"THE DESIRE NAMED STREETCAR"

Reason’s “Hit & Run” Blog looks at “The Top 10 Reasons to Forget Light Rail“.

Or as James Lileks recently wrote:

Heading into the office today I was startled to see the poles – ten per block, tall and gray, ugly lumps hanging from the wires that laced the poles together. The final step of the light-rail project: the electrical wires are back.

And so the bad idea finally showed its ugly mug. The ads for the light rail system are cool – they borrow 30s / 40s rail iconography, which is clever. The stations are quite impressive, including the immense, lovely, and utterly nonfunctional assemblage across from the Metrodome. Fifth street downtown has been screwed beyond belief – from three lanes to one until you hit the Government Plaza, at which point the street is closed to thru-traffic. Brilliant. But I think some people believed that the trolleys would just . . . move on their own accord, gliding on the rails. No one reminded us that we