Will MAX ever get to Inner Southeast, Hawthorne, Belmont (Sunnyside), Alberta, etc? (Portland: neighborhoods, to live in)
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I feel like MAX misses so many of Portland's cool neighborhoods - it's more of a commuter rail that goes downtown. Even in neighborhoods like Mississippi District and Hollywood District, two of the few destination neighborhoods where there are stations, they don't feel like an integral part of the neighborhood and aren't right off the main strip.
Why doesn't Tri-Met consruct more stations that blend into the urban environment? (Even Seattle is buildings its light rail this way, with stations right in the middle of the main commercial areas of Capitol Hill, the U District, and Roosevelt currently being constructed).
More importantly, why doesn't MAX actually connect intra-city destinations? This would especially make sense in the Southeast District where there is no rail but tons of nodes of activity that would be great if they were actually connected to MAX. Or vibrant strips like Alberta and Fremont, etc.
People always talk about Portland's great transportation system but it really is more of a commuter rail outside of downtown, which is a shame, as there are tons of great neighborhoods that are fairly stranded transit wise.
I'm just glad Seattle seems to be learning from Portland's transit mistakes. MAX is great until you get downtown. Then it's like... why bother? You would be better off walking from the Rose Quarter to the Zoo--you'd probably walk it faster than the MAX would get you there. Seattle's Link is going mostly underground through downtown and Capitol Hill so that's great. A lot faster that way...
Really, I think a streetcar would better serve the Inner Eastside than light rail. A streetcar circulator for Belmont/Hawthorne that connects to the streetcar at MLK/Grand I think might be good... I know there are plans way off in the future for some kind of rail transit down Powell. Light rail might be a good fit there.
And I don't see what all the fuss is about TriMet... It's not that great. It's decent. It's just frustrating when "Frequent Service" comes every 30 minutes during the day and, once again, you're better off walking...
Portlands transportation system is impressive for a city it's size. But compared to likes of San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, and soon to be Seattle, it's not all that great. I agree that Seattle has learned from TriMets mistakes and is doing their light rail line the right way. The tunnel downtown is genius. And I also love that there aren't stops every block. I feel that big MAX trains would feel a bit out of place on Hawthorne and Belmont and I agree that both neighborhoods would be better served by streetcar or something like Muni in SF. I still can't figure out why they brought streetcar to the inner eastside industrial area before these vibrant neighborhoods.
Most likely we'll see Street cars again. And if they were smart, they'd just rip up the pavement, repair the old tracks that are there from the 1800's and just reuse them.
I know that's not physically realistic due to the weight differences alone, but Portland used to have a fantastic street car system that was pretty much gone by the 1930's.
Why would you need light rail for a lot of those inner neighborhoods. They're so close to down town, and many are pretty close to each other. It's pretty easy to walk or bike a mile or two in Portland and easily hop from neighborhood to neighborhood.
I think you also have to think about spacial restrictions. MAX takes a fair bit of space, which is why it has been added predominantly right next to highways where there has been extra room. I don't know where you would add MAX track down Hawthorne? Maybe in the middle (Making it like Commonwealth Ave in Boston). It's an interesting idea, but the smaller size and population in Portland are probably not enough to support such a big, expensive expansion. The SE is getting the new MAX line through Sellwood, Brooklyn and Division. That's something.
Urbanlover, wondering why you left NYC's transit system off your list, and also Boston's?
NYC's (while filthy) is arguably the most impressive in the country.
NYC is a whole other beast. I guess I felt it would be silly to compare NYC to PDX. But then again, so is it to compare it to Chicago and SF. Boston's subway is excellent.
I know that's not physically realistic due to the weight differences alone, but Portland used to have a fantastic street car system that was pretty much gone by the 1930's.
Mid-late 40s, I rode them. The "how the system was lost" is a study of General Motors take over of urban transit.
Seattle tunnel is another tale of wasted $$. The tunnel itself is great and they were supposed to lay track and electrical to accommodate light rail. But it ran over budget so they cut the electrical (which couldn't be seen) and laid a track. Bottom line, the track without the necessary electrical system was useless, it had to be torn up and track with electrical installed.
Seattle's light rail is a work in progress, a work that is 20 years overdue.
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