Awarded "Best of Austin" by the Austin Chronicle.

I stopped updating this site years ago. It remains for historical purposes..

Awarded "Best of Austin" by the Austin Chronicle.

I stopped updating this site years ago. It remains for historical purposes..

(Back to Light Rail page)

Pro-Rail letters in the Statesman

Plan for the future
Letter appearing in the Austin American-Statesman, June 19, 2000

A recent letter-writer criticized the light-rail proposal due to Austin's low density of development. Light rail has been very successful in Dallas, which has similar density to Austin. Light-rail stations would provide an economic incentive for denser in-fill development in the areas around the stations.
 
Another recent letter criticized the Portland, Ore., model of planned development. Whether we like it or not, Austin will continue to grow, and this growth will bring about changes. We can decide now to plan for a liveable city in the future. (This is the choice that Portland made years ago.)
 
If we choose not to plan for the future, we'll end up sprawled out like Houston is today. Returning to the Austin of the past is not an option.
 
Which model will you choose for Austin's future: Portland or Houston?
 
PAUL K. SMITH, Austin
 
BLUEGECKOYOGA@cs.com
A better choice
Letter appearing in the Austin American-Statesman, June 18, 2000
 
The June 8 letters to the editor "Fighting sprawl" and "Light-rail rationale" sang the same old song: Forget about light rail; just build us more roads and all our problems will disappear.
 
It really should be obvious by now that paving our way out of gridlock is a fool's game that never ends and can't be won. I have visited cities that are way ahead of us in this vain attempt, and the result is gridlock.
 
I have also experienced light rail for myself, and I can testify that it works. In Portland during rush hour, the park-and-ride lots are full of cars and the trains are full of people. Portland still has traffic problems, but at least commuters have a choice to avoid the pain. We should create that choice in Austin.
 
PHIL HALLMARK, Austin
Back to Light Rail page

Awarded "Best of Austin" by the Austin Chronicle.

I stopped updating this site years ago. It remains for historical purposes..




Entire website ©1995-2025 by Michael Bluejay