[Mpls] Re: Streetcars / Broken Windows

[Dyna Sluyter]

On Wednesday, May 5, 2004, at 01:01 PM, Mike Jensvold wrote:

>  I was there to see the speaker on streetcars, Charlie Hales, but 
> police chief McManus spoke as well.  He announced a general plan to 
> target serious offenders and use a "systems approach" to policing.  I 
> was a bit too timid to ask whether this constituted a break with the 
> "broken windows" theory of policing that has been popular for the past 
> two decades.  More on broken windows:
>
> http://bostonreview.net/BR27.2/harcourt.html
>
> http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/crime/windows.htm

	This is pretty much an urban myth- criminals stay out of Kenwood 
because they know there's zero tolerance for them  there, not because 
that neighborhood is well kept. The criminals that broke into a truck 
in front of my house last night did so because there was something they 
wanted inside and they knew the jail was full, not because they spotted 
a few broken windows in the 'hood. Actually it helps to have a home in 
the 'hood look sorta dumpy- the thugs won't expect anything of great 
value inside. For that reason I have covered the BMW emblems on a 
couple motorcycles- the local thugs thusly assume they're worthless 
Japanese bikes.

	And as long as we're on the subject of windows- take a look at those 
beautifully curved LRT windshields... Then guess how many thousand it 
will cost to have replacements custom made when some punk breaks one. 
Never mind how many weeks it will take... I wonder if the local vandals 
have figured out that they could shut our LRTs down for weeks with a 
few rocks?

> Charlie Hales was a wonderful speaker Some highlights from his speech
>
> The Portland Oregon street car was built cheaply, at a cost of 50-60 
> million dollars (20 years ago) for a five mile line around the 
> downtown.  Someone in the audience mentioned that 100 million (I 
> believe) had been spent in downtown Minneapolis just to relocate 
> utilities for the Hiawatha line.  The main reason the street cars can 
> be built so cheaply is that they only require digging up 12 inches of 
> roadway, so utilities do not need to be disturbed.  Street car tracks 
> share roadway with cars.  Also, construction was conducted in (I 
> belive it was 600) foot sections, requiring the streets in any one 
> place to be disturbed for a maximum of 3 weeks.  The cars are also not 
> as big as LRT cars.  In Portland at least, they can and do share some 
> infrastructure with the heavier light rail lines.

	Light Rail cars are essentially just high tech streetcars, and the 
deep digging for the Hiawatha Line through downtown was mostly 
overkill. The streetcar also has the great advantage of 
interoperability- it can share track with other systems if they're 
properly designed. Unfortunately the Hiawatha LRT line seems to have 
been designed for their 24 unique LRT cars and nothing else in the 
world.

> The primary function of the street cars in downtown Portland was for 
> "urban circulation" allowing increased mobility for downtown 
> residents, and decreasing pressure for parking.

	And streetcars are perfectly capable of high speed runs just like 
light rail.

> Experience with streetcars in Portland and other American cities has 
> shown that they attract a broad range of riders, not just the "transit 
> dependent" as busses tend to do.

	Another urban myth, thoroughly debunked by the park 'n ride lots full 
of expensive late model cars.

> He also pointed out the success in Portland (and the benefit for 
> businesses) of attracting bright young people who are looking for an 
> urban lifestyle.  He mentioned that it is possible to sit a few feet 
> from a street car line and sip a latte, while doing the same next to a 
> diesel bus would not be very pleasant.

	How would he even know it's a diesel bus? We should be suspicious of 
people who advocate for there own pet form of transit by taking cheap 
shots at other's. BTW, those of us who drink real coffee enjoy big bore 
diesel accompaniment.

> In response to a question, he dismissed as impractical proposals like 
> "personal rapid transit" (promoted by council member Zimmerman) Such 
> automated systems have to be elevated and are difficult to access from 
> the street, and enhancing street life is one of the main aims of 
> public transit.  Elevated systems are unpleasant to be underneath, and 
> have tended to destroy, rather than enhance street life.  They have 
> failed in cities like Detroit.

	Agreed, although PRT does deserve further privately funded research.

> The question of cold weather was raised, and he said that while 
> Portland had been unprepared for an unusually large snowfall of six 
> inches last year, it is possible to prepare for snowfall and plow the 
> tracks when necessary.

	Streetcars have coped well with Minneapolis climate for over a 
century. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Metro Transit's LRT 
lemons... Streetcars can also be locally built and rebuilt unlike Metro 
Transit's Mexican made LRTs. In fact, we have the good fortune of 
having one of the nations leading resources in rebuilding and operating 
streetcars right here, the Minnesota Transportation Museum.

	by North Side Station in Hawthorne,

		Dyna Sluyter