Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Much as I love public transportation, and much as I'd love to believe that there will be cities in which people "prefer" public transportation, I highly doubt that most American cities - including Denver - will be there by 2020. In a lot of these cities people may prefer to take public transportation once in awhile, but given the opportunity many Americans will still choose the car when it comes to many elements of modern life. Increasing numbers of Denver residents, or Seattle residents, or wherever, may take PT to work or to special events, but getting people who currently own cars to make a total shift to getting rid of a car and walking or taking Pt to places like the grocery store or other daily errands, etc., is going to be tough. The percentage of non-drivers can be increased, and the percentage of trips taken by cars can decrease, but the kind of shift you're hoping for is just not going to happen for most people by 2020.
Denver is currently walkable, Seattle is currently walkable - so are many, many cities. That doesn't mean that the majority of residents of those cities prefer to live a carfree life, or likely ever will.
Seattle is walkable already as well, if you live inside the city. They're finishing a line from the airport to downtown to the UW by the end of the year and are adding more. So I'd say soon you'd be able to live their without a car.
While the light rail line is nice it really does not solve the problem. In fact Seattle's light rail project is the most expensive in the country and it will have the fewest daily ridership. As they extend it to Bellevue/Redmond and other places it might be better but the state also made the mistake of not putting any places to park nearby thus making it available only to the people who live in walking distance of the stations. In 20 years as the areas around the stations have more density it will be viewed as a bigger success but as of now the cost was big and the usage is low which really doesn't help for the cause of more investment in PT.
Your right, even by 2020, most Americans won't want to give up their cars in the cities we have mentioned. I do think that generation Y'ers are more open minded to public transit than older generations are though, so who knows what will happen.
Perhaps more Americans would be open to using public transit if they realized how much money it saved them. But perhaps not. Americans like the privacy of their cars.
Never the less, I think the country is indeed moving in a direction that favors public transit. I currently live in Tampa, which among medium sized cities in America probably has some of the worst public transit. Even this city is looking for funding for a light rail plan of 20 miles!
Also, even though most citizens of the cities mentioned may not prefer to use public transportation, at least the option will be available to them. Slowly, im sure they would change their minds over time.
Seattle is walkable already as well, if you live inside the city. They're finishing a line from the airport to downtown to the UW by the end of the year and are adding more. So I'd say soon you'd be able to live their without a car.
Yes, Seattle has great neighborhoods and functions as a fine urban city on just about every level except for the transit part. Once Seattle's neighborhoods are fully linked by rail transit it will reach its full potential. Not sure if they can do this by 2020 though? The airport line is a nice start, but I don't think it will do much for neighborhood connectivity.
ofcourse NY
Atlanta with Marta, Atlanta is walkable
Dallas is getting the green line & a line to the Airport, then linking up to Fort worth & going all the way to Hulan Mall. Dallas is walkable
Austin is very walkable. The new commuter lines will help
Seattle is walkable in my opinion
Denver with the light rail. yes very walkable
San Francisco & San Diego bet Los Angeles because you can't walk in LA with out getting shot or stabbed
Houston is not on the list. They are not adding on to the rail system for awhile & it is just not walkable
Philadelphia I would think & Washington D.C plus Boston maybe
ofcourse NY
Atlanta with Marta, Atlanta is walkable
Dallas is getting the green line & a line to the Airport, then linking up to Fort worth & going all the way to Hulan Mall. Dallas is walkable
Austin is very walkable. The new commuter lines will help
Seattle is walkable in my opinion
Denver with the light rail. yes very walkable
San Francisco & San Diego bet Los Angeles because you can't walk in LA with out getting shot or stabbed
Houston is not on the list. They are not adding on to the rail system for awhile & it is just not walkable
Philadelphia I would think & Washington D.C plus Boston maybe
That's all I know
boston/cambridge is one of the best walkable cities in the country.
ofcourse NY
Atlanta with Marta, Atlanta is walkable
Dallas is getting the green line & a line to the Airport, then linking up to Fort worth & going all the way to Hulan Mall. Dallas is walkable
Austin is very walkable. The new commuter lines will help
Seattle is walkable in my opinion
Denver with the light rail. yes very walkable
San Francisco & San Diego bet Los Angeles because you can't walk in LA with out getting shot or stabbed
Houston is not on the list. They are not adding on to the rail system for awhile & it is just not walkable
Philadelphia I would think & Washington D.C plus Boston maybe
That's all I know
LOLZ, what part of LA were you in, Compton??
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
