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Just noted this thread from Arizona group that powerful group of NIMBY locals have a Prop 105 on the (August?) ballot forbidding any further spending toward LRT extension because rail transit ... attracts homeless (aka "bums" also see, racial 'others' ... etc.), and that C-D posters re Phoenix actually cosign this crazy idea, to wit:
Apparently Prop 105 will reverse a popular vote referendum to extend Phoenix's LRT. Look, I know this is weak transit/anti HSR America and that this general area is the right-wing wacko Land of Joe Arpaio, but I figured Phoenix, which had the good sense to actually build a decent LRT to begin with, wouldn't sink this low. Just wondering are there ANY other American big cities that have sunk this low regarding transit? (note: I can't even see Detroit doing this)...
Orange County CA sucks. 3 million+ no rail at all.
While Part of LA metropolitan area, LA County has been passing rail transit measures to build hundreds of miles of rail but it stops at the county borders since the money is largely paid for by County of LA sales taxes
I think you hit the nail on the head. Phoenix is probably the weakest pound for pound city in the nation. Such a shame because its natural setting is beautiful.
Nashville is really really bad but it’s much smaller
Yeah Nashville is unfortunate. They had a really sweet transit plan that went down hard at the voting booth May 2018: 26 LRT miles over 5 routes, including one to the airport, a downtown subway tunnel and several BRT routes.
Really, though, I think Nashville caught a bad break. The plan was championed by a smart and progressive mayor, in Megan Berry, but she foolishly had a affair (she is married with kids), which had influence peddling implications -- and then lied about it. This forced her to resign just months before the referendum, which allowed the Koch Brother's anti-transit forces mobilized -- and there was one particular local flake who strenuously argued against the measure, in a series of TV debates, who was later found to be in the Koch's back pocket when snoopers followed the money trail. It was all too much for rail planners to overcome and they were swamped at the polls.
But Nashville seems to be a pretty hip, sophisticated and cultural (hey, it has historic colleges in Vandy, Fisk, TSU, the Grand Ole Opry); its core is compact with narrow main arteries and is very walkable, esp the Broadway & 2nd Street entertainment district, and they've already established -- And are desperately hanging onto, the Music City commuter rail line with its small numbers, even though I believe there are plans to establish more commuter rail routes...
I think rail planners will return in the near future with another alternative.
I would say Houston is worse in the light rail department, especially given its size.
Phoenix is a different kind of city and one that I think has its own charm. A legacy city should not be expected there because it just isn't that kind of place. It's a city that pretty much couldn't even exist, at least being the size that it is, without modern technology.
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