I'm from Oregon, but I've had family continuously in Texas since the 1850s. In the 1970s Portland, Oregon scrapped a planned freeway in favor of light rail and other mass transit programs. Portland is now one of the most livable cities in the US.

And as for the traffic problem in Downtown Dallas that I recently heard Mayor Leppert mention on one of the local TV news programs, I don't know what his eyesight is, but mine is 20-20. I've been in Downtown Dallas at various times of the day from before 6AM to after midnight over the last 18 months. Compared to other large cities, Dallas has no traffic problem in the downtown core area. Anyone who has ever been in Downtown Seattle knows bad traffic! NYC is thinking of copying central London's idea of congestion pricing in parts of Manhattan because of the traffic. I'm sure some in NYC would love to have the "traffic problem" that our Mayor thinks we have!

More roads only beget more cars on them. Mass Transit is the answer - a toll road inside of a flood plain (not to mention the levees) is NOT the answer! I can only pray that a majority of Dallas voters are smart enough to side with Councilwoman Hunt and not her toll road crazy colleagues.

[Ed Note: I agree with you that there needs to be a philosophical change, and the city staff probably needs to do a better job of communicating with council/public. However, Dallas is a completely different city when it comes to transportation. We're much more spread out and people must travel further distances to "get home."

Let's see what the next couple of weeks bring.]