Let me get this straight. Mayor White started out with a proposal several months ago to allow the local MLS soccer team to build a stadium at their own expense on downtown land that the City of Houston owned but was not using except for extra parking (previous posts here).
So, how did we get to the point where the City is now willing to pony up at least $20 million and exercise its eminent domain power to acquire land for the private owners of the team to build their stadium? Heck, we haven’t even started to talk about who’s going to pick up the tab for the cost of the necessary infrastructure improvements or how much “Central Planning Chief” Peter Brown’s “mixed used development” ideas are going to cost (for the folly of such ventures, see here). By the way, Mr. Brown, what are the names of the other cities that are lining up to provide financing for a soccer stadium that makes you so sure that the Dynamo will leave if Houston doesn’t provide it?
And to top it off, the proposed location of the proposed new stadium figures to increase the cost of an even larger boondoggle.
Granted, we’re talking about throwing away “only” $20-30 million on this deal at this point. That’s peanuts in comparison to what the City wastes annually on the light rail system. But the way this deal has developed leads one to question whether there is any adult supervision whatsoever down at City Hall? If it’s acceptable to throw $20-30 million at a minor league soccer team, then what’s next? $20-30 million for the Aeros?

This LA Times op-ed by transit experts Jim Moore and Tom Rubin examining the LA area’s MTA transit system over the past 20 years. They provide a daunting warning for those who rationalize the massive deficits of Houston’s light rail system by contending that the system will become cost-efficient in the long run:

. . . the MTA has spent more than $11 billion since 1986 to build its rail network, and the effect has been to reduce total transit ridership on the system by more than 3 billion boardings. That’s a bizarre result.

Shouldn’t investments in transit infrastructure encourage, not discourage, transit use? So, why is Houston continuing to barrel down a path that LA has already shown is a poor way to invest in mass transit?