I want to back up a moment and ask a very serious question about transit in general, one Charlie Swope asked earlier:
What is it for?
With all seriousness, I think many of us have a solution in search of a problem. Let me give you some ideas of what the actual concern is:
The purpose of rail transit is: 1) To get people to work. 2) To get people to retail locations. 3) To get people to cultural attractions.
Pick one, and only one.
Why do I say "only one"? Because one of those is going to have to be paramount over the others when we make the decision as to where the rail line should go first.
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The one thing I really hate in the University Ave discussion is the number of times the official line comes out as "It'll stop often! It'll be fast! It won't take parking spaces! It'll be clean! It whitens teeth!" and so on. It cannot do all of those things for all people, even at the high price tag it's got.
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And the choice between jobs and retail is a rather stark one, because the highest concentration of jobs in Saint Paul is NOT Downtown, but is rather along the industrial corridor roughly defined by the BN trackage and 1 mile to either side.
If you mean this thing to serve people going to and from work, speed and proximity to jobs will be important. That's the BN corridor. If you intend this to get people to retail outlets along University, you put it down the Avenue.
You have to choose one or the other, and accept that as the paramount use of rail. The other use will not be served as well, by definition.
So what is this thang for? Why do we want to build it in the first place?
Erik Hare [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.comcast.net/~wabbitoid/ Irvine Park, West End, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, North America, Earth
Fine Amish furniture, cedar chests, and crafts http://www.harmonycedar.com
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