This claim is really ironic, since critics of light rail are always touting the benefits of buses, which have no impact whatsoever on development. A rail line is a fixed, high-value asset. High-value in particular because businesses around stations know they can count on the increased pedestrian activity around the stations for retail, and for easy, reliable access for employees. A developer can invest in a new office building near a rail transit line knowing that twenty years from now, the rail line will still be there providing transit service.
In city after city, we have seen this effect. Charlotte experienced $1.87 billion in investment and development along their light rail corridor, which opened in November 2007. In Phoenix, $5.9 billion in private development and $1.5 billion in (non-rail) public development has been generated along the METRO line since 2001. Light rail does stimulate economic development, and as our economy continues to struggle, we could use this boost now more than ever.
Heroically yours,
Mobility Mike and Commuter Carly
Check the facts:
Cambridge Systematics, “Economic Impact of HART: Existing and Future Expansions,” Final Report, July 2010
Weyrich and Lind, Twelve Anti-Transit Myths: A Conservative Critique The Free Congress Foundation, 2001
The areas surrounding passenger rail lines that I've seen in New York, Chicago, and other locations actually tend to be slums and high crime areas. Residents and businesses move away from neighborhoods with rail lines because they are noisy, dangerous, difficult to access, and unattractive. Think about the last movie depicting a miserable apartment and there probably was a train running past the window. How's that for some Kryptonite?
ReplyDeleteKryptonite, the movies!
ReplyDeleteEnough Hollywood myth scares. Please cite facts and figures for the real world, not knee-jerk, fictional, hypothetical anecdotes!
Kryptonite? more like milk toast, I should say.
I'm from Philadelphia. I used to ride the EL regularly. The businesses left and all that remained were dilapidated and rusting building and slums.
ReplyDeleteHowever clumsy and ham handed the swing, the two previous poster have hit the nail on the head. The major arguments against public transit aren't economic or even logical. They are emotional, the same emotion responsible for white flight and gated communities.
ReplyDeleteI can offer only anecdotal evidence, but the attitude of the previous two posters seems to permeate any attempt at rational debate on a variety of social subjects.
I live in the Seattle area, and work at the airport. Sea-Tac is served by the new light rail and several bus lines. The light rail was completed two years ago, so the trains are clean and new. The buses are also clean and in good condition.
The transit from my part of town to the airport runs every 10 minutes during rush hour, every 15 minutes the rest of the day, 1/2 hour service late night. My transit commute takes less than 15 minutes longer than driving. (and at least an hour shorter if there is a traffic accident)
I also receive a highly subsidized bus/rail pass from my employer. I estimate I save about $150 a month by taking transit. (giving myself an $1800 a year pay raise)
So, you would think it would be a no-brainer, but I am the only person in my work group of 60 who regularly uses transit.
Oh I have to admit I see other airport employees taking transit. See, I am a highly skilled, well compensated blue collar employee. (With overtime and shift differential, I missed grossing $100K last year by $4)
Most of the other folks I see on the bus are janitors, baggage handlers, clerks and counter personnel for the various businesses and fast food joints at the airport, many of them foreigners.
While I have grown to expect the fear, racism, and xenophobia from the conservative leaning guys in my shop, I see the same attitudes coming from the more liberal ones.
"Isn't it dangerous?"
"Aren't you afraid?"
The other arguments are equally absurd:
"I don't want to give up the freedom of getting in my car and going wherever I want to whenever I want to."
No one is asking you to. No one says it is either-or. You are going to the same place at the same time five days out of the week.That's what transit is for.
I still own a car. Nothing prevents me from getting into it and going wherever I want. I occasionally drive to work, like when I have to transport tools, pick up something big from a store or have a doctors appointment after work.
So, go ahead and enjoy your "freedom" to sit in traffic. The extra $1800 I keep every year helps pay for a couple weeks of freedom from all of it.