Grand Rapids leaders working on light rail/streetcar plan (Portland: cars, transit)

[magellan]

A host of Grand Rapids and Kent County leaders and philanthropists recently returned from a visit to Portland, Oregon, gathering information to propose two new light rail/streetcar/fixed transit lines in Grand Rapids. An excerpt from the article:

...Bing Goei, chairman of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, recently went there to see it. So did former Mayor John Logie, Rick Chapla, Mark Pursley, and a handful of other distinguished citizens all of whom share the common goal of building the next Grand Rapids.

"We all came back pretty excited about what we saw," said Goei, who also serves as president and CEO of Eastern Floral. "The positive effects of mass transit – and the streetcar in particular – in the City of Portland are very impressive. I think it could work here."...

The next step is a return visit later this year, to build a financial plan that can be presented to Kent County citizens. $14 Million has already been earmarked by the federal government to go toward the plan. It is also heavily backed by the Interurban Transit Partnership (a consortium of 9 cities in the metro), the Kent County Transit Task Force, The Right Place program, and the influential Grand Rapids area Wege Foundation.

rapidgrowthmedia.com - In Search of a Mobility Scenario

[Sonnenwende]

Holy god. If that has serious potential, I would be so there. I love the street cars here. I have no idea if voters there would go for it or not. I know if they are anything like Indy voters it would soar like a blue whale. :/