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Originally Posted by RoseCityFreePress
Its sad but true. I would LOVE a metro or LRT but this is a old city (people and mentality wise) in order to get something like this done Windsor would need to be able to start attracting the young professional. Much like K-W or Toronto. Its sad to say but older people are set in their ways and Windsor has a very larger boomer population that isn't key on public transit or participation in it. This idea is a very real possibility in the future but it has to start with a culture change in this city. That means brining the city back from the edge and attracting young people here. sadly, were marketing Windsor as a great retirement centre. This can only hinder us long term.
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One of the problems is, many young people view this city as dirty and run down. There are actually a lot of students moving downtown in the next few years. the new aquatic complex will also attract people downtown and if the new market is built, even more. Of course, with more people downtow comes a desire fore retail and with retail comes even more people. I feel like if more people found out how convenient transit is, (or can be) that there would be many that choose to use it. Especially students and people who simply do not want to pay for insurance and gas.
When people move to a new city, they tend to prefer to live near transit, should they ever need it, especially if they are coming from a place like Toronto, Calgary, New york, Tokyo, etc... So when a new rapid transit line (save for BRT) opens, a greater demand for residential space will be experienced around that area. It is also great for moving tourists that either didn't bring their car or that simply want to ride the train (weee!).
So i really think that not only would a light metro get a lot of usage in Windsor, but that it would do wonderful things for the city when it comes to new private investments. Especially if it is grade separated, moving people around quickly.
...But I do agree that Windsor's mentality around the car needs to change; it's like a god to some people around here, especially the older people. Maybe with the all but total loss of the auto industry and Windsor's (attempted) transition into green industries, we will see more people that understand how wasteful private cars are. a single 40ft bus can replace 60 cars.