Will Fort Worth moveforward on the streetcar? (Photo illustration: Fort Worthology)
We heard yesterday from Streetsblog Network member Kevin Buchanan of Fort
Worthology about a threat to the planned streetcar project in Fort
Worth, Texas. It seems like the City Council is dragging its feet in
going forward with the design process, and might seek to redirect funds
that have been allocated for a design study.
Buchanan writes that Fort Worth is endangering its future viability
by jeopardizing the streetcar:
Cities like Dallas, and Portland, and Seattle, and Charlotte, and
more…are more fully serving their citizens by creating real
transportation choice. If Fort Worth continues to drop the ball on
projects like the streetcar, we will lose out. These cities are
competing with us for the jobs and vitality of the future, and we know
that ever-increasing numbers of young creatives and professionals no
longer wish to have the same suburban/car-dominated life that their
parents and grandparents had. They want real choice, in living
arrangement and transportation (and make no mistake, these two things
are deeply linked — effective transit helps build effective mixed-use
living arrangements, and vice versa). They will go where they can get
these things, and if they can’t get them here, we’ll fall behind.
More from around the network: Decatur
Metro reports that the mayor of that Georgia city is calling for
more attention to be paid to urban areas. The
City Fix on a report that shows a shift in U.S. construction
patterns that favors cities. And Greater
Greater Washington lays out the arguments for a congestion charge
for the D.C. area.
