If Milwaukee County had light rail, would you use it? (Racine: 2009, neighborhoods)

[jjacobeclark]

Originally Posted by KC3700

Would I use light rail? Depends on where it goes. But if the routes were designed in a sane fashion, instead of trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents, or catering to specific groups/institutions, I would.

I doubt that that would happen. I think it's more likely that SEWRPC would probably design the routes, which would be either done on the cheap or focused on colleges - either of which will be a disaster for rail.

Why would focusing on colleges be a disaster? Colleges provide a large number of people, often who don't own vehicles, in a relatively small area. Low income neighborhoods would benefit greatly if they saw lines too. I think Fond Du Lac Ave and Forest Home Ave would make great routes as they would pass through some of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. It would provide a means of transportation to those people as well as spur much needed economic development in those neighborhoods.

[Cha Ching]

Originally Posted by zz4guy

Uhh why? Milwaukee has the traffic problems of a city a fourth its size. Denver, Philly, Dallas have light rail but their traffic is horrendous.

The light rail in Dallas goes into very few areas, and mostly follows Central Expressway in a north/south direction. Then you'd have to hop on a bus or walk to get where you need to. You don't see many people wanting to walk anywhere when it's 90-100 degrees outside.

It's not like Boston or DC, where you can be anywhere in the city in a matter of minutes. The truth is that you cannot get anywhere in Texas without a car. It's sad but true.

Nice strawman, but inaccurate. At least for comparing Milwaukee to Dallas.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by city414

it should go only so far waukesha(the city of)

Why not have a light rail extended from Milwaukee to the suburbs such as Waukesha, Brown Deer, Whitefish Bay, Franklin, Greendale,etc?

[BeckyBrand]

I would love to have light rail that would run all the way out to the suburbs or even to the populated areas of Madison (not the regional airport as the "high speed" rail is supposed to do.) But even then I would only use it occasionally. This is a big money pit! We can never justify this moneywise and we could have the Best bus system in the world and still spend less money than this will cost us.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by BeckyBrand

I would love to have light rail that would run all the way out to the suburbs or even to the populated areas of Madison (not the regional airport as the "high speed" rail is supposed to do.) But even then I would only use it occasionally. This is a big money pit! We can never justify this moneywise and we could have the Best bus system in the world and still spend less money than this will cost us.

There are still people it would help. There are plenty of people in Milwaukee without jobs and many factories(such as Briggs and Stratton) have relocated to the suburbs(such as Cedarburg). If the persons can get to the suburbs and get jobs over there, then that could be part of a solution to lower the unemployment rate.

[BeckyBrand]

Light rail would help people - but at what cost? I think it will be a long time before Briggs and Stratton has trouble filling jobs b/c people can't get to the job site. The people who would use/need this system the most couldn't come close to paying for it so it will have to be subsidized by the taxpayers. Does the impact it will have justify the cost? I don't believe so.

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by BeckyBrand

Light rail would help people - but at what cost? I think it will be a long time before Briggs and Stratton has trouble filling jobs b/c people can't get to the job site. The people who would use/need this system the most couldn't come close to paying for it so it will have to be subsidized by the taxpayers. Does the impact it will have justify the cost? I don't believe so.

If I was a taxpayer(I don't make that kind of income), I would understand. Healthcare for others and mass transit is something I would be willing to pay taxes for, even if I wouldn't need it(and in this stage of my life, I need it). My train of thought is that it would be helpful to people who need it. I look at from the perspective of someone who doesn't have a car or would be afraid to drive a car.

[pirate_lafitte]

BeckyBrand, I also have another perspective to this as well. I don't believe that society should be car-dependent. Having other options is a good thing. Why should a society be exclusively car-dependent? It doesn't help people like me who don't have a car. It doesn't help traffic either. I am not saying get rid fo the car. I am saying broaden the options. Bus, light rail, hovercraft, cable-car, street car, all of it.

[south-to-west]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

Why would focusing on colleges be a disaster? Colleges provide a large number of people, often who don't own vehicles, in a relatively small area. Low income neighborhoods would benefit greatly if they saw lines too. I think Fond Du Lac Ave and Forest Home Ave would make great routes as they would pass through some of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. It would provide a means of transportation to those people as well as spur much needed economic development in those neighborhoods.

Although I don't think that Milwaukee is quite ready for light rail, I totally agree with the two major arteries that you suggested. Both Fond du Lac and Forest Homes are major diagonal thoroughfares that traverse a wide variety of neighborhoods. Other potential major corridors include Green Bay Avenue/MLK and S Superior/S Lake Drive. National Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue/Blue Mound Road would also be great corridors for light rail.

Just because Milwaukee isn't ready for LRT at the present time doesn't mean that the regional planning commission couldn't start planning potential routes over the next 30 years. As I've stated before, a good start would be to construct BRT right-of-way and facilities along these major corridors over the next 10 years in order to facilitate a gradual transition to LRT over the next couple of decades as the city's population grows (and yes, I sincerely believe that the population within Milwaukee's city proper will continue to grow as younger households move closer to jobs and services within the city).

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by south-to-west

Although I don't think that Milwaukee is quite ready for light rail, I totally agree with the two major arteries that you suggested. Both Fond du Lac and Forest Homes are major diagonal thoroughfares that traverse a wide variety of neighborhoods. Other potential major corridors include Green Bay Avenue/MLK and S Superior/S Lake Drive. National Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue/Blue Mound Road would also be great corridors for light rail.

Just because Milwaukee isn't ready for LRT at the present time doesn't mean that the regional planning commission couldn't start planning potential routes over the next 30 years. As I've stated before, a good start would be to construct BRT right-of-way and facilities along these major corridors over the next 10 years in order to facilitate a gradual transition to LRT over the next couple of decades as the city's population grows (and yes, I sincerely believe that the population within Milwaukee's city proper will continue to grow as younger households move closer to jobs and services within the city).

What would make Milwaukee not ready for light rail?