Transit-Plan Prescription for Disappearing Detroit

According to the NY times Monday night's PBS special "Blueprint America:Beyond the Motor City" is much more than cataloging Detroit's woes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/ar...ription&st=cse

Is anyone planning on watching?
Do you think this will be a rehash of what many or us already know?

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/

I wonder what the correlation is [[if any) for say the 10 largest cities in 1950, and their relative economic health today.

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Originally Posted by iheartthed

I wonder what the correlation is [[if any) for say the 10 largest cities in 1950, and their relative economic health today.

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Interesting post. I'd like to postualte on it!

Biggest is not always better. For example both Pheonix and Dallas are larger than Detroit is today, but the transit systems are not worth heralding as light years better. With the opening of immigration southern and western cities boomed since 1950. This is partly due to be the areas closest to where many came to the United States from elsewhere, and partly due to opportunity. Cleveland had a good transit system in the 1950's and today is a shadow of itself. It suffers the same fate as Detroit, Buffalo, Gary, Rochester and most other cities of the rust belt. The only Cities that have seemed to escape this trend have been Pittburgh and Chicago, with Chicago having a much better transit system and Pittburgh having only an adequete one that is shaped by its geography [[mostly based on buses and some inclines that get folks down to where the buses are).

That being said we should improve our mass transit at all levels starting at the paaratransit system to allow grandma more independance to intercity rail connestions that would allow us better access to the East [[and everything in between). The biggest question is what this should look like and how we can fund this in an environment of shrinking revenues.

I never realized the disparity in funding from the state level. New lanes? Where are they expanding? "Rush hour" in Detroit is a far cry from actual rush hours, you just go slower on 75 around 430. There is little to no congestion in the Metro interstate system.

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Originally Posted by Railroadworker

The Michigan Department of Transportation Department currently has $400 Million to match federal transit grants that will cost southeast Michigan's taxpayers over $2 Billion dollar to construct 25 miles of NEW freeway lanes and service drives starting in 2011.

So, DetroitPlanner, It is your choice if you want to fight these monsters and if you don't vote or protest these urban nightmares that will set mass transit back another ten years or more, then the problem is not them but instead us because you know and I know that more freeways and more public bus service reductions are not the answer to improve our transportation system for everyone.

We need a good balanced public transportation system in southeast Michigan to best serve the needs of all and to attract good quality jobs as you know.

If you want to join me to fight MDOT, then please reply if you want. It is your choice and thank for your post sharing your thoughts.

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Trainman, is that you? I agree with your thoughts though.

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Originally Posted by Railroadworker

The Michigan Department of Transportation Department currently has $400 Million to match federal transit grants that will cost southeast Michigan's taxpayers over $2 Billion dollar to construct 25 miles of NEW freeway lanes and service drives starting in 2011.

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I'd like to know where you stumbled across this fact. Which projects are starting in 2011?