Light Rail

I know I'm supposed to like light rail, but ...

I can't get out of my head the freeway sprawl of the 1970's and how the Puget Sound region is expanding to fill in the space between Seattle and Tacoma. I can't get out of my head how Seattle residents are searching ever outward to find housing that they can afford. I can't get out of my head the vision of a traffic jam of workers driving.

To me, Sound Transit's ever expanding network of light looks like the network of new freeways that we built in the 1970's. Sound Transit is creating its own version of urban sprawl with crowded trains replacing crowded freeways. Wow! More sprawl, that's just would our region needs. Fortunately, we have three barriers to stop urban sprawl, Puget Sound, the Cascade Mountains and the Canadian border.

Sending workers out to the middle of nowhere for housing is wasteful in three different ways. 1) It's still commuting out to the middle of nowhere so you're still transporting your entire workforce for two hours each work day. 2) The affordable housing is not going to be near the light rail station, so workers are going to have to transfer. This negates the speed and convenience of the light rail. 3) You're living in the middle of nowhere and have to drive to get anywhere even if you include convenience stores

The best transit is a sidewalk from your home to your job. We need housing appropriate for our workforce.