open mind.

Interestingly, that forum seems to have a VERY conservative twinge to it...

[CPVLIVE]

Originally Posted by PHX31

That Chandler guy seems like a complete jackass though.
Hopefully he doesn't say something like "see, the trains aren't full, what a waste of money!" to your picture proving people can (obviously) easily take their luggage on the train to the airport.

Yeah, this guy's handle about says it all. Unfortunately his attitude is all too common in the Western US. I wouldn't worry about his opinions as he will not determine the ultimate success or failure of Phoenix's light rail. He's far too shortsighted. He's not a transit user ( bus or light rail ) despite anything he posits. You should save his comments to laugh at in the future as we look back on the demise of American provincialism. Some among us are unable to see the future. The future that doesn't include Americans burning a third of the World's oil driving solo in 5000 pound SUV's. I'm confident that events and circumstances will overcome the Chandler guy's of our communities and we will drag them kicking and screaming into the future.

[HX_Guy]

Wow that thread blew up in replies. I just got back home and I'm reading through them and ran across this great one so far...

"Uh, no, I don't live in Phoenix, hence the name Chandlerguy. I have never lived and Phoenix and don't care to anytime in the future. Why would I want to move downward by moving to that cesspool?"

[Sonoran_Dweller]

Wow! Yes Chandler is it's own separate city yet it is still part of the Phoenix Area. How ignorant can some people get. Anything that happens to Phoenix residents also happens to Chandler residents. I don't know why some people don't understand this.

[SnyderBock]

People opposed to mass transit always used words such as, "boondoggle." I think for most of them, the truth is not that they don't know a big city needs mass transit to function and grow. Instead, it is that they hope their city will stop growing, if it doesn't build things like mass transit; which facilitate growth and progression. They are essentially, anti-progressive on some fundamental level. That is not something you or anyone will be able to change, in the way they think.

That's who they are and only they have to power to change that. Changing one's personality at a fundamental level is not an easy feat and to the best of my knowledge, it requires certain "progressive" techniques. So if they are fundamentally anti-progressive, change is not very likely.

It is my understanding that these people fall into the "fundamentalist" demographic. My interpretation of World events suggests to me that "fundamentalism" at every level, is perhaps the greatest resistance from progression, that the modern world faces. Simply because of the absolute unwillingness to change, advancement and open mindedness to intellectual diversity.

Seems to me, mass transit comes down to the two basic psychological forces of every major issue in society;
fundamentalism vs. progressiveness

[Akatosh]

I fear for collective human intelligence when I read forum posts like I did at city data. You have to be brave to even want to enter into a website where the majority of posters are misinformed, like 'chandlerguy', and the number of polite posters are outnumbered by the ones who like to yell "boondoggle" at every little urban attempt, at the top of their lungs.

[kpexpress]

Chandler obviously doesn't understand what a city should be. Strip malls that are clogged and congested with people in cars staring absurdly at people walking as if they have some chronic disease is not what the truly magnificent city should be.

[PhxPavilion]

Originally Posted by kpexpress

Chandler obviously doesn't understand what a city should be. Strip malls that are clogged and congested with people in cars staring absurdly at people walking as if they have some chronic disease is not what the truly magnificent city should be.

A mental defect would be my first guess.

[enjo13]

He'll be singing a different tune in a few years. It's really interesting to watch how cities transform around dedicated transit like light rail. My friends in south east Denver (think Lone Tree) were all quite skeptical of the rail that opened two years ago. Now, it's a part of their lives. In a short time (particularly on the newer line) we've seen really steady progress that is reflected in ever increasing ridership. Now the TOD's are starting to take off (one is even going up despite economic armageddon). I can't wait until we have a more robust system stretching in all directions... it's going to be absolutely transformative.

Hopefully you guys can get rid of your idiots, cause I want to see Phoenix embrace transit in the same way

[llamaorama]

City Data attracts a wider cross-section of users, rather than a narrow band of pro-urban individuals like SSP. The "data" part of the site really caters towards people buying or selling homes, and the forum was originally created for questions like "Is this school district good?".

So the forums vary depending on the city. Phoenix being a sprawly city its probably fair to assume that a majority of the population either likes it that way or doesn't care. Hence that viewpoint is the overwhelming consensus on that subforum. City-Data's sections on like say, Philadelphia, or New York, are of course radically different. To be honest I think looking at people's opinions on that site is a better indication of what people in those cities are really like (for good or bad) then the comments of a few hometown boosters on this site.


But yeah, it is kind of fun to go on there and laugh/pick on the idiots...