Quote:
Originally Posted by suburb
It is relatively easy for the Forest Lawn folks to get into the core. An additional point, however, would be the numbers in the different areas that actually need to get to the core, relative to lets say Foothills industrial. Sit on a 301 in rush hour and see the cars at North Pointe and you'll see the need pretty quick! As an aside however, I do want to reiterate that the main annoyance was the suggestion to go to Chestermere before North Pointe!  |
I think some people might be overstating the case of downtown=middle class office jobs=residents of the west side and Forest Lawn=working class industrial jobs=Foothills Industrial. There are an awful lot of service jobs in the core, be it cleaning, food service, or retail. Those workers are far less likely to drive into the core or in general.
I would also imagine that counter flow commuting will become a much bigger deal as more lines open up. The more lines that open the more job centres there are that become a single train-train transfer for more people. If we built an East LRT with transfer stations between the SELRT at Crossroads and the SLRT at Erlton there would be a lot of mobility opportunities for the more marginalized residents of this city. Hell, redeveloped dense apartments on 17 Ave would be a simple walk-train-train-walk trip to employment areas as diverse as downtown, Chinook Centre Mall/west Manchester, the Southland office park, South Centre Mall, Highfield industrial, the Quarry Park office park, and the new SE Hospital/associated office parks. That kind of mobility could really help Forest Lawn turn into a more desirable mixed income neighbourhood whereas today its best hope involves maintaining the current predicament while its worst involves a slide down as gentrification in inner city areas west of Deerfoot push crime into the area.
I would agree that a transit wish list, with money as no object, would go something like this:
1) 2 St and 8 Ave subways downtown. The former is required for either the SE or the N LRT and we might as well do it all at once since they will be crossing over each other.
2) N LRT as Centre Street Subway. It has the biggest population of any unserved area and the best opportunity for redevelopment.
3) SE LRT as part of the N LRT's line. It has the second biggest population and is relatively close to major job centres both existing, Foothills Industrial, and planned, SE Hospital.
4) East LRT along International Avenue. It has a relatively large population, is relatively distant from other lines and has probably the second best opportunity for redevelopment.
5) a toss up between other lines such as: a 16 Ave N Crosstown (serving the inner city north, Bowness/Montgomery, and various connections), a 14 St W Crosstown (serving the inner city west, Rockyview Hospital, SAIT, and relieving other lines), something to serve Marda Loop and Mount Royal University, a 96 Ave link between the N LRT and NE LRT serving the Airport, an inner circle line (connecting various job centres and promoting connections between existing lines), and various spurs.
The problem with number 2, the Centre Street Subway, is how expensive it is. I think that easily moves it down past at least the SE LRT. It is probably still above number 4, unless the cost is really obscene, and definitely above an extension of that line to Chestermere. I don't think anyone was suggesting otherwise. The thing is the Northern Hills communities, taken alone, would be pretty low on the list. It is only the large population and excellent development opportunities along Centre Street that move it so high. Also everything under number 5 is a long ways off and may be served better by BRT instead of anything rail based; if that is the case they might move up because a BRT can be done for quite cheap if existing lane capacity can be utilized.
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