Nashville, the second least walkable city in the US. (Memphis: power lines, neighborhood)

[jjbradleynyc]

Originally Posted by timothyb

Following is the list, created by Walk Score, of the least walkable major cities in the U.S.

Top 10 Least Walkable U.S. Cities
1. Jacksonville
2. Nashville
3. Charlotte
4. Indianapolis
5. Oklahoma City
6. Memphis
7. Kansas City
8. Fort Worth
9. El Paso
10. Mesa


More freeways or more sidewalks? Which will it be?

Ouch! It hurts for a city to be ranked high on this scale. Cities are SUPPOSED to be walkable and pedestrian-friendly. The days of auto-dependence and flashy and huge highways are fading. These cities need to wake up and move toward the future.
Charlotte does have a good start however, with their rail system--recently opened.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by yank283

Agreed, Charlotte is using the Portland light rail system as inspiration and it is hugely successful.

TriMet: MAX Light Rail Project History

Also hope the Nashville Star becomes more popular (and profitable or at least self sustainable) and the other proposed routes are implemented.

Public transportation systems, particularly rail, are most certainly not "self sustainable." They cost a fortune to build, in the tens of thousands of dollars per projected passenger, and they cost a fortune to maintain. Rider fares do not cover all of the costs, and it's only through massive federal aid that light rail systems are able to operate.

Having said that, I'm all in favor of light rail systems. Anyone who has lived in Europe knows how beneficial they are. People are still free to drive their cars, but to me there's no freedom in having no alternative to driving a car.

Since we demand that the government build and maintain roads for our personal and commercial uses, I don't see why we shouldn't also demand that they take some of that road money and put it towards better public transportation.

I know I would rather take a high-speed train from Knoxville to Nashville and arrive refreshed and relaxed rather than frazzled after battling I-40's crazy drivers and truckers.

And how cool would it be for people in Franklin or Murfreesboro to be able to hop on a train to go to a hockey or football game or a concert in downtown Nashville and not have to worry about parking.

[jbmill3]

Originally Posted by JMT

Public transportation systems, particularly rail, are most certainly not "self sustainable." They cost a fortune to build, in the tens of thousands of dollars per projected passenger, and they cost a fortune to maintain. Rider fares do not cover all of the costs, and it's only through massive federal aid that light rail systems are able to operate.

Having said that, I'm all in favor of light rail systems. Anyone who has lived in Europe knows how beneficial they are. People are still free to drive their cars, but to me there's no freedom in having no alternative to driving a car.

Since we demand that the government build and maintain roads for our personal and commercial uses, I don't see why we shouldn't also demand that they take some of that road money and put it towards better public transportation.

I know I would rather take a high-speed train from Knoxville to Nashville and arrive refreshed and relaxed rather than frazzled after battling I-40's crazy drivers and truckers.

And how cool would it be for people in Franklin or Murfreesboro to be able to hop on a train to go to a hockey or football game or a concert in downtown Nashville and not have to worry about parking.

You said most everything I wanted to say. Why should a mass-transit system be forced to pay for itself? We don't expect our roads to pay for themselves. Quality mass transit is a public good that the city should provide.

And you can NEVER wait for a transit system to become well-utilized before expanding it. It works exactly the other way--once there is an expanded system in place, that has the potential to be a convenient option, people will start planning their lives around it. But when there are few options, few people will ride. I would vastly prefer to ride a train or bus to work, but both the bus service in Nashville and the music city star are complete jokes. So I'm not even thinking about it. But it would be ridiculous for city officials to look at my decision and think "that's one more person who isn't interested in using mass transit." No, I'm very interested; there just has to be a workable, flexible route schedule and infrastructure put in place first. If getting caught late a little at work, or going out for a drink after work, etc., means you have NO WAY HOME (as would be the case for anyone who tried to ride the Music City Star in daily), it's not going to be a popular system.

Sorry this was a bit rambling and incoherent. New baby and little sleep.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by jbmill3

You said most everything I wanted to say. Why should a mass-transit system be forced to pay for itself? We don't expect our roads to pay for themselves. Quality mass transit is a public good that the city should provide.

And you can NEVER wait for a transit system to become well-utilized before expanding it. It works exactly the other way--once there is an expanded system in place, that has the potential to be a convenient option, people will start planning their lives around it. But when there are few options, few people will ride. I would vastly prefer to ride a train or bus to work, but both the bus service in Nashville and the music city star are complete jokes. So I'm not even thinking about it. But it would be ridiculous for city officials to look at my decision and think "that's one more person who isn't interested in using mass transit." No, I'm very interested; there just has to be a workable, flexible route schedule and infrastructure put in place first. If getting caught late a little at work, or going out for a drink after work, etc., means you have NO WAY HOME (as would be the case for anyone who tried to ride the Music City Star in daily), it's not going to be a popular system.

