I started to suggest this in another thread but I wanted to see what people think. It seems that the biggest hurdle facing the successful development of light rail is Oakland County's opposition to it. So, my analytical mind says, why not just leave them out of it? Light rail doesn't need OC to be successful. Keep light rail in Wayne County. Build the the first stretch from the river to Grand Boulevard as planned, then stop. Next, instead of trying to force OC to let it extend north, head west. Build a line that runs down Michigan Avenue all the way to downtown Wayne. The entire corridor is urban and dense from Detroit to downtown Dearborn to Inkster to Wayne, and eventually, even to Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. Screw Oakland County.

Create a backwards "L" shape. Consider what you would be connecting: downtown Detroit, Corktown, SW Detroit, downtown Dearborn, Greenfield Village, HF Museum, Fairlane Town Center, Ford's headquarters, then Inkster and downtown Wayne. Those hubs are even denser than the OC Woodward stretch would be. Once it was successful, OC would be begging to get the line extended past 8 Mile.