The Burlingame Voice

High-Cost Rail- Part 151 Will Corona Kill H$R?

As we ponder the paltry silver linings of the Corona pandemic, one that appears increasingly likely is nails in the coffin of High-speed Rail.  I recently asked a reporter for CalMatters if she thought the state budget disaster from COVID-19 might put an end to HSR.  Her somewhat political response was that, like many issues in Sacramento, politicians on both sides of the issue will attempt to use the pandemic to support their prior positions.  We've already seen that as some politicos attempt to position the giant sucking sound from the Central Valley as a necessary construction job program. Oh, please.

Today the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial titled "Democrats Bite the Bullet Train: The coronavirus may finally kill Jerry Brown’s boondoggle to nowhere".  The Journal recaps things a regular Voice reader would already know, but it's a nice summary.  I've added some back links to earlier Voice posts:

In the very small department of coronavirus silver linings, a budget crunch in California is causing Democrats to re-examine some wasteful spending. This includes, fiscal saints be praised, former Gov. Jerry Brown’s bullet train to nowhere.

Gov. Gavin Newsom last year scaled back progressive ambitions for a 500-mile high-speed train from Orange County to San Francisco due to cost overruns, logistical headaches and legal challenges. Instead the state would build a 171-mile starter train between Bakersfield and Merced in the Central Valley.

Democrats now want to shorten the line to the 120 miles of track already under construction and run lower-cost diesel trains in lieu of cleaner electric ones. Recall that the train’s original purpose was to reduce carbon emissions. California’s 2008 bond initiative also said the train “will not require operating subsidy.”

The state High-Speed Rail Authority now projects the 171-mile stretch would cost $20 billion to build and lose between $40 million and $90 million a year. Even that assumes millions of people living in the Central Valley each year will ride the train to Merced and then use commuter rail to connect to San Jose.

As economic consultants William Grindley and Bill Warren have pointed out, a round-trip between Bakersfield and San Jose would take 12 hours and 10 minutes and cost $189 without a subsidy and $104 with a subsidy.

Assembly Democrats are pushing legislation that would allow $5 billion to be redirected from the Central Valley choo-choo to commuter trains in Southern California and Bay Area. This would relieve highway congestion and perhaps ease housing demand in dense coastal cities. Democrats in Sacramento deserve credit for setting new pandemic priorities.

Reports of the BART budget shortfall and the Caltrain slippage and budget bloodiness should give the Assembly Democrats even more incentive to redirect precious transportation money to the "bookends" in LA and the Bay Area.  The commuter line fallacy is the latest attempt to justify HSR, but even the long daily hours on HSR don't capture the full commute time to any location that is not in walking distance of Diridon Station.  Getting to the Highway 237 nerve center or anywhere near Google or Facebook's campuses adds another half hour on a perfect day.  Now is the time, Governor.  Carpe diem.

BHS: Graduation 2020 Like No Other

As I look for silver linings amidst the shelter-in-place restrictions, a few things come to mind.  The staff at BHS have done a nice job of getting to virtual and providing some live memories to grads.  Tonight's virtual Senior Awards Night and Thursday's virtual graduation are first steps.  The pre-recorded graduation will feature speeches by Superintendent Kevin Skelly, Board Member Linda Lees Dwyer, Principal Paul Belzer, and three graduating seniors as well as the BHS Choir and Band.  In between is a family stroll through the gardens at Filoli tomorrow with a defined path and two ticketed entry times.  I did a similar stroll through Filoli a week ago and the setting and the gardens are a welcome change of pace.  The warm weather is expected to last through tomorrow so it should be nice down there in the evening.  Willie Brown highlighted a similar "stroll" in his Sunday column:  Monterey County grads and their families will get to drive the whole race course at Laguna Seca and get their diploma at the end.  Sweet!

Congrats to the Class of 2020.  Everyone will remember your year as something special.

