You know...light rail...can't work...isn't a development tool...no one will ride it...especially in Milwaukee (City, with about 625,000 residents, and the County with about 950,000) which doesn't have the requisite population density...
So surely it'll be a disaster in little ol' Norfolk, VA, a small conservative city of 230,000.
Nope: In advance of the ground-breaking, $220 million in residential and commercial development is taking place along the 7.5 mile starter system's routing, according to news reports.
Nah...that light rail...no one will ride it...no one will invest along its route...I know, because Mark Belling tells me so.
Yea and from what I saw the light-rail in Charlotte, NC is working creating development too. Check out this TOD development along Charlotte's new line http://www.flickr.com/photos/davereid/1753383488/in/set-72157602706997576/
ReplyDeleteI just can dream on a light rail system between Madison and Milwaukee. What a spark on the economy, science exchange, tourism and better living
ReplyDeleteExcellent information. I posted a link to your entry at http://fullyarticulated.typepad.com/sprawledout/2007/12/james-rowen-oh.html
ReplyDeleteDave,
ReplyDeleteYou are right about development in Charlotte...But it is not just confined to the TOD's around station areas, in fact the entire Light Rail (Lynx Blue Line) is seeing tremendous development activity. To see the extent of it check out this map of Center City Charlotte.
All the areas experiencing brownfield redevelopment and noticeable rise in infill development are noted in orange on the map. Notice how the vast majority of these are on the transportation corridors (both Light Rail and future Streetcar). This is just a wonderful example of what rail transit can do for a city.
eric,
ReplyDeleteOh yea we drove the length of the line and you could see all the upzoning signs and many projects going up. That was very impressive and will really change, for the better, Charlotte in the future.