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Transport Subsidies Lead to Bad Decisions

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[quote user="blue streak 1"] Samantha:I was asking if any developments are going up around all the Austin stops. That is more important. Also population density and business density around those stops. Now the densities around the stops in Dallas is a much more reliable metric of the ability of transport to affect changes. Compare the rail line density to other new developments not near these transport locations. [/quote]I have not seen any extraordinary real estate developments near the proposed Leander to Austin train stations.  There is a sign in a field close to the Leander station advertising it as a prime location for transit access housing and commercial development, but I am not aware of any plans to develop it.  Although I don't have any census data to support my observation, population densities in Austin are considerably lower than in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.  It has a population of near 6.3 million people, while the population of Central Texas is about 1.5 million.Like many cities, Austin is seeing a wave of in-town apartment and condo developments, but few if any of them are near the proposed commuter rail line.  That could change, of course, once the train is running.Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) had a studied performed by a team under Dr. Bernard Weinstein, Professor of Economics, University of North Texas, touting the real estate developments supposedly spawned by DART's light rail system.  The study pointed to a number of developments near the light rail line, claiming that they were made possible by the train.  The most impressive development has been near the Mockingbird Station area.  The study, however, left out several key points.It did not acknowledge that the developments might have occurred irrespective of whether Dallas built a light rail line.  Dallas is a growth community; it is possible that the developments would have occurred anyway.  In addition, it did not note that the most dramatic developments in Dallas, e.g. Uptown, Victory Station, Oak Lawn, and Oak Cliff, are not severed by the light rail lines.  The biggest in-town real estate developments in Dallas have been in Uptown, which is served by the McKinney Avenue Trolley Line, but very few residents ride it.  It is mostly for tourists.  The Victory Station area is served by TRE and DART special trains when there is an event at the American Airlines Center; otherwise, there is no service to Victory Station.  Most of the residents walk to work or drive.  There is a challenge for public transit in Texas that many people from other parts of the country probably miss.  It gets very hot here in the summer.  We are already experiencing 100 degree days, and they will be with us until the third or fourth week of September.  Unless they have no choice, Texans are not going to fry on a transit platform waiting for a bus or train.  They would rather wait in a traffic jam in an air conditioned car or truck.
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