Thursday, February 01, 2007

There are Worse things than Paul Weyrich

I'm not a conservative and am unlikely to become one - but Paul Weyrich's latest article reminds me that not all conservatives are dunderheads. Just most of them. It's about the wonders of streetcars and light rail. He notes that streetcars encourage downtown shopping and investment. They make shopping downtown more convenient and more fun, and companies are noticing this, revitalizing down town areas that have invested in streetcars. Of course we don't know if these companies investments have paid off, but lets hope.
The next conservatism's theme of Retroculture wants to bring back good things from the past that we have lost. Pleasure in travel, in the journey itself, should be one of those good things. Life is too short to make travel into misery, when it can be fun.

Yes, riding streetcars is fun. Our grandparents used to enjoy riding the streetcars. They have a feel to them that is completely different from a bus. You can take my word for it.
While I disagree with Weyrich on a great many things, I'm bang up along side him on this one. Let's bring back the streetcar, but let's not name it desire because they tried that in the movies and it was depressing.

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