[equid0x]

Originally Posted by tijlover

^^
Have you ridden any of the different light rail systems in cities around the country? Like Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Denver, Portland, Dallas, Minneapolis? And what will you see? Development at the rail stops! It matters not where it's built, development will follow, bank on it!

One potential massive housing development could spring up at the corner of DI/Maryland. Tear out that Applebee's, and with Sears failing, do they need all that parking space? There's enough space there to build 500-1000 units of housing, and it would create a city within a city, as the shopping venues are all a short walk away. Let's put some imagination into this!

I think the Maryland route is the best choice of the first light rail line. As a result of it, hopping on a train at the Airport and being whizzed to Fremont street will greatly benefit Fremont Street, and some possible expansion.

After the first rail line is complete, then shoot it out on Charleston to downtown Summerlin. What a profit maker that might be!

Just remember, no Federal help unless the line serves mostly residents.

They put one in Baltimore. Nobody rides it unless there is a game at Camden Yards. Little has changed with the surrounding businesses with many empty buildings still all around. Running a light rail to a bad section of town isn't a golden ticket to redevelopment.

Nobody is getting off a plane and heading for Fremont Street.

In my opinion, such an endeavor is pointless if it's not going to connect the landmarks of a city.

In the early 2000s Baltimore City ran a revitalization project in 3 areas of the city that were heavily blighted/abandoned/crime ridden. 2 of the 3 projects were successful. Fells Point/Camden & Highlandtown. It took heavy investment from both the City in grants and private investor money to basically go in and renovate the whole area. It worked. The 3rd area "Pigtown" never really got off the ground. Incidentally, that is the area closest to the light rail...

[Cold Warrior]

What is magical about replacing a bus route with light rail?

[Deuterion]

Originally Posted by tijlover

^^
Have you ridden any of the different light rail systems in cities around the country? Like Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Denver, Portland, Dallas, Minneapolis? And what will you see? Development at the rail stops! It matters not where it's built, development will follow, bank on it!

One potential massive housing development could spring up at the corner of DI/Maryland. Tear out that Applebee's, and with Sears failing, do they need all that parking space? There's enough space there to build 500-1000 units of housing, and it would create a city within a city, as the shopping venues are all a short walk away. Let's put some imagination into this!

I think the Maryland route is the best choice of the first light rail line. As a result of it, hopping on a train at the Airport and being whizzed to Fremont street will greatly benefit Fremont Street, and some possible expansion.

After the first rail line is complete, then shoot it out on Charleston to downtown Summerlin. What a profit maker that might be!

Just remember, no Federal help unless the line serves mostly residents.

I think a light rail system is awesome but these types of projects always get attacked. If you funnel public money to the rich using tax increment financing you won’t hear a peep from people but use it to create a rail system then they come out with the same talking points nationwide:

- We don’t have the money.
- It’s going to allow the dangerous people in the inner-city to have easy access to us.
- Why have light rail when we have buses.

But these same regressive thinkers will turn around and complain about traffic.

[tijlover]

One good reason to get some light rail in Las Vegas is to end the embarrassment, although it's damn hard to embarrass Clark County Commissioners and the Valley Mayors and the conservative residents of Las Vegas. All of our neighbors have light rail, many that come here have light rail in their cities, and here we sit stuck in the car-centric 1960's. It may very well be that buses could accomplish the job the same way, but if everyone else is doing it, then do it, do it, do it and stop the arguments! Join the parade!

The last Mayor of L.A. got the voters to approve a half-percent sales tax to fund their light rail, subway system, approved by 68% of the voters. For something like this it required a 2/3rd majority.

Here we sit and worry about the costs of the first light rail system in Las Vegas, and the Purple Line in L.A., all subway from DTLA to UCLA is costing $16 Billion! Only because it will run through Beverly Hills and the rich people there said: We'll OK this line providing you put it underground!

And remember, the Feds, at least in the past, ponied up half the costs of the light rail construction. And even under Mr. Donald I don't think that's changed as Minneapolis just got the Feds to approve a rail line from Downtown Minneapolis all the way out to Eden Prairie in the Southwest.

[Cold Warrior]

if everyone else is doing it, then do it

Not a serious argument from an adult.

[equid0x]

I don't have any problem with a light rail. I just don't understand the local obsession with putting it on Maryland Parkway? There aren't really traffic problems in the area, it's well served by bus, most have a car anyways or they are working nearby and walk.

There is an obvious need for better mass transit in one section of the valley... The Strip. Build a backbone there and then branch out with lines to Summerlin, the East Side, and Downtown.

You want the first leg to be heavily trafficked so it justifies further expansion. If you put the first line on Maryland Pkwy it's going to be the last one we build.

This type of transit needs to be accessible. The problem with the monorail is that it is poorly advertised and the stations are literally buried in the casinos. If you want people to use it they need to know it's there and it needs to be the obvious choice.

