Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Do you ever watch the Videos posted here, K.
What ever became of your thirst for knowledge?
Rarely. I am certainly not going to waste 58 minutes of my life on some lame "they're coming to get me" video. I have a longstanding policy of not watching these vids that people post, both here and on politics.
I also think Oswald acted alone; Armstrong did walk on the moon; Elvis is dead; 9-11 was not the result of the Bush administration/Israel; Bush did not blow up the dikes in New Orleans during Katrina; James Holmes committed the Aurora shootings, and the Newtown shootings were not a theater act to bring about gun control.
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 03-04-2013 at 08:23 AM..
Post #s 7, 8 and 9 of this thread are great. Here's post #9:
"imho, LRT would not work in Memphis. Most cities with a well run LRT system have higher density levels and a better over all managed public infrustructure.
St. Louis along with Denver, Portland and Minneapolis can do it because of high density levels within the corridors wher LRT runs. You also have to consider Tennesseans will not put up with tax increases to support it.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Look at the picture in the prior post of the midtown trolly line!!! The city looks dead as hell!!! No department stores downtown!!! Small daytime population!!!"
Disaster? It was no disaster.
. . .
A picture is worth a thousand words. Look at the picture in the prior post of the midtown trolly line!!! The city looks dead as hell!!! No department stores downtown!!! Small daytime population!!!"
Okay, I'll bite... WHY do you suppose there is little density, and no stores downtown?
(I think we know already why the streetcars are little used: few people living downtown, and no place to go.)
Okay, I'll bite... WHY do you suppose there is little density, and no stores downtown?
(I think we know already why the streetcars are little used: few people living downtown, and no place to go.)
You're right about a few things: streetcars are seldom used in America, few people live downtown and there's usually not much to do there.
However, you seem to be assuming that all these things are related or that Americans would want to live and shop downtown. None of those things are true.
You're right about a few things: streetcars are seldom used in America, few people live downtown and there's usually not much to do there.
However, you seem to be assuming that all these things are related or that Americans would want to live and shop downtown. None of those things are true.
So when did that happen (density went down, as people moved out) ?
BTW, is it possible that you are unaware of the Huge Trend of people, especially young people, wanting to live in Walkable Neighborhoods ?
It happened when the average American could afford a car. People no longer had to live in cities. Owning a car gave them more options. People weren't forced out of cities. They left there willingly! Cars weren't evil, they were a relatively cheap mode of transportation that America embraced. They were certainly much more flexible than any kind of mass transit.
And I have nothing against walkable neighborhoods. If that's what people want, then that's what they'll get.
It's just that most people don't want walkable neighborhoods because cars make things more convenient for most of the country.
Have any of you streetcar enthusiasts ever actually commuted riding a trolley, or did you just happen to take one on a vacation and think it was a neat idea?
Boston's Green Line, essentially a glorified streetcar, is awful. It is prone to breakdowns, abysmally slow (during the Boston marathon, it moves at about half the speed of the runners), and universally reviled. It is far inferior to the Red, Orange, and Blue Line subways, and even the crummy Silver Line Busway. Having ridden streetcars in San Francisco, San Diego, Hong Kong, and Bern, I can safely say that I far prefer subway, bicycle, walking, and possibly even the dreaded automobile, to riding these outdated anachronisms.
Given the comments about cell phones on trains, I'm guessing most of the people opining here have not ridden public transit since the early '90's.
Even NYC and Boston's noisy, filthy, ancient subways are now insulated enough to hold cell phone conversations (but please try to speak quietly so you don't annoy everyone else on the train). Likewise, cell service has been installed on almost all tunnels in developed nations, of course.
Newer subways, like Taipei's MRT, are extremely quiet and tidy.
Because of the expense of excavating subways, I am a proponent of elevated rail. However, like any reasonable mass-transit commuter, I revile the streetcar for the waste of space and time that it is.
I'm not sure, but right now in San Antonio, TX, the public bus company here is trying to spend something like $92 million on a street car system downtown. I hope it doesn't happen. Going to look into how I (and others) can stop it. We could use $92 million to do a whole lot of good downtown. We already have a "street car" system (basicly buses that look like street cars) downtown. They are cute. No on seems to ride them very often. Downtown here is pretty lame. Most of the buildings are empty. All of these apartments are being built around downtown, but they don't even have as much as a grocery store downtown. It's a huge waste of money. They seem to think if they build this downtown that somethings going to change. It's a mess.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
