My daughter spent part of the school year attending Paul Vallery in Montpellier, France. While she was there I visited, and because Minneapolis was about to get our own light rail, I took more than moderate interest in the Montpellier light rail system.
I was delighted to discover that the very efficient system I enjoyed over there has pretty well been replicated in Minneapolis, whether by happenstance or design, I don't know. Check out http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/montpellier/ Also read http://worldfacts.us/France-Montpellier.htm the last paragraph about becoming a New Metropolis. By the way, they have had and are having just as much multicultural growth as we are--their immigrants are largely from Algeria and other north African countries. If you think it's difficult to make a system efficient in a modern city like Minneapolis, think what the designers of the Montpellier light rail had to face. Start with the idea that Montpellier is "only" about 1000 years old. IF it had been a Roman designed city and 2000 years old, the streets would be laid out in as much of a grid system as possible, just like Minneapolis is. Nope: Montepellier is newer, medieval and laid out in cow paths--up hill, down hill, cul-de-sacs and circles, they are all there. Few square blocks, however. The main part of the city is closed to all but maintenance traffic and to the light rail. Bus systems are set up to get people to their destination, train or not, but definitely busses travel to promote and support the light rail. I'm sure the Montpellier planners had no easy time of it, but after nearly a decade, the system is clean, efficient, quiet. I'm equally sure the people of Montpellier are about as easy to herd as cats or Minneapolitans, but given time and a system that met their needs, they have embraced the light rail. I'm also sure that if people, starting with the people on this list, bend their imaginations to figure out how to make this thing work instead of just sitting back and carping, in a decade, the Minneapolis light rail system will equal or surpass what I found in Montellier. So: how about proposing some solutions then, huh? We own the system. It's now up to us to make it work. Emilie (Pollyanna) Quast SE Como REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
