So, I probably don't have a magic bullet argument that will win you over completely. Taxes suck and infrastructure is expensive; there's ultimately no way aroun

So, I probably don't have a magic bullet argument that will win you over completely. Taxes suck and infrastructure is expensive; there's ultimately no way around that. Here is what I would offer you in the way of persuasion: - Don't forget that ST2 is still in progress and some of the projects (like the Seattle-Bellevue light rail) and their benefits are coming online within the next decade. Not all the ST3 projects will take the full forty years too - the proposed Redmond and Federal Way extensions could be completed within the decade as well. - ST3 does include several new BRT routes which will start up more quickly and ease congestion on the 405. - Congestion imposes hidden costs, especially once it gets to the levels of really bad cities like LA or DC, and we're moving in that direction. People have more economic opportunity when they can reach more of the surrounding area quickly, and better accommodate the population growth that's coming (new employees at, say, Amazon, won't have to all live downtown like they pretty much all do now). - The problems exist now (I mentioned above that commute times have doubled in 5 years. That's an official statistic from somewhere or other but it pretty much tallies with my personal experience, and it's only going up from here) and the alternative proposals are not convincing.