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Old 04-06-2012, 09:06 AM
 
Location: Avondale and Tempe, Arizona
2,852 posts, read 4,503,358 times
Reputation: 2562

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Good news for the Mill district. Initial streetcar work begins Monday in Tempe - East Valley Tribune: East Valley Local News

Traffic jams and resctrictions will be on the upswing due to the construction but the completed product should be nice.

It's progress.
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Old 04-06-2012, 11:01 AM
 
10,719 posts, read 20,300,551 times
Reputation: 10021
Quote:
Originally Posted by Java Jolt View Post
Good news for the Mill district. Initial streetcar work begins Monday in Tempe - East Valley Tribune: East Valley Local News

Traffic jams and resctrictions will be on the upswing due to the construction but the completed product should be nice.

It's progress.
It will be successful. There were opponents of the light rail and look what happened. The light rail is a resounding success. It's incredibly popular and busy. This will help facilitate development on Mill and the ASU campus.
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Old 04-06-2012, 08:14 PM
 
Location: MN
628 posts, read 1,437,482 times
Reputation: 697
Wow. This is going to be great for Tempe. I would love to move back there if public transit options keep growing like this. Tempe just has a good vibe..
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Old 04-06-2012, 08:25 PM
 
20,524 posts, read 15,906,907 times
Reputation: 5948
Quote:
Originally Posted by Java Jolt View Post
Good news for the Mill district. Initial streetcar work begins Monday in Tempe - East Valley Tribune: East Valley Local News

Traffic jams and resctrictions will be on the upswing due to the construction but the completed product should be nice.

It's progress.
Quote:
Originally Posted by azriverfan. View Post
It will be successful. There were opponents of the light rail and look what happened. The light rail is a resounding success. It's incredibly popular and busy. This will help facilitate development on Mill and the ASU campus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gearedtowardssalad View Post
Wow. This is going to be great for Tempe. I would love to move back there if public transit options keep growing like this. Tempe just has a good vibe..
Agreed. Now if Scottsdale would do something along those lines.
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Old 04-06-2012, 08:25 PM
 
Location: USA
3,966 posts, read 10,700,587 times
Reputation: 2228
One question i have is about the comment made by one of the users.

Quote:
Since they haven't found funding to build it yet, why are they going
ahead with design and construction? This project should never have
been approved by the city. They are planning to spend millions of taxpayer funds for a 2.2 mile streetcar which will never pay for itself. The maintenance costs alone will be
in the millions after it is built.
so.. what about it?

Last edited by shiphead; 04-06-2012 at 08:40 PM..
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Old 04-07-2012, 12:29 AM
 
Location: East Central Phoenix
8,044 posts, read 12,267,795 times
Reputation: 9838
Quote:
Originally Posted by shiphead View Post
One question i have is about the comment made by one of the users.

Since they haven't found funding to build it yet, why are they going
ahead with design and construction? This project should never have
been approved by the city. They are planning to spend millions of taxpayer funds for a 2.2 mile streetcar which will never pay for itself. The maintenance costs alone will be
in the millions after it is built.

so.. what about it?
That's typical of city government, or any type of government (state & federal included). They use money that they don't have to fund these projects, hoping they will pay for themselves later on. The thing about transit systems is they are not meant to be profitable ... in fact, their primary goal is to serve the public, even if that means taking a loss.

That's why I would prefer services like mass transit be mostly privatized. They would still serve the public good, but free enterprise would allow competition for a well managed firm to charge a user fee, maintain all the costs, and run the system more efficiently. Monorail systems at the Disney theme parks and in Las Vegas were funded with private revenue, and have done quite well.

I actually like the idea of a streetcar trolley running in Tempe, but I just wish the businesses around there could have chipped in & paid for the project. Either way, the traffic around there will be more of a challenge during the period of construction. I hope it will encourage more business along & near Mill Avenue ... and most of all, I hope something worthwile will finally be built on that that ugly vacant lot on the corner of Ash & Univeristy!
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Old 04-07-2012, 12:56 AM
 
Location: USA
3,966 posts, read 10,700,587 times
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figures. As a side note I never understood why there were houses on mill. I figured it would be reserved for businesses then put denser housing behind it, but go figure. The other thing im hoping that comes out of this is more living quarters in Tempe. Affordable housing can be made in Tempe, just have to dump the sprawl.
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Old 04-07-2012, 01:12 AM
 
Location: East Central Phoenix
8,044 posts, read 12,267,795 times
Reputation: 9838
Quote:
Originally Posted by shiphead View Post
figures. As a side note I never understood why there were houses on mill. I figured it would be reserved for businesses then put denser housing behind it, but go figure. The other thing im hoping that comes out of this is more living quarters in Tempe. Affordable housing can be made in Tempe, just have to dump the sprawl.
There aren't houses on Mill Avenue north of University Avenue ... only south of University. And what housing is there isn't of a sprawl nature at all. In fact, it's actually quite dense. A lot of that is because of ASU nearby, and there are houses & apartments that serve as living quarters for students, even in the Maple/Ash neighborhood. Tempe is one of the few Valley cities that doesn't have a sprawl issue, at least the north half of the city. South of the 60 freeway is a different story.
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Old 04-07-2012, 01:19 AM
 
Location: USA
3,966 posts, read 10,700,587 times
Reputation: 2228
Quote:
Originally Posted by Valley Native View Post
There aren't houses on Mill Avenue north of University Avenue ... only south of University. And what housing is there isn't of a sprawl nature at all. In fact, it's actually quite dense. A lot of that is because of ASU nearby, and there are houses & apartments that serve as living quarters for students, even in the Maple/Ash neighborhood. Tempe is one of the few Valley cities that doesn't have a sprawl issue, at least the north half of the city. South of the 60 freeway is a different story.
I was more referring to south of University. I know what you mean by the empty lot by Ash and what was going there. But what about that junkyard area on ash? Ok technically it's on farmer.
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Old 04-07-2012, 10:06 AM
 
Location: Phoenix, AZ
6,405 posts, read 8,989,156 times
Reputation: 8507
Quote:
Originally Posted by azriverfan. View Post
It will be successful. There were opponents of the light rail and look what happened. The light rail is a resounding success. It's incredibly popular and busy. This will help facilitate development on Mill and the ASU campus.
It's a "success" if you have access to it and use on a regular basis but the cost to build and operate, I'm sure, exceeds the amount of money it actually brings in. Not trying to sound like a Negative Nancy (I actually like the rail) but it's not worth it for many Valley residents.
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