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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
San Jose:
292 low rise buildings
89 high rise buildings 0 skyscrapers
381 buildings
Difference: almost all the high rises are in Downtown SJ unlike Phoenix. Total count is bound to change in a real hurry as bunch of new high rises will get underway downtown alone.
Austin and Raleigh have better public transit than Phoenix IMO.
Having ridden public transportation in Raleigh and Phoenix I have a different opinion. I don't think that Raleigh is even close to the same level in terms of coverage or frequency. Plus Phoenix has light rail that's useful.
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.
I've ridden light rail in both Phoenix and Houston and prefer Phoenix. Although Houston's probably hits more destinations, it's really slow.
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
OC has Metrolink and Metrolink is rail. Plus Amtrak. OC also has a decent bus system. I've ridden public transportation in OC and for a suburban area it's not bad.
Atlanta is terrible with public support for subway/rail, considering its size, economy and influence.
The voters consistently vote against expansion, and the MARTA light rail is essentially the same as it was in the early 80s, with the exception of several stations built north of the Perimeter in the late 1990s or so.
Ugh, my parents moved to Marietta in 1986, and my Mom is still there. I remember back in 1987, while attending Georgia State for one class, wishing Cobb County had a MARTA rail line so I could've just taken the train into downtown Atlanta. Maybe the rising generations will finally reverse the paranoia that has kept the rail lines out of most of the suburban areas and help relieve the traffic problems. I don't know what excuses suburban voters use now for defeating MARTA referendums in the Atlanta suburbs, but back in the 1980's it was blatant racism (all those people from South Atlanta will be riding up here and cause problems).
I'd say Tampa is considerably worse. It has 3 million in the immediate metro area, and well over 4 million in their media market, or what's generally referred to as its greater metro area. It's almost completely decentralized, and has no real plans of mass transit in our lifetimes. Virgin Trains may should one day offer train service to Orlando, but it does nothing for people wanting to get around within the area.
It sucks what's happening with your NIMBYs, but relative to Tampa, Phoenix looks like NYC!
Tampa MSA is 3 million. That's the official Census point of reference. Get tired of many posters on City-data trying to make their areas seem larger, and thus, more significant.
San Antonio, Nashville and Austin are kinda bad for cities that are as up and coming as they are. What gives?
What gives is speed of growth, demand for rail, and ability to finance. For example, Arlington, TX, the largest suburb in D/FW at 400,000 residents has repeatedly voted down public transit, in part due to a good road system and cost of driving not being excessive. They also chose to spend their tax dollars on alternatives such as funding for new Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys facilities.
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