The future of our urban core depends on the streetcar. From renown urbanist Terry Grundy: Could you explain why the streetcar project and pedestrian-friendly development are important to OTR’s future as a dense, walkable neighborhood of choice? There’s a great deal of political posturing and silly talk about the streetcar project. However, there are two facts that Urbanists focus on when they think about the project: As we said, CBD and Uptown are the city’s two most successful areas from an economic point of view. Therefore, the neighborhoods that lie between them are the most strategically important neighborhoods in the city from the standpoint of connecting the economic and demographic energies of those two centers. It just so happens that the original streetcar plan set out to connect those two centers by passing through and serving the intervening neighborhoods of O-T-R, Mt. Auburn, etc. In its original form, it was a strong Urbanist move and nearly all people who subscribe to Urbanist principles supported the project and do so to this day. Some projects take on high symbolic value to various demographic groups and the fact is that Urbanist-oriented YPs, Bohemian Cluster folks and empty nesters interested in living in the CBD, O-T-R or Uptown see the project as a litmus test of the community’s commitment to Urbanism and the resurgence of the historic core of the city. Not completing the project will be seen by them as showing that the political establishment isn’t really committed to core city renewal and will make them wonder whether they should stay or move to other cities with better Urbanist bona fides. They have choice and exercise it based on their understanding of what makes a city vital — and Urbanist transit strategies are very important to them.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:27:48 +0000
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