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Urban transit and the monorail

in General Real Estate Politics Transportation on

This discussion over at Slashdot sheds some light on why the monorail project in Seattle appears to be coming to a crashing halt.Is mass transit economically feasible?…  As a result, these cities tended to emphasize a “build up, not out” approach to development resulting in more compact cities realtive to their size.Then came the concept of Suburbia….country living for everyone….  It also means that unless it’s a fairly comprehensive network (even more expensive) it’s ridership will be relatively low.We’re not ready yet to address mass-transit or the requisite land-use policies and issues that are involved.  Urban sprawl and all that it entails ensures that urban transit will be expensive, whether using fossil fuels or mass transit.This and this are two of the more interesting parts of the discussion.

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Mass transit increases property values?

in General Real Estate Thoughts, etc. on

Found this blog today with a very interesting story about the above subject -Proximity to transit can affect property values in three somewhat different ways, one negative and two positive.First, being located very close to a transit station or along a transit line tends to have negative effects, due to noise and air pollution from trains, and increased automobile traffic from users. These nuisance may reduce residential property values very close to a transit station or rail line.Second, it gives one location a relative advantage over other locations …Third, transit can also increase overall productivity by reducing total transportation costs …I wonder if the data would hold true for the Central VA region … thoughts, anybody?

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USATODAY.com – High gas prices fuel public transit use

in General Real Estate on

USATODAY.com – High gas prices fuel public transit use: High gasoline prices are turning some drivers into riders, say public transit authorities in several states. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority head Joe Calabrese says high gasoline prices are turning drivers into riders. It’s a trend that Joe Calabrese, general manager of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, expects to continue as long as a gallon of gas remains about $2. My question is – how much higher is gas going to have to go until we as a region seriously consider some form of efficient mass transit?

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