What is it about the old guard (I’m pushing 70) hating light rail? Even Butch and Sundance knew they had to change with the times.
As our population ages and moves to less land, less maintenance areas around Vancouver, an inexpensive, hassle-free way of accessing Portland becomes invaluable. Same for commuters to downtown Portland. A new bridge is nice, but the congestion just moves down the road a few miles.
Why not build light rail capabilities into the design, so when the need arises, and it will if the experiences of other major metropolises mean anything, it doesn’t need a costly retrofit.
As for light rail importing crime, you underestimate our local thugs’ abilities to defend their turf against those Oregon thugs.