Sorry this was a bit rambling and incoherent. New baby and little sleep.

That is a very well-written post! I'd like to see what you can write when you're NOT incoherent!

And you're right. I think it's ridiculous that some people demand that public transportation be "self sustainable" but we don't demand the same of our roads, parks, schools, libraries, museums, etc.

Nashville is prime for a viable, comprehensive public transportation system. (So is Knoxville, but that's a topic for a different forum.) I know a lot of people love their cars--as do I--but a lot of people would also gladly take public transportation if it was practical. Rather than limiting service, it should be expanded.

I think the state should put a moratorium on widening roads and put that money towards expanding public transportation. And sidewalks (since this thread is about walkable cities)!

[timothyb]

Originally Posted by JMT

That is a very well-written post! I'd like to see what you can write when you're NOT incoherent!

And you're right. I think it's ridiculous that some people demand that public transportation be "self sustainable" but we don't demand the same of our roads, parks, schools, libraries, museums, etc.

Nashville is prime for a viable, comprehensive public transportation system. (So is Knoxville, but that's a topic for a different forum.) I know a lot of people love their cars--as do I--but a lot of people would also gladly take public transportation if it was practical. Rather than limiting service, it should be expanded.

I think the state should put a moratorium on widening roads and put that money towards expanding public transportation. And sidewalks (since this thread is about walkable cities)!

Amen! If things continue the way they are going with the highway construction, we can rename Nashville Atlashville or Natlanta.. =P

I think people have been so used to cheap gas that anything but driving seems silly, but prices are going nowhere but upwards..

How is the Nashville Star doing anyways? I had heard that it started off kinda slow...

[RS-1080]

Why should a mass-transit system be forced to pay for itself?



Because to many locals don't want it. This ain't other cities, this is Nashville.


There are reasons folks rather drive cars,and not ride in a train car with just anybody.

[septimus]

Originally Posted by RS-1080

Why should a mass-transit system be forced to pay for itself?



Because to many locals don't want it. This ain't other cities, this is Nashville.


There are reasons folks rather drive cars,and not ride in a train car with just anybody.

I can't think of any reason not to take public transportation if it was available, but I'm a city girl stuck in the burbs and hate driving. I've driven more in the last year living in Nashville than I did in the last 10 in Boston. In Boston I took the subway with homeless people and CEOs of major corporations and everything in between.

Maybe I'm missing something, but a bus from Downtown Franklin down Hillsboro Pike to town would be nice as would express busses downtown. Heck, the Franklin Trolley would be much more palatable if it actually went anywhere. If I were designing it I would do a trolley route that started at Westhaven with stops at Founders Point and the other subdivisions down 96W and then a stop at Mars, Nissan and the rest of that office ghetto over by 65. Same for a route pass all the subdivisions on Lewisburg Pike, McKays Mills, etc. And it would run at fairly regular intervals so that if need to leave work at 2pm one day you could and if you had to work until 7pm you could still get home.

[RS-1080]

lol, transplants and out of towners just don't get it. It's great you love sitting with just anyone,and done so up north or elsewhere, but this ain't nowhere else but Nashville. Alot of us will keep buying gas if it hits 8-10 bucks, and choose who sits in our V-8 trucks beside us. My nearest neighbor is 1/2 mile up the holler,and he drives over 50 miles one way ( thats over 100 miles a day not counting driving to other places after work each day also ) to his office job driving his V-8 truck also, but in 25 years of doing so, he's never griped about it once. We drive to, and are happy with driving and choosing who we are around, and in our cars, lol,, there ain't nobody else with us unless they kin or we really like them. I don't get it, if folks wanna change this place so badly,,then why move here to begin with?

I'm glad our county don't face those issues, we sign patitions in stores to turn in what we want and don't want.The county decides based upon how the ''locals'' feel about it. Why do we drive for? Cause we keep it quiet here and drive out of town to work rather than letting the work move in on us. No need for another rat race out here to,so folks don't mind buying gas.

[Tunky]

Originally Posted by timothyb

Light rail, like Charlotte is starting to implement would be a nice thing...

I have a friend who uses the light rail in Charlotte everyday and she loves it! She gets 50 minutes everyday to catch up on her reading! I could use that!

I'm not sure how many zillions of dollars the whole thing cost though.

[Tunky]

well said JMT! From what I've learned thus far people (locals and transplants alike) whine about traffic more than anything else in Nashville.