So I was in the grocery store yesterday and I somehow always get stuck in the magazine section reading various magazines of interest. One I tend to pick up a lot is Seattle Metropolitan, it has some good stuff on Seattle, although, this month there was an article on the beloved Waterfront Streetcar. The article talked about the history of streetcars in Seattle, which I might add was quite rich, I never knew Seattle was such a streetcar oriented city. Like anything though, if you saturate it with enough politics things can be taken away in an instant. Which several times over again has happened to Seattle. Some might say it was another tourist oriented development by Seattle, although I know many businesses along Pioneer Square would surely love to have the streetcar back in a heartbeat. One part I found particularly interesting in this article, there are a couple shops in Pioneer Square that are closing (11 to be exact) and it was implied that they are closing because the loss of the streetcar means a loss in revenue (30-40% to be exact). Whereas on the flip side, the new South Lake Union Streetcar is causing a stir as well. Christine Lea who is the Vice President of the Cascade Neighborhood Association notes that businesses are starting to flee the SLU area due to the development of the Streetcar. Hmm… I do know since I have worked in SLU for a couple years now, I have seen a lot more going in than going out. I think the streetcar is going to do a lot more than people think! I am betting businesses will thrive much like they did in the Pearl District in Portland. Finally, Seattle got some promising news the City Council approved Greg Smith’s proposal for three extra floors on his Occidental Park Project and the trolley barn was a go again! This is great news! Let’s make it happen Seattle, with some extensions it can be a great opportunity!
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An interesting dichotomy. As much as I like the idea of streetcars, I can’t stand the SLU version — it’s just as slow as the current buses (even in moderate traffic). Essentially, it amounts to a publicly-funded amenity for Paul Allen’s developments, yet does nothing to actually alleviate traffic.
say what you may about the SLU streetcar, it’s a step in the right direction for this city. i’m skeptical of the veracity behind the claims that businesses are fleeing SLU because of the streetcar construction (maybe their rents are being raised in anticipation of more foot-traffic?) but in the long run i can see only good things as a result.
the streetcar may have been shoved down everyone’s throats, and may be a huge handout to the Wrong People, but it’s probably something we’ll look back on as an act of political genius – as it will always be seen as the first new rail line to open in seattle in decades (it will beat link light rail), and will be expanded rapidly as ridership and demand exceeds expectations. sure, it’s an imperfect and unsatisfying proposition to cozy up to big business, but at the same time, a project like this truly needs the support of big business to prove to some people (typically, the ones who control the purse-strings) that an urban streetcar system can work in seattle.
Living in Portland’s Pearl District I can tell you that a Streetcar works. Yes, during construction it is tough on businesses because of the disruption. But once in place it adds to the community and brings people in. portland is now planing on extending the streetcar across the Willamette river creating a large loop, including other neighborhoods. Between the Streetcar and the Max light rail system we are continuing to improve our public transit options. And inspite of what many may claim, a ride on the streetcar most days shows that people really do use it.
By the way, it’s not necessarily the case that a streetcar is as slow as buses:
- between multiple, wide doors, low floors and a proof-of-payment system, boarding can be parallelized much better than on buses.
- because the streetcar cannot pull out of traffic, it never needs to pull back into traffic.
- drivers are less familiar with streetcars and may be more inclined to stay away from them.