[GraniteStater]

Yes, Kansas City is so backwards that they are only now considering a good mass transit system. It is desperately needed because the metro population is nearing 2 million. The coastal cities are always way ahead in terms of develop efficient mass transit systems besides having a solid interstate highway system.

[Steve_W]

Yeah I think the mindset in the Midwest is that we have as much land to use as we need. Instead of investing in efficiency we invest in real estate and sprawl. I think Omaha and for sure KC can learn a little from Portland.

[streetcreed]

I live in Columbus, the city also built a belway system (I 270) around Columbus, and through nearby rural and isolated suburbs, or so they were then in the 1970's. Then Columbus began to annex almost all of the townships that lye on the beltway system into the Columbus City Limits. Then developers, jobs, office buildings, homes, lots of "sprawl" was developed in the late 70s, 80's, and 90's, and by the end of it all, a city that was once in the top 30 largest (near the end of the top 30), had grown into the 15th largest in the US, and saw its metro population double.

Now this can be good for job creation, but eventually all of the sprawl and development reaches a point where it saturates the available land and the infrastructure has to be widened to function after all of the growth decades.

Now Columbus' innercity has seen massive redevelopment, and the city has cultural attractions and things that it couldn't have imagined in the 70s, as well as jobs and companies stepping foot into the city.

So if its going to be a beltway system where there is a lot of undeveloped land, and the city will control some of the land near or on the beltway, you better be prepared for MASSIVE growth after. Of course, this is if gas prices/economic issues remain where they are now, and do not get worse. The world and the US were a very different place when places like Columbus, Indy, and Kansas City experienced massive growth from their outerbelts.

[Steve_W]

Speaking of Columbus, I've always thought it was one of the most underated cities in the US.