Photo credit:
smaedli, flickr
Charlotte, North Carolina. Once a downtown left deserted after the daily 5 pm mass office worker exodus, now it's a vibrant, walkable city. Real estate prices have risen and held steady compared to other markets. Poster child for how mass transit can change a city into a model of sustainability. A wonderful model for urban turnaround, but hopefully not the last of its kind.
Charlotte's new Lynx system is an example of how mass transit stimulus money should be spent. If trains are linked to residential areas with high quality pedestrian access, ridership becomes more appealing. Lynx users are nearly twice the number expected, simply because the system was well-designed. In addition, residential development is riding high in support. In Vancouver, Canada, huge areas of the city are changing to reflect new accessibility around the stations of the city's new Sky Train; these areas are seeing new development in housing and retail, making each Sky Train station a new mini-community, completely sustainable and a huge benefit to all who live in the area. Not only is there increased fast access to other parts of the city, but development means jobs, not only in construction but also in the continuing service sector. And new housing means people can live where they work. Win-win.
It could be the same in the U.S., if cities were not penalized for applying for funding for mass transit. Mass transit in cities across the country is already suffering cutbacks, with job cuts, service reductions, and fare hikes. Yet mass transit has been shown to contribute to a city's sustainability.
Our future depends on our dependence upon one another, and viable mass transit is one way of accomplishing that. You can help support use of stimulus funds for mass transit in your city by contacting your Congressional representative.
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There could be no better investment in America than to invest in America becoming energy independent! We need to utilize everything in out power to reduce our dependence on foreign oil including using our own natural resources. Create cheap clean energy, new badly needed green jobs, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. The high cost of fuel this past year seriously damaged our economy and society. The cost of fuel effects every facet of consumer goods from production to shipping costs. After a brief reprieve gas is inching back up. OPEC will continue to cut production until they achieve their desired 80-100. per barrel. If all gasoline cars, trucks, and SUV's instead had plug-in electric drive trains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota. There is a really good new book out by Jeff Wilson called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence Now. http://www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com
walkable, mass transit-able cities rule ...
I live in Southern California where a walkable, mass-transit-able existence is next to impossible. It would be awesome to have it otherwise....