Quote:
Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse
But... why does that area need a light rail route? 5k riders per day isn't even particularly busy for a bus route let alone enough to warrant an LRT. My local bus route gets 50% more than that in a metro area of less than 1/5 the size and it only runs every 20 minutes off peak.  |
Exactly. It doesnt need this, and I'd argue it doesnt need anything.
The area needed investment 50 years ago, but it didnt get it. And I need to be as blunt as possible here: it. is. too. late. now. North St. Louis is gone.
The remaining population there are almost entirely baby boomer and silent generation holdouts. The (legal, official) population will drop fully to zero in 20 years. i guarantee it. But saying "anything is possible" gets people elected, so civic leaders and aldermen will always say that. But its a lie. Cities are living things. living things can die. watering dead plants doesnt make them green again.
This project, like the delmar trolley, is part of a death spiral of wasting money on things that healthy cities have, without doing anything to make the city healthy. Kind of like noticing that racecars all have advertisements on them, and concluding that you can make your car go faster by painting advertisements on it.