Close the Avenue? Not So Fast

I was hoping this idea of closing Burlingame Ave. to all cars would quietly disappear as things slowly re-open and people get used to mingling a bit.  But the City has apparently asked merchants for their opinions so it's an active idea and we have a Guest Perspective in today's Daily Journal that espouses the closure.  The author comes from a great B'game family and has done a stint on the Planning Commission, but he might have benefited from serving on Traffic, Safety and Parking instead.  I'm sort of glad he broached the topic.  Here's bit of that piece

With summer weather approaching and business attendance at an all-time low, now is an incredible, once-in-a-generation time to experiment with what  Burlingame Avenue could be like if it were more pedestrian-oriented, and less vehicle-dependent.

The city needs to take strong actions to make sure the heart of its downtown, its restaurants and bars, are positioned as well as possible to succeed in a prolonged sure-to-be-tough environment. The best way the city can do this, in my opinion, is to allow them to operate at normal capacity (while adhering to strict distancing guidelines), through the expansion of temporary seating zones. Of course, the only way to accomplish this would be to follow the example set by Oakland and numerous other cities, and close Burlingame Avenue to cars.

There's an old debate tactic called the Straw Man argument that says you refute an argument that your opponent hasn't actually made.  A corollary to that is to refute one argument and omit the others.  That's what is going on in this piece:

Now, the obvious contrarian opinion is that there won’t be enough parking (a particularly Burlingame classic!). Well, my response would be: Good! Let’s finally put our environmental policy and action where our mouths are and create paths for people to safely travel, and park, via bicycle.

Allow me to note some better arguments against a full closure.  First, there are many other businesses on the Avenue besides restaurants.  All of them rely on out-of-towners and B'gamers who live far away and won't walk or bike to their stores.  Convenient parking may be over rated by some store owners, but it's not a non-issue.  Some of them sell (or would like to sell) more product than one can easily carry for blocks.  Second, what about the disabled customers?  We have handicap spaces for a reason and it's a good one.  No "TSPoon" commissioner would ever think of taking them all out, but a full closure does exactly that.  Third, it seems unfair to advantage some restaurants at the expense of others not on the Avenue.  Should Park & Howard, Narin, Coconut Bay, Stella Osteria, Il Fornaio, et al just figure it out themselves?  I don't think so.  How about Broadway?  I won't play Straw Man and suggest we close all of downtown, but fair would be fair.  Fourth, police and fire access is still required and required fast.  How do you do that with tables and diners in the street?  Lastly, the realpolitik of the City's situation is a major budget problem as noted here.  We are definitely better off than many cities, but with the hotel tax and sales taxes taking a major hit, the revenue from the meters should not be ignored.  As the City seems intent on giving away money, perhaps taking some in would be wise.

So what to do?  Doing nothing is anathema to government.  We've seen that across the board during the corona crisis.  Here's a middle position that might work for restaurants all over town.  The space in front of the restaurant can become a parklet.  I broached the idea eight years ago here.  As you can read from 2012 it got no attention--not one comment, but now might be the time.  Parklets are big in EssEff and a few sprouted in San Mateo.  One space (10' x 20' if memory serves) could hold 2 four tops.  Turned twice a night, that would be 16 more diners.  Added to sidewalk dining, it would help.  Closing the whole street is unfair, may be unsafe and likely costly.

More Parking: Perhaps You Missed It?

When you walk or bike around town you get a good, current view of things that are happening--or not happening.  I shouldn't be surprised when people spout off on one of the other local social media sites about what the city should or shouldn't do--only to be told that they are already doing it because it has been in the works for years!  The absolute biggest case in point is the huge parking structure being built between Lorton Ave and Highland Ave. just south of Howard Ave.  I get it, they're sheltering-in-place, but really?  Before you put fingers to keyboard maybe you should get your mask and walk around downtown for the first time in six or eight months.

When someone tells you we should shut down Burlingame Ave. for the restaurant trade to survive, that is debatable position.  We'll get to that another time.  But when some know-nothing says we can't do that because there isn't enough parking downtown and the city should build more someday, well, ta da.  Do try to get out more.

