Light Rail Transforming Cities, Guiding Development

[John P]

I happened upon this today. Perhap Jacksonville leaders will one day see the light.



It's hard to find a city in America that isn't planning, proposing, studying or actually building a light rail system. Cities as diverse as Dallas, Seattle and Washington, D.C., all see light rail as part of their future â€" a way to reshape their development.

There are 35 light rail systems operating in the U.S. today. At least 13 metro areas are currently building others. Many more are being planned.

Perhaps the most ambitious light rail project in the country is being built in Denver. Downtown, behind Union Station, lies a cityscape that doesn't quite exist yet.

Much of the area is empty, fenced off. Construction crews are digging a huge hole in the ground in preparation for some of the final stages of a multiyear transportation project that is already changing the city.

East West Partners, a real estate development company, is doing much of the work around Union Station. They own or have the rights to buy much of the land. Even in the midst of a real estate collapse, Chris Frampton, one of the partners in the company, is bullish about light rail. As he walked toward Union Station from the riverfront condos his company developed recently, light rail trains whispered by, their electric motors almost silent.

"Right here next to us is going to be the new [headquarters] of DaVita," says Frampton, pointing at an area void of anything but dirt. "They're moving here from El Segundo, Calif. And they picked this site, 100 percent, because it's next to light rail."

Frampton pointed to a building around the corner, Gates Rubber Co. Half of their 300 employees already take the light rail to work, he said.

"Trains make all that possible," Frampton says.

And it's not just in Denver. In Salt Lake City, Phoenix, San Diego and other cities large and small, light rail is taking off. The trains look more like streetcars than anything else. They're only one or two cars long, and are electrically powered. The narrow footprint of light rail cars allows them to be put in dense urban areas, on already crowded streets.

"There are very few major metropolitan areas in the country that aren't considering the installation of some sort of light rail system," says Robert Puentes, a transportation expert at the Brookings Institution. He stresses that the car is still king, but says politicians, businessmen and developers are looking to light rail to help guide development.

"Light rail stops create nodes and create opportunities for denser development," says Frampton. "So you don't end up using up roads and using up sewers, and building new police stations and water lines and so on."


More  http://www.npr.org/2010/12/27/132283143/light-rail-transforming-cities-guiding-development

[thelakelander]

Nice article.  We've been saying this for years.  Hopefully, the next mayor will take note.

[dougskiles]

Nice article.  We've been saying this for years.  Hopefully, the next mayor will take note.

Based on what I have read and heard from the candidates, it would be hard to believe any have taken note so far.  I hope that changes soon.

[JeffreyS]

Let's just give up. This state is now only about tax breaks, stucco and strip malls.

[FayeforCure]

Let's just give up. This state is now only about tax breaks, stucco and strip malls.

Ah you mean empty strip malls and ghost towns of unfinished housing developments.