Communal Living

My friend Brian came up from San Diego this weekend for a visit. He left his Lexus at home and opted for the train -- two trains, actually. He rode the new Sprinter service to Oceanside and connected there with Amtrak for the ride into L.A.

It was his first train ride in more than a decade, and when asked if he would do it again, he was non-committal. The trains had been on time and he'd had the opportunity to read his morning newspaper on the ride up. But he was not, as he said, "master of my own domain" as he would be if he had taken his own car.

Count  Brian among the many  who are new trial users of passenger rail, commuter trains and mass transit. Just the day before his trip, the Los Angeles Times reported, "Commuter rail ridership broke an all-time record this week, and Caltrans reported a dip in freeway traffic as commuters across California struggled with record gasoline prices." Brian had calculated that the cost of gas and the cost of the round-trip train ticket was about equal, and there was the added benefit of not contributing more greenhouse gases to the planet by driving 200 miles solo.

Being master of our own domains is part of the American psyche. Since the end of World War 2, we've moved en masse to single-family suburban homes and supplied almost every adult family member with their own automobile so they can drive alone to work or school or Starbucks.

But perhaps that's changing. In the current housing crash, it's been the price of homes furthest from city centers that have fallen fastest and deepest. "Selling condos last year at the Mission Meridian Village next to the Gold Line - which runs from Pasadena to downtown L.A. - broker Dominic deFazio first thought South Pasadena's strong schools would be a key for the project," reports the Long Beach Press-Telegram. "But a survey of the new homeowners revealed that 55 percent bought condos because they are across from the Gold Line, deFazio said."

Major cities across the U.S. from New York to Seattle, Boston to San Diego and Chicago to Los Angeles have become trendy places to live and now boast revitalized, vibrant urban cores. Smaller cities and communities are imitating the pedestrian-friendly, transit-friendly model of these large cities. They are moving away from the suburban model of isolated living, shopping and working centers. This bodes well for commuter and passenger rail, as the more we become used to living in a community, the more we'll accept riding in a community.

Comments

[Matthieu Desdiderio]

Time is changing. Fuel prices increases, it is now time to consider trains as part of your everyday life.

California do need efficient train network and I really hope high-speed train will be part of CA future...