Single-Family Homes Need Single-Family Zoning

The Wall Street Journal and the NY Times are both reporting that people all of sudden want out of dense city living and are on the hunt for single-family homes in the suburbs.  We talked about that and the associated turn away from mass transit here a month ago.  But it's not just the national media reporting generally.  Our very own high-performing realtor, Raziel Ungar, is seeing much the same thing right here in B'game as he wrote this week

It's been an adventurous week in real estate - from what I've seen, things are heating up. Two homes in Burlingame that were well priced, move in ready, and in excellent locations, had five offers each on them and sold multiple hundreds of thousands over asking. I've had more inquiries in the last few weeks from buyers living or renting in San Francisco than I can remember in a concentrated period of time; naturally, many people who may or may not have considered the peninsula, Marin, or the East Bay have placed moving to the suburbs to a home and a yard towards the top of the list. An article in yesterday's New York Times called Coronavirus Escape: To the Suburbs detailed in more detail what I have been experiencing as well.

The Journal's take on the trend is that it's not just buyers.  Renters are feeling the same need

Wall Street’s wager on high-earning suburban renters is paying off, and it is raising its stakes.  Investors are flocking to America’s mega landlords, drawn by signs the companies that emerged from last decade’s foreclosure crisis owning huge pools of rental houses are weathering the economic shutdown far better than feared. Many also expect that the coronavirus pandemic will make suburban single-family homes both more desirable and more difficult to buy for even the relatively well-heeled.

Share prices of the largest home-rental companies, such as Invitation Homes Inc. and American Homes 4 Rent, have outpaced the broader stock market since they and the S&P 500 bottomed in late March. Invitation is up 57% since then and American Homes has gained 36%, compared with the S&P 500’s 31% climb.

Perhaps you also saw the SF Comicle piece about people setting home offices in tents in their backyards to get some more private workspace.  You can only do that if you HAVE a backyard.  So the question is will the city continue to fight to protect single-family zoning, will the state bureaucrats get drawn into more pressing matters than ruining neighborhoods and will the development industry respond?  One of the rare silver-linings of the Covid-19 upheaval is according to Zumper "It seems rents for studios through 2 beds in Burlingame have seen large month-over-month drops between 5-7%".  Anyone care to guess whether or not rents would be coming down now if we had rent control in place?

Caltrain Red Ink, Shutdowns, Delays

The headlines read "Rough path for transit on horizon" (Chronicle), "Financial outlook for Caltrain is grim" and "Fears grow over delay of Caltrain electrification" (Daily Journal).  Ridership is down about 90% and the line is looking at more than an $80 million budget deficit through FY21.  It's hard to imagine getting on a crowded SRO train again, but it's easy to imagine many of the newly-minted work-at-home employees will continue at least some days.  What to do?

During the meeting, officials said additional federal funding beyond the CARES Act will be needed as well as a dedicated funding source. A proposed eighth-cent sales tax for Caltrain in each of the three counties along the corridor is winding its way through the approval process for placement on the November ballot.  Without new funding, furloughs and even a systemwide shutdown all become possibilities, officials said.

A hiring freeze has been implemented and overtime has been eliminated, to name two moves, and further reductions to service was also proposed. Even with the extremely low ridership of late, Caltrain is still running hourly service and a total of 40 trains a day, down from the usual 92 trains per day.

We noted the delays on the electrification program back in August when things were flush and the DJ is highlighting it again

According to John Funghi, chief officer of Caltrain’s Modernization Program, the foundation work is being paused this time because Balfour Beatty is running out of rebar cages needed for the job. That’s because Balfour Beatty failed to order more of them on time, Funghi added.   To stay on schedule and complete the remaining 1,380 foundations by the end of the year, an average of 174 foundations must be completed a month. Caltrain Board Member Dev Davis claimed fewer than 50 foundations have been completed a month on average since the work began.  But Funghi has argued monthly averages don’t provide the full picture as some months 50 foundations may be installed while other months are scheduled to see as many as 300 foundations installed.

