Noticed your thread. Thought I'd share a couple of thoughts regarding Phoenix's development.
Phoenix tried 3 times to get some sort of light rail plan approved by voters. The first (1989) was the most ambitious, and was defeated 2-1 at the polls. The second was scaled back, and was defeated by a narrower margin. The third time (in 2000) was the charm. Voters approved an even smaller starter line (it is still pretty large for a starter segment), 20 miles in length, with 27 stations, and spanning 3 cities, at a cost $1.4 billion.
In 2004, before construction on the starter line had even begun, Maricopa county voters approved a half-cent sales tax to fund an overall transit package worth $16 billion, about $4.5 billion of that going to the extension the light rail for an additional 57 miles. Opponents pulled out all of the usual arguments, but to no avail, it won 57-43 percent.
Now we have cities fighting to join the regional board, and are jockeying for position for a new route. The map below shows the 20-mile starter segment. New routes are in the planning stage, and won't be decided upon for another year.
My impression is that S.A.'s initial plan was too ambitious, much like Phoenix's. If you were to have a proposition that tied a smaller light-rail segment with bus expansion and freeway money (and presented to the voters the right way) it could probably pass.
