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Which of these four cities do think has the better public transit system (bus, light rail, subway, commuter rail)? Which do find easier to live in without a car? Why?
This has come up in the Boston forum, and I'm curious what the non-Boston homers think. I personaly have no experience with public transit in SD or Seattle so I'm not voting myself.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Boston
Seattle
Los Angeles
San Diego
in that order.
I lived in Seattle car free for a year in my early 20's (and lived most of my life in the suburbs of Boston). As long as you're in the the right neighborhood then Seattle is pretty easy. Seattle has a light rail/subway from Sea-Tac airport through South Seattle, Rainier Valley, and Beacon Hill up into downtown. A new subway line is being constructed up to Capital Hill and the U-District and expected to start running in 2015. Capital Hill, U-District, and Queen Anne are very walkable neighborhoods close to downtown with grocery stores and frequent bus service. Seattle has a pretty dense downtown core with adjacent dense urban neighborhoods. The rest of the city is an urban/suburban hybrid many with walkable commercial districts in neignborhoods like Ballard, Wallingford, and Greenlake (North Seattle).
I like Seattle as a city because I think it has the perfect balance between urban density and suburban elbow room. Sound Transit has plans to expand its light rail service over to Bellevue/Redmond and up to Northgate which will most likely be in service in the early years of the next decade. Though Seattle's rail transit is light rail, a good bulk of it is subway tunnelled or elevated so it doesn't crawl on surface streets through neighborhoods like a lot of light rail systems in other cities. As far as the poll is concerned Boston is the no brainer selection by comparison to the other cities listed.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 12-27-2012 at 11:56 AM..
I've lived car-free in Boston (2.5 years), live car-light in Los Angeles (2 years), very familiar with San Diego, never been to Seattle.
It's a little tough because this always depends on personal situations - in some parts of Los Angeles I would say it is at the same level as Boston while in other situations/locations in LA it is impossible to live without a car. In fact my current neighborhood (Hollywood) is much more walkable and transit-saturated than my neighborhood in Boston (Allston). Coming from that experience with blinders on I would have said LA - but taking in the whole Boston has a great percentage of areas that are easy for car-free living (i.e. if you threw a dart at a map of Boston chances are greater than in the other three that it is a walkable and transit-friendly neighborhood).
To the OP, I am curious what the Boston homers are saying that prompted the thread?
To the OP, I am curious what the Boston homers are saying that prompted the thread?
The homers (myself included) all speak highly of the MBTA, while at the same time acknowledging it's flaws. As we all know there are a few, to say the least. Well one particular CD member is seems adamant the MBTA is one of the worst PT systems in the country, which IMO is absurd.
Not sure if I can cross link the two threads, but if you want to read through its in the Boston forum titled 'Is Boston a Cosmopolitan City?'. Somehow it turned into a public transit debate.
The homers (myself included) all speak highly of the MBTA, while at the same time acknowledging it's flaws. As we all know there are a few, to say the least. Well one particular CD member is seems adamant the MBTA is one of the worst PT systems in the country, which IMO is absurd.
Not sure if I can cross link the two threads, but if you want to read through its in the Boston forum titled 'Is Boston a Cosmopolitan City?'. Somehow it turned into a public transit debate.
The MBTA is really good but definitely has some flaws. IMO its bus network could be improved to make N/S travel around the "spokes" a little more efficient. Far, far far from one of the worst PT systems (actually all four of these cities are near the top of the heap in the US, maybe SD excepting).
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cliff Clavin
The homers (myself included) all speak highly of the MBTA, while at the same time acknowledging it's flaws. As we all know there are a few, to say the least. Well one particular CD member is seems adamant the MBTA is one of the worst PT systems in the country, which IMO is absurd.
Not sure if I can cross link the two threads, but if you want to read through its in the Boston forum titled 'Is Boston a Cosmopolitan City?'. Somehow it turned into a public transit debate.
For one that has ridden more modern transit like DC Metro or the BART in the SF Bay area, the MBTA leaves something to be desired. The network and coverage is very good. It's those old crowded commuter rail trains and $4.00 parking fees to park even and places as far out as Newburyport that gets annoying and expensive. Also I think commuter rail could be improved by having express trains from the far flung suburbs skipping some stops so the ride isn't so long. Or waiting out in the cold at a Red Line station out in Quincy because the train is delayed which seemed to happen frequently.
For one that has ridden more modern transit like DC Metro or the BART in the SF Bay area, the MBTA leaves something to be desired. The network and coverage is very good. It's those old crowded commuter rail trains and $4.00 parking fees to park even and places as far out as Newburyport that gets annoying and expensive. Also I think commuter rail could be improved by having express trains from the far flung suburbs skipping some stops so the ride isn't so long. Or waiting out in the cold at a Red Line station out in Quincy because the train is delayed which seemed to happen frequently.
BART is better than the commuter rail in Boston but MBTA within the city and immediate surroundings absolutely destroys MUNI, which IMO is even worse than LA's system.
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