Keith Urban - Urban Developments

Feel Good Friday - Schlumping Around

Watching the Train in Hamburg

Memphis Trolley

When in Seattle, Ride the SLUT

By KERY MURAKAMI

P-I REPORTER

There's a story going around South Lake Union, but a spokeswoman for Vulcan, Paul Allen's development company, says it's just an urban legend.

That aside, the story that the neighborhood's streetcar line now under construction was called the South Lake Union Trolley until the powers that be realized the unfortunate acronym -- SLUT -- seems here to stay.

Officially, it's now the South Lake Union Streetcar. But the trolley name already has caught on, and in the old Cascade neighborhood in South Lake Union, they're waiting for the SLUT.

Seattle transportation worker Josh Stepherson, right, peeks at the trolley car moments after it was delivered Monday.

At the Kapow! Coffee house on Harrison Street, they're selling T-shirts that read "Ride the SLUT."

"We're welcoming the SLUT into the neighborhood," said Jerry Johnson, 29, a part-time barista. Johnson said the T-shirts were done just for fun, but they seem to have tapped into something: The first 100 sold out in days and now orders for the next 100 are under way.
Behind the ribbing is a little resentment about the changes some residents feel have been pushed on them.

"There was a meeting with representatives from the city several years ago," Johnson recalled. "They asked us what we could do for you. Most people raised their hands and said 'affordable housing,' " he said. "Then the people from the city huddled together -- 'whisper, whisper, whisper,' -- and they said, 'How about a trolley?' "

Read the entire article the here.

Doesn't Anyone Wanna Ride the Star?

No, not Britney or Lindsey but the Nashville Star commuter train. I think it would be a great option to be able to ride a train or subway system from the suburbs into downtown Nashville. I currently don't have one coming through my area but when I lived in Washington D.C. I loved riding on the Metro. It kept me out of traffic, wrecks, stress and allowed me to listen to music, read or just watch people.

I think if more people in Nashville tried it, they would it enjoy. I hope in the next few years we can make a bigger, city-wide train system to support the busses but also to get some cars off the road and ease the traffic problems a bit.

Please support the Nashville Star and public transportation in Nashville.

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From the Tennessean today...

A year after the launch of the city's first commuter rail, the ridership goal that was considered a measure of success for the train's first year hasn't been met.

The Regional Transportation Authority predicted a first-year average of 1,500 daily riders on the Music City Star, but fewer than half the projected number are boarding the train each day. The train saw an average near 640 daily riders at its peak this summer.

Officials say they have a core group of loyal riders that is slowly growing, and it's too soon to decide whether the Star is viable based on passengers. Experts say that commuter rail systems are booming in places they were expected to fail, and there's probably public policy to blame if Nashville's doesn't follow suit.

"We're the first commuter rail in the state of Tennessee. Anything that's a first has growing pains before it becomes accepted," said Diane Thorne, the transportation authority's executive director. "Ridership (projections) were just a goal."

Despite increasing congestion and low air quality that caused 20 ozone-alert days in Nashville this summer, she said it's a challenge to get drivers out of their cars.

Read more from the article in the Tennessean

Train Fans Want Amtrak Back in Nashville

It's been nearly 30 years since the last passenger train left Union Station, but advocates of city-to-city rail hope it won't take another 30 years to get it back.

A spider web of routes takes a broad circle around the city, passing through Louisville, Ky., Memphis, Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., but national rail advocates consider Tennessee to be the most underserved rail state. In a report released last week, they targeted Nashville for the expansion of passenger rail.

Trains equal less pollution and highway congestion, proponents say, but state officials say Nashville isn't populous enough to support a city-to-city route.

"It would be wonderful to say I can be in Memphis and jump on a train to Nashville, but the volume of people who would do that isn't anywhere close to what the cost would be to provide the service," said Ed Cole, chief of environment and planning with the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

Read the rest of this story in the Tennessean