Quote:
Originally Posted by Cirrus
This does put our differences into focus. I'm not concerned about Denver getting its "fair share." I'm am concerned about having a transit system that supports the most people who would use it, and enables the most possible people to start using it. Because transit is a means to having good urbanism, not an end in and of itself. I really don't care about political boundaries at all, except to the extent that I recognize the practical necessities of planning a system that gets the votes it needs to be approved.
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Fair points; cleanly stated. I have no problem respecting your thinking and can lean-in to a degree.
For example I have suggested that both the G Line and N Line's initial (Phase One) build-out should have been shorter stopping at Olde Town Arvada for the G Line and stopping at 104th ave for the N Line. I've also stated the R Line should never have been built - except for extending the H Line two stations.
It's get tricky though. IMO Denver didn't really have any ideal light rail routes except for the A Line to DIA. In theory the SE Corridor - not a part of FasTracks but built as a part of T-REX - connecting downtown with Denver Tech Center including a stop for Denver University seems to fit ideal but primarily First and Last Mile issues have diminished the return.
Modifying the above, I have endlessly promoted both the Urban Signature Line plus a Colorado Blvd Line. With these examples I blame the City of Denver. They should have stepped up and said: "Heh, we'll pay 50% of the cost to partner with you (RTD) on these two lines." The U/S line would also have included pieces of unincorporated Arapahoe County and Aurora.
One Big Picture issue is the City of Denver hardly had any more density than many parts of the suburbs - though that varies - until the explosion of growth downtown starting about the same time as the Great Recession.
Just released by the Downtown Denver Partnership employment downtown has grown a healthy 4.7% to 145,000 people. Still this is less than 10% of the total metro employment even if downtown does have the best employment density. How does this impact what a good light rail (or bus) system should look like?