Isn't it about time for OC to build some light rail lines??? (trains, car)

[wrcousert]

The Portland streetcar goes right through residential neighborhoods and people there LOVE it. Noise isn't a problem.

[DinsdalePirahna]

you have to admit the portland is a bit different than OC.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

On the other hand we are considering buying a townhouse in HB. Beautiful home, but the adjacent greenway is zoned for a future light rail line. Although I don'r see it happening in my lifetime, it does bring out your inner "nimby" (noise alone is my concern)

Where's that? The only strip I can think of like that is near Newland St. under the Edison towers.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

Where's that? The only strip I can think of like that is near Newland St. under the Edison towers.

Off Main Street. Roughly paralleling Gothard. There are some nice townhouses on the corner of Main and Promenade for sale. Its zoned as a transportation Corridor to LaHabra. According to OCTA, there are really no active plans for development, but this may still effect the resale value. On the other hand it would probably not get far without a fight from locals.

[EscapeCalifornia]

OK. I know there's a rail line just east of Gothard. It looks like it ends right at Ellis but a strip of undeveloped land continues south almost to the beach with a few breaks. I'm guessing the tracks were pulled up at some point after the houses were built. They wouldn't have a prayer of trying to reactivate any of that especially since they'd need to plow through the Pacific Ranch development to even get to Yorktown.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

OK. I know there's a rail line just east of Gothard. It looks like it ends right at Ellis but a strip of undeveloped land continues south almost to the beach with a few breaks. I'm guessing the tracks were pulled up at some point after the houses were built. They wouldn't have a prayer of trying to reactivate any of that especially since they'd need to plow through the Pacific Ranch development to even get to Yorktown.

That's the one. Our realtor disclosed that it is still zoned as a right of way, owned by the railroad and could be developed at anytime. Don't see how it will get past the residents, although I am sure that all their deeds mention it

[Socalpal]

Originally Posted by robbybee

OC is too spread out to have an effective mass transit system and the land needed to construct the connectors is too expensive. Having a transit system that used the freeways would be great but the problem would be getting people from the stations to the jobsite and the stations to home in a timely fashion.

Orange County is the second densest county in California (behind San Francisco County). San Diego has done a real good job with the trolley/Coaster/Sprinter, this would be a great prototype to follow with regards to Orange County.

Orange County from an employment perspective has more corporate headquarters, more jobs, is smaller, and has more people than San Diego County.

Some may argue that Downtown San Diego is the major business hub for the San Diego area, but this is not true. There are more private companies located in other parts of San Diego County (i.e. Mission Valley, Kearny Mesa etc) than in dowtown SD. Downtown San Diego is basically the judicial/political hub of that county. San Diego has done a great job developing Light Rail and Commuter Rail to other portions of the county.

So how is it that Orange County, the world's 31st largest economy that generates over 130 Billion a year is unable to implement any sort of mass transit?

[wrcousert]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

you have to admit the portland is a bit different than OC.

It's considerably different in many ways. But if they can manage to route a streetcar through their neighborhoods without a lot of noise, why can't we do the same?

The benefits far outweigh the flaws and will greatly increase the value of your homes.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by wrcousert

It's considerably different in many ways. But if they can manage to route a streetcar through their neighborhoods without a lot of noise, why can't we do the same?

The benefits far outweigh the flaws and will greatly increase the value of your homes.

"A lot of noise" is subjective. People in Portland are already used to a noisier city environment and the hippie mentality will make them accept things like trains in their back yard and people loitering in front of their house in the name of "green". I don't see that happening in HB.

[wsugrad03]

We have the same issue in Seattle. We built a light rail link from SEA to DT Seattle, but the ridership is very low because nobody bothered to build park and ride garages at substation stops along the way, which was idiotic. Because ridership sucks, it's hard to convince the public to extend light rail to the north suburbs and across the lake to the east side suburbs. All of the conservatives are spitting mad about building the first link line to begin with.

By the time they get around to building light rail, I'll be driving an electric car that has a 300 mile per charge range. I can't imagine light rail ever working in OC. Everything is too sprawled out and disconnected. SoCal's best option may be to invest in solar powered electronic charging stations and infrastructure to accomodate more electric vehicles.