Thanks for writing this! I really hope the uptick in train travel in the USA becomes a habit and helps revive elegant urban centers (both in midsize cities and small towns along the way) that have been bypassed by car culture, or airlines, thus and forgotten.
Oh Cleveland ❤️! Sorry you didn’t know you were talking to an “honorary Clevelander” apologies in advance for the yarn you are going to get. I was sent there for many summers when I was a child to be cared for by my late grandparents.
I have not been there in over 10 years, but I hope the following is useful to you. I think their light rail system has really helped keep the city together through tough times in many ways. Cleveland is a city with two centers of cultural activity. There is “downtown” centered around Tower City (the one non-sprawl transit-centered downtown shopping mall I have seen in the U.S.) behind tower city is the cuyahoga river waterfront area, sports arena and sports bars. Fun stuff, sure, but their light rail links this area with what I believe is a way more distinctive cultural area centered around Case Western Reserve University, University circle, and Little Italy (this is a light rail stop)
Someone who shaped this part of town was none other than John D Rockellefer. A complicated figure being the one who made oil refining as we know it, helping spur car culture, which certainly didn’t help Cleveland as it was sliced up by super highways.
Rockefeller and other Industrial Revolution barons are buried in some over-the-top stained glass mausoleums in a cemetery right outside little Italy.
This side of Cleveland certainly is an interesting story of our relationship with the ultra rich. I don’t know how it’s changed but think Little Italy’s very humble buildings are still much as they were, against the backdrop of the big stone museums and concert halls built by the industrial barons. Were they generous philanthropists or robber barons laundering their image? Or both?
Anyway sorry for all that!!
Please take it with a grain of salt as I have not been to Cleveland in forever!
But I am really interested to read what you write about the place.
I think you will see what I mean when you get to ride their light rail. You’ll see the good, the bad, the ugly, and I think the hope, of a place that has been through a lot!
I really hope you get to go soon, and I’d be thrilled to read what you write up.
Oh, that’s great to know, Joseph! Thanks for sharing! I will definitely check out Cleveland’s light rail! I visited the city back in 2013 and am looking forward to doing it again soon.
I find it extremely interesting that Buffalo, with 278,349 people (based on 2020 Census data), and is 52.48 square miles in area, supports a light rail system that transports thousands of riders daily but Fresno, California, at 114.7 square miles and with a population of 542,107 people (also based on 2020 Census data) doesn’t have a light rail system. For the record, Buffalo’s per-square-mile population density is 5303 while Fresno’s is 4,726. Which, when comparing the per-square-mile residential population densities of the two cities, they are not all that far apart. I would certainly think based on residential population density per square mile, Fresno would have the per-square-mile residential population density to make light rail work in the city. Fresno is California’s fifth largest city. Interestingly, it’s bigger than Sacramento which has a light rail system. Glad to hear Buffalo’s LRT system has healthy ridership!
There are many other examples like Fresno, bigger cities that Buffalo, that would benefit from a metro system. I suspect one of the reasons Buffalo got it while others didn’t was that Buffalo’s projected population growth was pretty significant. Who knew that the opposite would happened? I bet they would not be able to build a metro system like what they have today if they started now.
One thing working in Fresno’s favor is that high-speed rail is being built there. The HSR station is going to be constructed near the city’s Chinatown district, essentially in the heart of downtown. When passengers begin arriving en masse (presumably beginning in 2033), riders’ local automatic mobility needs will presumably be provided by transit bus, taxi, ride share, rental car, or taxi service provided courtesy of a family member or friend, or if they live in town and leave the vehicles parked overnight in a parking garage, then that will become their ride upon their returning home from wherever it was they traveled to. Though these options might not seem limiting to some, keep in mind that all of those options are roadway based. All of that traffic could be severely negatively impacting on downtown-area roadways. Which, if borne out, could bode well for an alternative like light rail transit.
Thanks for writing this! I really hope the uptick in train travel in the USA becomes a habit and helps revive elegant urban centers (both in midsize cities and small towns along the way) that have been bypassed by car culture, or airlines, thus and forgotten.
