High Line

California bullet train supporters began angling Wednesday for a sizeable share of $2.4 billion in federal high-speed rail funding that Florida Gov. Rick Scott rejected. Scott, a Republican, told reporters he didn't believe projections for a proposed high-speed train between Orlando and Tampa and feared Florida taxpayers would end up having to subsidize the service. The Obama administration, which has made high-speed rail development a signature initiative, said after Scott's announcement that it will consider redistributing the stimulus funds to states that are proceeding with new, high-tech rail systems.

After years of debate, the Federal Communications Commission adopted the first-ever regulations to forbid owners of high-speed lines and airwaves from favoring their services over competitors. The rules are aimed at preserving open access to the Internet and allowing consumers the continued, unfettered use of such online services as Netflix and Hulu video and Skype and Vonage phone. The FCC's action, in a 3-2 vote Tuesday along party lines, comes as consumers are increasingly using broadband Internet connections for both wired and wireless devices to watch TV shows, movies and video snippets ?

Staying at a plush new hotel is possibly the last thing most Americans are thinking about this holiday season. Dreaming about, maybe, because who can afford it? So here's a morsel of consolation: Although the economy in much of the country continues to stagger, an unprecedented 34 hotels have opened this year in New York, and 28 more are under construction. Occupying new buildings, joining a host of ever-permutating chains and pioneering neighborhoods across the five boroughs, the roster of just-launched properties offers visitors a wide selection in price and style.

The importance of a great standalone building should never be underestimated. But in Los Angeles, as in other still-developing or densifying cities, other kinds of design excellence are arguably more meaningful to the life and future of the metropolis. This list, then, includes a handful of terrific buildings, yes, but also an elevated park, a couple of books, a movie, a transit line, a new pedestrian zone and a pair of museum installations by emerging architects. "Small Case Study House," a January installation at REDCAT.

At a time of skyrocketing gas costs, soaring airline fares and global-warming fears, the timing would seem perfect for a statewide vote on a 200-mph bullet train. But five months before voters decide whether to approve bonds for the high-speed rail line from Los Angeles to San Francisco, the $30-billion project has hit a new obstacle. An old-guard railroad is declining to share its right-of-way.

Federal telecommunication regulators Friday scrapped rules that phone companies say have limited their ability to compete with cable TV operators in selling high-speed Internet service. But what's good for the companies may be bad for customers, according to advocacy groups, which predicted higher prices, fewer choices and slower innovation as a result of the ruling by the Federal Communications Commission. The panel, in a 4-0 vote, ruled that Verizon Communications Inc.

"An Eden Above the City" (May 15) waxes rhapsodic about the uses of Manhattan's disused elevated rail line. But it missed the real use being made of the "High Line": as a real estate Trojan horse that will destroy the atmosphere of an entire swath of the city. As a 22-year Chelsea resident who has attended local meetings and studied the city's zoning changes, I can say that most of us who live here and once supported the plan now oppose it. In return for a strip of weeds and flowers, we're going to be walled in by 10 solid blocks of 30-story buildings, where the average dwelling currently is five stories.

Add John Clarey, 34, to the list of newly minted Internet millionaires. Four years ago, he launched TeleCore Inc. from a tiny office near John Wayne Airport, positioning it as a technical staffing firm and installer of fiber optics equipment. In the fall of 1998, he took his company into the market for digital subscriber lines, or DSLs, which provide high-speed Internet service through traditional phone lines. Little did he know then how hot DSL would be.

Acting on a matter that has attracted national attention, a City Council committee voted Wednesday to require any cable company that wants its franchise renewed to open its high-speed cable lines to firms providing Internet services. That approach is hotly opposed by many cable companies, who see it as an unnecessary and burdensome government regulation that ultimately will hurt consumers.