Instead of spending billions of dollars (which we don't have anyway) on roads or on big, white elephant projects like Bechtel's Metro to Dulles boondoggle,
how about this?
A coalition aimed at building a streetcar network across Northern Virginia held its first meeting Nov. 18.
The group, the Northern Virginia Streetcar Coalition, is made up of present and former officials, developers and others. Its members say they hope that traveling across the region will become easier and transportation will be more accessible in the coming years.
[...]
The coalition wants to have streetcar service in Alexandria and Arlington and Fairfax counties and have the systems connected throughout the jurisdictions. Supporters say streetcars would enhance the region's economic competitiveness.
As Arlington County Board member Chris Zimmerman said, "This isn't just about transportation...This is about development-oriented transit." I couldn't agree more. According to
the Center for Transit Oriented Development:
The spectacular success of the Portland streetcar has revolutionized the way cities think about transit and development by stimulating $3.5 billion in investment in two new neighborhoods near Portland’s downtown. The brand new Seattle streetcar is having similar success in South Lake Union -- where property owners put up half the cost of streetcar construction. San Francisco’s F-Line streetcar has played an important role in the rebirth of the Embarcadero as a walkable, transit-oriented neighborhood since the freeway was taken down. And streetcars have promoted economic development and investment in walkable, higher-density, mixed-use neighborhoods in communities as diverse as Kenosha, Wisconsin, Tampa, and Little Rock.
Streetcars are a boon for pedestrians and streetlife, link disparate places into “someplace,” connect to regional transit systems and promote ridership, and create sustainable communities where it's possible to live without a car. Streetcars are cheaper than other rail transit (affordable even for small cities), fit easily into built environments, they’re energy efficient, and they are strong and proven economic development engines for revitalizing neighborhoods.
That's an awful lot of benefits from a humble streetcar, which of course raises the question as to why we don't have these systmems all over America. The answer to that question is long and involved, but basically it boils down to the triumph of cheap gas, the automobile, roads and "sprawl" over much more environmentally friendly, sustainable modes of development and transportation - modes like the streetcar.