Thanks for your comment, Joseph! I’m planning to cover more rust belt cities. Cleveland and Detroit seem quite interesting from a transit perspective.
Oh Cleveland ❤️! Sorry you didn’t know you were talking to an “honorary Clevelander” apologies in advance for the yarn you are going to get. I was sent there for many summers when I was a child to be cared for by my late grandparents.
I have not been there in over 10 years, but I hope the following is useful to you. I think their light rail system has really helped keep the city together through tough times in many ways. Cleveland is a city with two centers of cultural activity. There is “downtown” centered around Tower City (the one non-sprawl transit-centered downtown shopping mall I have seen in the U.S.) behind tower city is the cuyahoga river waterfront area, sports arena and sports bars. Fun stuff, sure, but their light rail links this area with what I believe is a way more distinctive cultural area centered around Case Western Reserve University, University circle, and Little Italy (this is a light rail stop)
Someone who shaped this part of town was none other than John D Rockellefer. A complicated figure being the one who made oil refining as we know it, helping spur car culture, which certainly didn’t help Cleveland as it was sliced up by super highways.
Rockefeller and other Industrial Revolution barons are buried in some over-the-top stained glass mausoleums in a cemetery right outside little Italy.
This side of Cleveland certainly is an interesting story of our relationship with the ultra rich. I don’t know how it’s changed but think Little Italy’s very humble buildings are still much as they were, against the backdrop of the big stone museums and concert halls built by the industrial barons. Were they generous philanthropists or robber barons laundering their image? Or both?
Anyway sorry for all that!!
Please take it with a grain of salt as I have not been to Cleveland in forever!
But I am really interested to read what you write about the place.
I think you will see what I mean when you get to ride their light rail. You’ll see the good, the bad, the ugly, and I think the hope, of a place that has been through a lot!
I really hope you get to go soon, and I’d be thrilled to read what you write up.
Oh, that’s great to know, Joseph! Thanks for sharing! I will definitely check out Cleveland’s light rail! I visited the city back in 2013 and am looking forward to doing it again soon.
Great! eager to read about when you get there again.
I find it extremely interesting that Buffalo, with 278,349 people (based on 2020 Census data), and is 52.48 square miles in area, supports a light rail system that transports thousands of riders daily but Fresno, California, at 114.7 square miles and with a population of 542,107 people (also based on 2020 Census data) doesn’t have a light rail system. For the record, Buffalo’s per-square-mile population density is 5303 while Fresno’s is 4,726. Which, when comparing the per-square-mile residential population densities of the two cities, they are not all that far apart. I would certainly think based on residential population density per square mile, Fresno would have the per-square-mile residential population density to make light rail work in the city. Fresno is California’s fifth largest city. Interestingly, it’s bigger than Sacramento which has a light rail system. Glad to hear Buffalo’s LRT system has healthy ridership!
There are many other examples like Fresno, bigger cities that Buffalo, that would benefit from a metro system. I suspect one of the reasons Buffalo got it while others didn’t was that Buffalo’s projected population growth was pretty significant. Who knew that the opposite would happened? I bet they would not be able to build a metro system like what they have today if they started now.
One thing working in Fresno’s favor is that high-speed rail is being built there. The HSR station is going to be constructed near the city’s Chinatown district, essentially in the heart of downtown. When passengers begin arriving en masse (presumably beginning in 2033), riders’ local automatic mobility needs will presumably be provided by transit bus, taxi, ride share, rental car, or taxi service provided courtesy of a family member or friend, or if they live in town and leave the vehicles parked overnight in a parking garage, then that will become their ride upon their returning home from wherever it was they traveled to. Though these options might not seem limiting to some, keep in mind that all of those options are roadway based. All of that traffic could be severely negatively impacting on downtown-area roadways. Which, if borne out, could bode well for an alternative like light rail transit.
I hope the CA HSR will be completed by 2033.