SA to have high speed rail ? (Dallas, Anthony: neighborhoods, buy, luxury)

[dendox]

can you imagine having the ability to scoot to Austin for the day to see the horns play, or go to the capital, or visit friends - then being able to hop on the thing for a quick trip home? Sounds wonderful to me.

so long as cities have the bus/cab support DT, I see no reason why this couldn't work.

That is the Austin to SA leg which is the one that they are talking about getting steam most recently

[achtungpv]

I would love, love, love rail between Austin & SA. I currently drive 70 miles to work in SA and would much rather hop a train so I don't have to move.

[skeet09]

Rail would bring relief to many issues: congestion on 35, auto accidents, pollution from the vehicles, save people money from the wear and tear on their car, the list goes on...
I vote yes wholeheartedly!

[dvlpr]

Originally Posted by hello13685

The Metro rail line idea would never work here as well as it does in other cities. Unlike San Antonio, Paris and other cities that make such lines feasible do not have the majority of their inner-city population living in single family homes built on a quarter or half an acre.

If we're talking about transit within San Antonio, I would agree. Though I should point out that very few people living in production subdivisions live on quarter-acre (or larger) lots. Standard production lots are usually 50'-60' wide and 115'-130' deep, less than one-fifth of an acre.

But I think the enthusiastic responses of most people in the thread so far is based on the prospect of high-speed rail (taking a train to Austin, Houston, or Dallas). And that could certainly work, even in a sprawling city like SA.

[skeet09]

I think in order for high speed rail to be successful, we would need to have park and rides at certain locations. Potranco/1604 area, Randolph (1604/35), South (Military/35), North Central (281/1604) are the locations that come to mind.

[achtungpv]

The train using the existing tracks would stop at the Alamodome. From there, you can take the trolleys to downtown. Great if you work downtown or are going to the Riverwalk.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by hello13685

The Metro rail line idea would never work here as well as it does in other cities. Unlike San Antonio, Paris and other cities that make such lines feasible do not have the majority of their inner-city population living in single family homes built on a quarter or half an acre.

That's a huge misconception,
a metro rail is not built just to serve existing urban areas.

Wherever a station is built, you can be 100% sure that the urban growth around that station is gonna be "explosive".

Where should the stations be?
Just connect all the bases and downtown (straight line from SW to NE) with another loop going by the airport and UTSA.

If they want to start small, they could just build a loop in downtown to serve the tourists.

[hello13685]

Right, and wherever they could put stations between many of those connecting points are already developed. I would agree with your point if they were to plan on tearing down the existing single-family homes near the would-be stations and replace them with high-density construction. I can't imagin another way to get "explosive" growth in already developed areas.

[dendox]

well - developers would be willing to buy those single family homes from those living in them if were profitable to do so. I think - given the right lay out - it could be done and would be wildly successful. However, it seems like the chicken or the egg - which came first? which goes first?

[dendox]

I meant to say would be willing - can't edit it - don't want anyone to misunderstand me.