Sorry for the void in posting, but I took a couple of weeks off - one of which was spent visiting some old friends who now live in the Phoenix area. I had never been to Phoenix before, so it was a great combination of seeing old friends, and visiting somewhere new. I was also interested to check out Phoenix's new light rail line.
According to at least one report, the light rail line is exceeding ridership projections. While it was originally built primarily for commuter traffic, it has also provided transport to sporting events, art gallery openings and Arizona State University. On our day downtown, we saw many riders coming in for the local farmer's market (which is right on the rail line) and several new restaurants and bars that had opened up along the line.
The light rail line has also sparked a new website - -lightrailbeer.com -- that encourages people to find bars near the Phoenix rail and get home safely. Genious.
Many in Kansas City insist that light rail can't work here because we don't have the urban density, or that Kansas Citians are too reliant on the automobile to use mass transit.
It would be arguably very difficult to find a city more reliant on the automobile than Phoenix -- a city that has basically gone from a small town to a large since the 1950s, when cities were designed around the automobile and not public transit. Interestingly, Phoenix's population was only 106,000 in 1950 -- but soared to 440,000 in 1960 and on up to 1.5 million now. Because of all of that, Phoenix has a very small downtown, with little going on. Kansas City, even though it is a significantly larger city, has a LOT more going on downtown than Phoenix. However, that is beginning to change as even the light rail line is starting to spur growth along the line. Kind of cool. Maybe you don't need density to build light rail -- but the light rail builds density.
Meanwhile, I think it is also important to note that light rail -- while costing much more to get up and going -- is significantly less costly for cities to operate after it is established -- making it less succeptable to budget shortages that are threatening to cripple our current bus-based system.
Our city has a lot of issues. Like most cities during the 70s, 80s and 90s, the city's affluent fled from our urban core (not just white flight, it was black flight as well -- anyone with the means to move out did so). Due to this, a large number of our city's jobs exist outside of the urban core. Unfortunately, without a solid (and sustainable) public transit system in place, these jobs will continue to be unreachable for the folks who live in the urban core. A good public transit system will help us to overcome this discrepency.
We can continue to work/hope. This is basically what I imagine for KC.
Posted by: Anon | March 18, 2009 at 10:30 AM
This is one of the most accurate perspectives I've heard from an out-of-town visitor about our new light rail line and its relationship to the communities around it. Thanks for an intelligent post. I recently visited KC for the first time and was impressed with everything going on there. Light rail would make the city even better, just as it has done here.
Posted by: David SB | April 01, 2009 at 07:19 AM
Thanks David. I'm really intrigued when visiting other places of what they are doing to stimulate growth in their downtowns. Most cities are seeing the need to build (or rebuild) density in their central business district because the sprawl has become economically unmanageable. However, Phoenix is pretty unique in that it was a city almost entirely built around the automobile. We were visiting some friends out there who were able to point out some of the changes that have happened already along the line -- and it's pretty impressive how many new restaurants and bars have gone in recently...and I think it's fun that there are websites (like yours) dedicated to entertainment options along the route.
If light rail can succeed in a place like Phoenix, which is so completely auto-centric, I think it can succeed anywhere...
Posted by: Brent | April 01, 2009 at 11:57 AM
You have to be very careful about making turns. There have been several car/light rail accidents already. They made it against the law to make certain turns too.
Posted by: arizona bankruptcy attorney | April 01, 2009 at 11:36 PM
I live in Phoenix. Once gas prices begin climbing again ridership will increase more. They need this thing to be valleywide though. It still misses lots of outlying cities.
Posted by: low cost insurance | April 14, 2009 at 07:23 PM
The Phoenix area voted down light rail 15 years ago or so. It would have made alot of sense to do it then before all this growth happened. They would have planned for it better that way.
Posted by: arizona homeowners insurance | April 14, 2009 at 07:24 PM
I'm chuckling at these responses. While the responses are valid in and of themselves, it does appear as if the attorney and insurance businesses are slow for you all to be commenting on a blog based out of Kansas City. At least the backruptcy attorney should be busy....
Posted by: Brent | April 15, 2009 at 05:09 PM
Brent, you are correct in your observation about Phoenix. It's such a spread out area. Modes of transportation such as light rail are just ingrained into the habits of people in Phoenix. Maybe eventually....
Posted by: arizona fibromyalgia doctor | April 15, 2009 at 05:23 PM
One evening after attending a Suns game I took an improper turn (did not realize it as I rarely go downtown) and a cop stopped me quickly. They really watch traffic around these rail lines.
Posted by: arizona glass | April 04, 2010 at 07:38 PM
I sure hope ridership continues. The rail is not a cheap method of transportation and the state needs to ensure (somehow) it remains a viable way to transport people.
Posted by: arizona auto glass | September 12, 2010 at 10:33 AM
Hopefully we will have enough riders to justify the cost.
Posted by: Offer in Compromise Tips | October 31, 2010 at 11:02 AM
I like the idea of one between Phoenix and Tucson
Posted by: Tucson HVAC | March 29, 2011 at 12:55 PM