normalthings wrote: ↑Fri Dec 23, 2022 4:02 pm
Anthony_Hugo98 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 23, 2022 3:56 pm
normalthings wrote: ↑Fri Dec 23, 2022 3:41 pm
I would say the streetcar is a counter argument.
Great for what it is but certainly not designed for a boom.
We’ve studied 5 extension corridors already, and infill projects are mostly focused along its axis, I’m not saying it’s the MTAs Subway or the Tube, but we’re better planned and built currently than the likes of Austin or Nashville at this point in time than they were at the same point before their growth.
It really isn't built to be more than what it is today.
Austin started building rail when it was smaller than KC and Nashville came very close to as well.
It would be nice if we stopped studying and started fundraising. There are numerous communities in the US who have studied lines. The cities you mentioned have numerous lines studied/planned. Lets just get a plan together and put it in front of the people already, and not just a little extension here or there.
That's kind of my point. KCMO (or even Metro KC) should have some pretty amazing and well thought out ideas to improve the region that have been studied and designed up to a certain point that can be easily dusted off and thrown into more of an implementation phase. KC is a long long way out from even extending the streetcar again let alone having something more comprehensive ready to go.
It seems like the city can do it if it wants to. Look at how quickly the city got a new airport terminal once it decided that it needed one. Look how quickly the 670 deck is coming together. Even the P&L district was a pretty major accomplishment once the city decided it wanted to do it. Few cities in the country have done anything on that scale.
While KC does drag its feet, it has recently proven that it can do big projects in a short time period once it decides it wants to. I just think it's a bit too late to really get much more out of the world cup than what's already in the pipeline. The WC could have been a great way to get local voter and political support for such projects that otherwise are very difficult to make happen. I'm talking about the kinds of studies that places like Austin and Denver and Nashville and Charlotte and Minneapolis etc did years before they started building. But there is nothing even remotely ready. Not even concepts really.
There have not really even been a lot of real studies outside streetcar stuff KC has to look at more than just the streetcar especially since the streetcar has become the focus of all transit in KC while the bus system there is barely functioning. I was just hoping an event like this would push KC over the edge and it sounds like, the city will just bring in 1200 buses and not get much permanent out of the deal which is kind of a bummer. A "major" project to improve KC's infrastructure (transit, roads, highways, recreation etc) should have been in the works. I mean even the 670 deck seems like it's being done in a vacuum when it should be part of a connected system of redoing Penn Valley Park, BAP, Old Broadway Bridge, Berkely Riverfront, the Kaw River etc. All this stuff needs to somehow be interconnected and part of a big master plan. Same with transit.
So that's why I said, at the very least the city has to get spruced up. You want to leave a good impression and much of the city and metro outside of parts of downtown etc is just not great. Especially pretty much anything between downtown and the stadium and the area around the stadium.
Edit. Oops, this should probably go in the world cup thread...
