Cities that strive for greatness

Citadis Tram (in-ground power), Bordeaux
Originally uploaded by rllayman

(Citadis Tram with in-ground power, Bordeaux. Photo: Kenneth Sislak DMJMHarris.)

Another Christopher Hume piece from the Toronto Star, "A tale of two cities that work," is worth a read. He starts out with this:

It's not problems that make cities unique, but solutions.

From the article:

Meanwhile, Bordeaux, a town that in its mayor's words needed "shock treatment," has built 45 kilometres of tramline in less than a decade. "In the 1990s, our transit system was 30 years out of date," Alain Juppé told delegates. "Bordeaux was sleeping."

The result of the city's 1.3-billion euro ($1.75 billion Cdn) investment is a 20 per cent drop in traffic in Bordeaux, 30 per cent downtown, and a three-fold increase in bicycle use. ...

"Towns are on the front line of all battles in the contemporary world," Juppé said. That's true whether we're talking about housing, education, sustainability, security or integration.

I think about this in terms of DC. Many clamor for statehood. If only our elected officials would strive to act with an equivalent amount of heft.

Also see this other piece by Hume, "Bordeaux's transit ideas worth uncorking here." Maybe we need to be looking to best-in-class cities around the world to set benchmarks. Looking solely within the United States (although there are many good examples) isn't enough.