If there was a lightrail to St. Cloud or if one gets built...

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by Radical_Car

Woops!

I meant the run that runs to Big Lake, lol.

If it ever does happen ill probably be graduated and moved out in college in the twin cities or something.

The way transit projects seem to move in Minnesota, you could have kids in college.

I was looking at some papers from the '70s; they were talking about light rail in Uptown even back then. And I remember when I was in college in the late '90s and early '00s I received mailings about meetings about Northstar. Things move along very glacially around here, although maybe now that the line has made it this far there will be more support to get things moving faster than in years past.

[northstar22]

Wouldn't the Northstar encourage St. Cloud residents to commute to Minneapolis for jobs, thereby making STC a more of a bedroom community (even more than it already is?) I know it's technically part of the Metro, but it still has its own identity. Wouldn't this promote more sprawl?

[uptown_urbanist]

Originally Posted by flyingwriter

Wouldn't the Northstar encourage St. Cloud residents to commute to Minneapolis for jobs, thereby making STC a more of a bedroom community (even more than it already is?) I know it's technically part of the Metro, but it still has its own identity. Wouldn't this promote more sprawl?

It very well could; that's one of the arguments made by David Owen in the book Green Metropolis. He suggests that so many commuter-oriented lines (train, light rail, whatever) actively encourage sprawl by making very long commutes easier.

I've lived in cities on commuter rail lines (Wilmington, DE, for one; it's on the end of the line to a train to Philadelphia) and the city itself did have a very distinct identity. I don't think St. Cloud would be in danger of losing its own sense of identity (and could potentially even benefit; I'd certainly consider visiting St. Cloud more if commuter rail ran there, assuming they ran a couple of reverse commute runs), but I do think that the area on the line in-between could easily fill in with non-descript sprawl. It's certainly something that the towns up that direction should consider (and probably already are).

[ColdRedRain]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

It very well could; that's one of the arguments made by David Owen in the book Green Metropolis. He suggests that so many commuter-oriented lines (train, light rail, whatever) actively encourage sprawl by making very long commutes easier.

I've lived in cities on commuter rail lines (Wilmington, DE, for one; it's on the end of the line to a train to Philadelphia) and the city itself did have a very distinct identity. I don't think St. Cloud would be in danger of losing its own sense of identity (and could potentially even benefit; I'd certainly consider visiting St. Cloud more if commuter rail ran there, assuming they ran a couple of reverse commute runs), but I do think that the area on the line in-between could easily fill in with non-descript sprawl. It's certainly something that the towns up that direction should consider (and probably already are).

Don't you own a car?

[Kid Cann]

Originally Posted by flyingwriter

Wouldn't the Northstar encourage St. Cloud residents to commute to Minneapolis for jobs, thereby making STC a more of a bedroom community (even more than it already is?) I know it's technically part of the Metro, but it still has its own identity. Wouldn't this promote more sprawl?

Good point, and this is exactly what opponents of LTR use as an argument. I can tell you that I am not really for LTR, unless there is significant evidence of heavy ridership, otherwise, it's just a giant pipe-dream.

I also think it works the other way too though. For many people, who even own a car and are comfortable driving, the trek from STC to MPLS and back can be unattractive. "I don't really know the roads in MPLS, and parking is a hassel" So, let's take the train into town, where we can catch a Twins game/Vikes game/opera/theater production/concert/convention/museum in Minneapolis, without having to hurt the environment, give our money to foreign OPEC nations, worrying about parking and navigating in an unfamiliar city"