Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Trolley bus on a 3 lane street (2 lanes of parking) in San Francisco

I continually marvel at how people argue that streetcars won't fit on various streets in DC, such as Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE in Anacostia or between Georgia Avenue and the Takoma Metro Station (probably via Butternut and 4th Street NW)--although I think that a streetcar or better yet, light rail should go out Georgia Avenue to the Silver Spring transit center (and then probably out Georgia Avenue and Colesville Road in Montgomery County).


These are a couple of photos of trolley buses operating on very narrow streets in San Francisco.  Granted trolley buses have more ability to move from lane to lane compared to fixed rail transit vehicles.  But still, they manage.

The first is on Clay Street in Chinatown.  The second is on Geary Boulevard, a few blocks south of Chinatown.

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4 Comments:

At 11:34 AM, Anonymous H Street LL said...

We could learn a lot from SF... parking is genuinely difficult there, unlike here.

 
At 11:37 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is a very strong resistance to streetcars and light rail in the ghetto community here in DC- make no mistake about this.

 
At 12:44 PM, Blogger Richard Layman said...

1. Parking in SF. Absolutely. I don't think that Car2Go could work there because of it. But I sure would be scared about trying to find places to park. And they do charge more, I can't remember the price, about $100, for a residential parking price.

2. While it's true the point you make about streetcars/lightrail and low income residents, it's hardly exclusive.

Some of the most vociferous opponents are whiteys, not just older people, but "progressives" too, who see streetcars and light rail as a plot to divert scarce monies for transit away from low income riders/buses, to upper income people.

I don't understand it. Improvements in transit service comfort and reliability benefit everyone.

 
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