Streetcars Back on the Rails in America
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.15.08
(Michael Moose/Glaserworks)
Terrence Mann said "If you build it, they will come"; I once said at a public meeting about a Toronto streetcar line that "investment follows infrastructure." Portland proved it; 10,000 residential units have been built and $3.5 billion has been invested within two blocks of its streetcar line since it opened.
Bob Driehaus writes in the IHT:
At least 40 other cities are exploring streetcar plans to spur economic development, ease traffic congestion and draw young professionals and empty-nest baby boomers back from the suburbs, according to the Community Streetcar Coalition, which includes city officials, transit authorities and engineers who advocate streetcar construction.
Portland Streetcar Image Creative Commons ellie
More than a dozen have existing lines, including New Orleans, which is restoring a system devastated by Hurricane Katrina. And Denver, Houston, Salt Lake City and Charlotte, North Carolina, have introduced or are planning to introduce streetcars.
Some, like the libertarian critic Randal O'Toole at the Cato Institute says that growth along streetcar lines is dependent on subsidies and are of little use.
"It looks like it's going to take you somewhere, but it's only designed to support downtown residents," he said. "If officials fall for the hype and don't ask the hard questions, voters should vote them out."
Toronto Streetcar Creative Commons image by Mary
I would politely suggest that Mr. O'Toole is full of crap- I live in a streetcar city and the lines do not all go downtown, they do connect with the subway which does, but are used to go in all directions by all kinds of people. Drivers hate them (they are hard to pass and definitely slow down automobile traffic) but riders love them. When dedicated rights-of-way go in, they become fast, dependable and have huge capacity.
Furthermore, streetcar lines attract development and investment- that's where the condos go. As Cincinnati's city manager said in the IHT: "Today, young, educated workers move to cities with a sense of place. And if businesses see us laying rail down on a street, they'll know that's a permanent route that will have people passing by seven days a week."
Compared to a bus, they are faster and more dependable; compared to a subway, they are cheap; compared to a private car, from a capacity and climate point of view: there is no comparison.
::International Herald Tribune
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we have a street car (left over from when there were many many streetcars) in Dallas and it starts by the museum and goes up through a shopping/entertainment area and back again in a large loop. It's great for meeting friends and if there were more I'd use those as well.
The only downside to streetcars - monkeys chewing tobacco.
The Portland streetcars are great because you can get from the airport to the city for a couple bucks.
Another advantage, at least for those streetcars, is that they run on electricity and not diesel engines, meaning cleaner air downtown.
Just a thank you to the author.
P.S. I live in Charlotte, and we have a lot of projects going on within the realm of public transit. I cant wait until the next section of lightrail opens up and the streetcar system as well.l
monkeys chewing tobacco??
One little-mentioned upside to streetcars: you can get really loaded and not ever have to worry about a DUI. I speak from experience: I spent many inebriated hours getting home after parties on the streetcars and subways of the TTC.
Street cars are fabulous. I'm moving away from a subway station, and on to a 24hr street car line and I couldn't be more happy. Street cars provide the reliable surface travel like no other form of transportation can. Unlike the subway, when I'm on Toronto's King, Queen or Spadina streetcars I can look out at the city, become visually familar with shops and restaurants and instantly have a better idea of where things are in a neighbourhood. Subways bypass neighbourhoods. If you never get out at any other subway stations than where you work and where you live, you frog leap whole parts of the city and very likely never experience them.
The sad thing is, most American cities already have extensive streetcar networks, it's just that the tracks are buried under 6 inches of asphalt. I live in an old streetcar suburb in Denver, and I can still see the tracks peeking out here and there. There are also the remains of little commercial districts that used to be at all the major stops. A few of these ended up converted to housing, but the bigger ones are now thriving retail districts.
It would cost hundreds of billions of dollars to restore those networks that were so carelessly thrown away in favor of buses that nobody uses. Dismantling the streetcar lines was probably the biggest single planning mistake ever made in this country.
Hey Liz, according to a quick Blackle search, the phrase "monkey chewing tobacco" is from an Aaron Carter song called "Clapping Song".
Uh, lot of confusion here in the article and the comments above.There are STREETCARS and then there are LRT. Not the same thing. Portland is the only place with both (and it is the LRT, not the streetcar, that goes to the airport.)
And yes, O'Toole is full of crap no matter what comes out of his mouth.
Austin recently outlined a brilliant streetcar plan that would revitalize some - how shall I say - shady parts of the city while providing access to the new LRT and the airport. Granted this is a long way away and a $550 million plan, this might be one of the few things that could make Austin even more awesome than it is now.
http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/072508kvuestreetcars-cb.dae3c2.html