[OmegaSupreme]

Originally Posted by equid0x

I don't have any problem with a light rail. I just don't understand the local obsession with putting it on Maryland Parkway? There aren't really traffic problems in the area, it's well served by bus, most have a car anyways or they are working nearby and walk.

There is an obvious need for better mass transit in one section of the valley... The Strip. Build a backbone there and then branch out with lines to Summerlin, the East Side, and Downtown.

You want the first leg to be heavily trafficked so it justifies further expansion. If you put the first line on Maryland Pkwy it's going to be the last one we build.

This type of transit needs to be accessible. The problem with the monorail is that it is poorly advertised and the stations are literally buried in the casinos. If you want people to use it they need to know it's there and it needs to be the obvious choice.

In the long run, does light rail alleviate traffic or contribute to more traffic?

I have driven in cities with light rail and it seems to hold up traffic a lot. I don't think people will ditch their cars to use it. It's probably going to be commuters switching from one form of public transport to another.

[equid0x]

It can. The one in Baltimore obeyed traffic lights and was short enough to fit within a city block.

You could convince people to use it for commuting if it actually goes to the Strip somewhere... But running up and down Maryland Pkwy?

[tijlover]

Forget the Strip, it isn't gonna happen with 9-10,000 taxi drivers in this city, Uber, Lyft, taxi unions making campaign contributions to the Clark County Commissioners! It's a no-brainer! Run it from the Airport down the Strip to Fremont, how many taxi drivers will face losing their jobs? And it may also result in fewer DUI's, which the police aren't going to like.

You don't think RTC would love to run the line down the Strip? They'd love to! But if you want the Feds to help finance it, what other choice is there? I've been over this before, the Feds won't help unless it serves the residents. The Strip serves tourists! If it's run down the Strip we'll have to pay 100% of it, and who will most benefit from it?

If you let the voters decide, of course, they'll reject the Maryland line, as those in the West, South, East, North will say: What's in it for me? Now! If you decide to extend it to Downtown Summerlin, then you'll get the Summerlin vote. Extend it down Boulder Hwy to downtown Henderson, then you may bring in some Henderson votes. And if the Strip line is put to a vote, it would be voted down totally.

Financing from the Feds can also be dependent on our politicians in Washington, we're talking pork barrel. Under Obama, he was able to feed $20 billion to Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

Given the conservative comments on this thread, I'm just go glad I finally made my escape to the most liberal pocket in the Southwest, Tucson, called the Blue Island, thanks to the University of AZ campus here. When I tell people in my community why I moved here, they're aghast when I tell them I couldn't stomach the conservatism of Las Vegas one more day. Disbelieving, I urge them to Google Most Conservative Cities in the U.S. and find out where Las Vegas on that list, and they'll know I'm not lying. And they also can't believe that Las Vegas is the last big city in the country to have an art museum. Little old Tucson here, population around 450k, and they managed to get a light rail line from the University campus to DT to Menlo Park. Underutilized, but so what! It is spurring lots of housing construction along the line! And if it needs a tax subsidy to keep it afloat, I'm more than willing to pay up, even tho' I don't use it!

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by tijlover

Forget the Strip, it isn't gonna happen with 9-10,000 taxi drivers in this city, Uber, Lyft, taxi unions making campaign contributions to the Clark County Commissioners! It's a no-brainer! Run it from the Airport down the Strip to Fremont, how many taxi drivers will face losing their jobs? And it may also result in fewer DUI's, which the police aren't going to like.

You don't think RTC would love to run the line down the Strip? They'd love to! But if you want the Feds to help finance it, what other choice is there? I've been over this before, the Feds won't help unless it serves the residents. The Strip serves tourists! If it's run down the Strip we'll have to pay 100% of it, and who will most benefit from it?

If you let the voters decide, of course, they'll reject the Maryland line, as those in the West, South, East, North will say: What's in it for me? Now! If you decide to extend it to Downtown Summerlin, then you'll get the Summerlin vote. Extend it down Boulder Hwy to downtown Henderson, then you may bring in some Henderson votes. And if the Strip line is put to a vote, it would be voted down totally.

Financing from the Feds can also be dependent on our politicians in Washington, we're talking pork barrel. Under Obama, he was able to feed $20 billion to Chicago's O'Hare Airport.

All excellent points, but the true decision is made by the casino owners. They don't want light rail on the Strip, they didn't want a monorail, they don't want to pedestrianize it...they don't want to do anything because some other casino is going to figure out a way to make it work better for them and that will upset their big boss. I know this to be 100% true, Sheldon Adelson was sending his lieutenants to block the monorail because he thought MGM and Harrahs at the time would figure out how to become the dorm rooms for conventions in his building and his business plan would be screwed. After he got it blocked he started his raging campaign against the LVCVA which fortunately hasn't worked out for him. I'm sure he'd say light rail is the same thing.