Quote:
Originally Posted by hamtransithistory
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Well spotted! A great little video to watch. It seemed the that conservative, Republican Mayor who put forward the transit agenda was very committed to the concept. I plucked out some pro-light rail comments that I thought were interesting.
...Thousands more people are riding the line every week than was expected...
...In the heart of the south, where people love their cars, McRory's light rail line is winning hearts and minds...
...Mass transit allows us to shape that growth, instead of continuing to sprawl out beyond our cities, Americans would have the option to live in a walkable, urban environment...
McRory: "Downtown Charlotte was basically an 8-5 office park. People came in at 8 and went inside and then got in their cars and went into the suburbs... Now it's area of incredible vitality, entertainment and work environment."
...Rolling right by the basketball arena, the football stadium and the children's museum...
...But, the most interesting area that's developing around the light rail is a ten minute ride from the centre of town. The south end is at the heart of Charlotte's hopes for urban renewal around transit after a history of blight and decay...
...In the early 1900's this area was home to Charlotte's industrial mills. But, in the years that followed, businesses abandoned the area and it became one of the worst neighbourhoods in Charlotte. Now, there are restaurants, apartment buildings and new construction everywhere...
Tracy Harris: "Now especially, when people ride it, and they are amazed at the diversity of people who are riding it and how clean it is and easy it is. They start to become believers really quick. I read in the paper all the time somebody saying 'I can read the paper on the way in.' That has value to people."
McRory: "Mass transit's not just about transportation. It's about economic development, creating jobs, and making money. And that's why a conservative like me supports it."
...But the light rail is not only lifting up high end real estate developers, it's also revitalising low income neighbourhoods...
Keith Parker: "We've had some relatively struggling communities be transformed by it."
...The Wilmore neighbourhood in the south end, one of the most distressed areas of the city, with high crime and not much in the way of desireable real estate as late as 2006. Now in 2009...
Keith Parker: "Property values went from about $92,000 to $195,000 in *this* economy. And just overall you've seen a neighbourhood absolutely transformed. These are not millionaires, and so on, these are blue collar, working class people."
...But Transit alone doesn't transform neighbourhoods, the key is the way you connect those neighbourhoods to the train stations, with well planned sidewalks, that create a walkable community...
McRory: "That's part of the total package of landuse design, it's not just the rail or the train, it's what you do off the rail and train. So the customer gets a fulfillment 'I can walk to place to get a sandwich, I can walk to go shopping, I can walk to go live. But many cities, you get off at 70s or 80s developments and there's no sidewalk, so they're not going to ride the train."
...When it is successful, transit can even foster social change. You'll see a diverse mix riding the rails and many credit the popularity of the light rail for connecting the inner city and the suburbs like never before. Ultimately the mass transit experiment in Charlotte is about redefining a city, while keeping it's character...
McRory: "What we want in Charlotte is big city opportunity, but we want to keep a small town environment and quality of life."
McRory: "You can wait until the pain arrives and implement change then, it will be an easy sell, but most likely you've waited too long and it'll be too expensive. Or you can anticipate the pain and change now and most likely the change will work and it'll be less expensive, but it's gonna be one hell of a sell."
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