Davis isn’t buying that argument.  “John you have said that for the last three months at least, including two of the months where we had zero foundations,” she said. “I’m sorry but I cannot believe it any longer.

From the sounds of it, a lack of rebar is the least of Caltrain's problems right now.  The sad thing is during all of the Board discussions being reported, nobody says "Hey, why don't we call the Governor and suggest he kill high-speed rail and use some of that money to prop up regular rail?"  As I noted elsewhere, there are at least a few Assemblymen thinking along those lines, so why doesn't the Caltrain board jump on board?  It would certainly add credibility to the November ask for more sales taxes to fund rail.

Quacking Downtown

I've enjoyed seeing more different wildlife downtown as the people thin out after about 7pm.  Several people have noticed a pair of ducks walking around the neighborhoods and downtown.  I thought it was just a male and female pair that I have seen before, but last night as "The Birdman" was feeding all of the birds in Lot J behind the Landmark I noticed four male ducks joining the feeding frenzy.  I'll bet there are more hanging around.  They bring a smile to my face and I hope yours as well.

30 Ingold Rd. To Get 298 Units

I'll bet not one in a hundred B'gamers know where Ingold Rd. is.  I didn't.  It's a small street off Rollins just over the train tracks from the Police station, a little south of Guittard Chocolates--which many B'gamers can locate.  When Ingold get a seven story building with 298 residential units built on it you will notice it.  The Daily Journal reports

The Burlingame Planning Commission gave glowing reviews to the 298-unit proposal at 30 Ingold Road from Summerhill Apartment Communities, during a meeting Monday, April 27.  The discussion marked the first formal examination of the planned seven-story building — which if built would be one of the largest housing developments in Burlingame over recent years.

Officials are optimistic the area is primed for development due to its proximity to the Millbrae joint Caltrain and BART station.  To that end, Loftis said he believed the project will catalyze further construction on and around Rollins Road.  “I would be disappointed and shocked if there wasn’t something else out there that doesn’t tie into this,” he said.

Well, I would be disappointed and shocked if the Planning Commission and the City approve anymore monster buildings prior to completing the 5-year update to the Urban Water Management Plan and figuring out where all of the kids in these new buildings are going to go to school.  Exactly which elementary school district is the northern part of Rollins Rd. in?  How much room does it have?  And does any planning commissioner care?  I doubt it.

Social Media and City Government

We're nothing if not responsive here at the Voice so when we get a request from a reader we try to accommodate it.  Fortunately Paloma Ave.'s request for a post on government censorship at the local level is something we've been thinking about.  I feel for city officials trying to maintain media contact, take in requests and comments in a modern fashion and yet having to maintain some on-line decorum.  It's not like we haven't had to deal with the same thing here for 17 years.  We want vigorous discussion and debate and that comes in many forms and temperatures.

Under the heading of "City Addresses Rumor With Fact" on the City website is the "For the Record" page.   Aside from burlingame.org, the City also monitors SeeClickFix via the AccessBurlingame module.  That is where Paloma Ave.'s concern about shutting down conversation originated.

Please post a new thread about "Censorship at Access Burlingame". Here is the thread: 1399 Broadway Burlingame

DESCRIPTION We have run into this street creature periodically around town. She can be remarkably obnoxious, asking for money or asking passers-by to purchase alcohol for her (apparently she is not welcomed in many of the stores around Burlingame). She has great command of vulgarity. We've been yelled at.

I'll paste the rest of the comment into a comment on this thread.  At issue is the notation from the Police Chief (verified official) shutting down the thread for inappropriate language.  The issue of Shirley's behavior on Broadway goes back more than a decade, so perhaps we are working up to a better solution now that it's getting more visibility via social media.  I'd hate for it to get to the point where someone gets hurt and we all look in the rear view mirror and ask "Why?"