Streetcars (Dallas, Austin, Greenville: homes, living in, nightlife)

[Texanraider]

What I am saying is that if they going to to this I hope they dont do it half ass.

[Me007gold]

Originally Posted by Shock

All of these suggested routes would be so much more expensive than the original proposed cost. Yet people are complaining about the price of the original route.

Correct, but they are the lines that would get used. I would also add on that ran from 1604 down 281. A line running down a small portion of broadway isnt going to get used by a large marjoirty of the population. The bus lines that serve that area are more then sufficient.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by jmckay331

Wow, could have sworn when I was there this summer i was in downtown and there were a lot of businesses around there. Must have been lost. I certainly wouldn't compare it to Dallas or Ft Worth Downtown but thats a good thing. I like the streetcar idea. Public transport that is reliable and quick is good for the economy and traffic. I lived in Germany for three years and Italy for three and loved their systems. The combination of buses, streetcars and trains made traveling super easy and cheap. It was easier to use public transport than try to drive my car and find a parking spot. I hope it works out but think that it will be a long time in coming and take a long time to make any significant economic impact on the area. Also as a con in order to make it a robust system it will require a lot of tax money.

I can tell you first hand, San Antonio has a better downtown area than both. Fort Worth is behind and Dallas is still much further behind (they have the business but still working on foot traffic after 5pm), so I would give San Antonio more credit than that.

It's a tourist city and you need people to get around. Bringing modern streetcars down there would help. I know there's a new trasit center going up that would bring in more people...

[Bo]

Originally Posted by Texanraider

What I am saying is that if they going to to this I hope they dont do it half ass.

The big problem is that it would be hugely expensive to run a rail system between Stone Oak and downtown or Lackland and downtown or the Medical Center and downtown. But if the city is serious about creating an alternative commuting method, it'll need to go to all of those places and more.

It's going to be a real challenge to strike a balance between affordable and useful.

[sa dave]

Originally Posted by JJG

I can tell you first hand, San Antonio has a better downtown area than both. Fort Worth is behind and Dallas is still much further behind (they have the business but still working on foot traffic after 5pm), so I would give San Antonio more credit than that.

It's a tourist city and you need people to get around. Bringing modern streetcars down there would help. I know there's a new trasit center going up that would bring in more people...

I agree. I was a transplanted San Antonian living in the Dallas for a good few years in the not too long ago past. I was surprised that my fun times were had in uptown Dallas, Greenville or other spots far from the city core. The city core looks beautifully dense and lit up at night, however, it's dead when the sun goes down.

I still regularly visit and the development is unreal, I would argue, even better than Austin or at least on par. However, SA downtown has a much better nightlife than the Dallas downtown area.

[JJG]

Originally Posted by sa dave

I agree. I was a transplanted San Antonian living in the Dallas for a good few years in the not too long ago past. I was surprised that my fun times were had in uptown Dallas, Greenville or other spots far from the city core. The city core looks beautifully dense and lit up at night, however, it's dead when the sun goes down.

I still regularly visit and the development is unreal, I would argue, even better than Austin or at least on par. However, SA downtown has a much better nightlife than the Dallas downtown area.

Uptown Dallas is better than downtown. Downtown Fort Worth is better than both.

But San Antonio has both cities beat.

[Jimrob1]

I'm not sure if San Antonio is building a streetcar line, or it's way off in the future. I just know here in Tucson one opened in July. I'm all for mass transit in this country, but the one here is ridiculous. It is just about 4 miles in length, and basically only serves the U of A students. It is a waste and does nothing to encourage, the average citizens into taking transit. That and the fact the line doesn't really go to where people live at. I hope whatever SA decides on this subject, is that the line serves neighborhoods to places of work or the airport. Not just some expensive project, that only serves college students like this Tucson one. Actually the best transit lines, are the ones that go from suburban areas to downtown's and airports.

[CyVaquero]

Originally Posted by Shock

All of these suggested routes would be so much more expensive than the original proposed cost. Yet people are complaining about the price of the original route.

See my earlier post - people would find it more agreeable it they actually see a benefit - the proposed route served tourists (who really don't contribute to day-to-day congestion) and a very small percentage of residents who work AND live along a very narrow corridor, it was falsely touted as spurring economic development, and does absolutely nothing to relieve traffic congestion areas since the vast majority of those working downtown still would have to commute in.

Look I am absolutely for a decent mass transit system here. When I head to NYC/Philly/DC, I park on the edge of the city and use bus and train my entire trip. A scientific study to determine the heaviest used trunk routes between population centers and employment should be used to decide where the first train/streetcar should go - not what would look neat downtown.

[Shock]

^ but you have to start somewhere right? Road and highway construction are the same way. You do it in sections. In any case, if that was VIA's intention, they failed to make citizens aware of that.

[rynetwo]

Originally Posted by Shock

^ but you have to start somewhere right? Road and highway construction are the same way. You do it in sections. In any case, if that was VIA's intention, they failed to make citizens aware of that.

What they were trying to do was the equivalent of making Texas 211 a 6 lane freeway. (three lanes in each direction) It would have been an expensive project that does not serve hardly anyone and fails at it's objective.