I worry that, culturally, we're too far gone. I, personally, hate driving in any place that's "downtown" by any measure. It's stressful, slow, the streets are never laid out in a sane way, etc. Kansas City, MO has a streetcar that runs north-south through a lot of the downtown area so that I can park in what city-dwellers assure me is "not downtown" right next to the northmost stop, then ride the streetcar to all of the attractions that are in the main night life district.
It definitely takes ~10-15 mins longer than if I just drove, but goodness it's just so much more enjoyable. I get to sit and look around at the city I'm in instead of focusing on driving.
I've dragged quite a few friends and family along and most people don't like it because:
1. it takes longer (have to wait for transport to arrive, it makes stops you don't need)
2. "iffy people" are on the streetcar
I laugh a bit at #2 because compared to almost any other non-car transport in the US I've ever seen, the occupants of the streetcar are just comically gentrified. Yeah there's one guy who's probably homeless, but everyone else is clearly out for a business dinner or a bunch of yuppies all dressed up to take the family out to dinner, and so on.
Thanks for bearing through me with this anecdote. But I hope it demonstrates two issues:
1. americans will put up with a lot if it makes their trip any amount shorter
2. americans vastly prefer to be annoyed and in control, versus less annoyed but not in control. e.g. they prefer car traffic where they're "in control" (can honk/drive aggressively?) vs waiting for public transport to arrive or waiting at stops they don't need
3. americans associate public transport with lower classes, the poor and homeless.
In my (US) city, they put in a bike lane along a street downtown with a lot of restaurants. It used to be a two-way street, now it's a one-way with a two-way bike lane taking up the rest.
People I work with argued that it was a bad idea because the restaurants would lose business because now there is less parking, and it just blows my mind that not being able to park directly in front of a restaurant is a deal breaker. Isn't the whole appeal of a city's downtown area to walk around a bit and look up at all the skyscrapers?
Your anecdote reminds me of my experience in Salt Lake City. When I lived and worked in SLC back during the mid and late 90s, light rail was being proposed, especially with 2002 Olympic Games bearing down. Politicians proposed a simple north-south grid with some east-west connections. Well, the residents were up in arms! How dare you take away our right to driving in heavy traffic on i15. Fast forward 18 years and light rail has been such a huge success in SLC, people have fought for a spur to come to their neighborhood. This is another example of an infrastructure project that was good for all, not just a few profiteering politicians and contractors. Say what you will, but those Mormons know how to manage their municipalities (no offense to people of the LDS Church).
It definitely takes ~10-15 mins longer than if I just drove, but goodness it's just so much more enjoyable. I get to sit and look around at the city I'm in instead of focusing on driving.
I've dragged quite a few friends and family along and most people don't like it because: 1. it takes longer (have to wait for transport to arrive, it makes stops you don't need) 2. "iffy people" are on the streetcar
I laugh a bit at #2 because compared to almost any other non-car transport in the US I've ever seen, the occupants of the streetcar are just comically gentrified. Yeah there's one guy who's probably homeless, but everyone else is clearly out for a business dinner or a bunch of yuppies all dressed up to take the family out to dinner, and so on.
Thanks for bearing through me with this anecdote. But I hope it demonstrates two issues: 1. americans will put up with a lot if it makes their trip any amount shorter 2. americans vastly prefer to be annoyed and in control, versus less annoyed but not in control. e.g. they prefer car traffic where they're "in control" (can honk/drive aggressively?) vs waiting for public transport to arrive or waiting at stops they don't need 3. americans associate public transport with lower classes, the poor and homeless.
It'll take a lot of work to flip these around.