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Originally Posted by TempeSilverFox
I'm curious to hear your thoughts on why you don't think Mark Mitchell cares about downtown? I got the opposite impression when I voted for him. One of his goals is to attract a convention center to Downtown Tempe and to continue attracting more and more diverse businesses to the area. I know he has some reservations about the Street Car- and frankly- so do I. I'm an advocate for public transportation, and I use Metro to go between Tempe and Phoenix frequently, but the Street Car route- as it stands: between Southern and Rio Salado completely puzzles me. Is there really that much of a demand to have a fixed rail system between Southern and downtown? Are they going to put in a park and ride at Southern? The area along Mill between Southern and Rio Salado is already pretty nice (for the most part) - so I don't see much in the way for redevelopment opportunities, unless the plan is to tear down all the existing stuff and densify further. The Orbit already runs this route- and it's free to use, so I honestly don't understand the logic behind the chosen route. Running it along Rio Salado makes sense to me. Connect Tempe Marketplace and Mesa Riverview. Those are high traffic- major draws. What is at Southern? The library and the History Museum yes- but hmm...
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Agree completely (except that I couldn't vote for Mitchell because I live in Phoenix). I'm not sure why Mitchell is seen as anti-Downtown and would like to hear some clarification. Likewise, I favor an east-west streetcar along Rio Salado over the currently proposed north-south one along Mill. South of Gammage and St. Luke's, Mill is mostly neighborhoods of single family homes without a lot of vacant lots that offer an opportunity for high-density development.