What better topic for a blog about Michigan and the Detroit area than Toronto?
I know, it's silly, but other than Chicago, Toronto is the other nearby city that demonstrates how dysfunctional the Detroit area can be.
First, let's talk about transportation.
Toronto is a metropolitan area with a population far greater than the Detroit area, and a downtown residential and working population exponentially greater than Detroit's, and yet the traffic in downtown Toronto is quite manageable. Why? Public transportation. I won't get in to why Detroit has virtually no public transportation (the Big 3/2). But Toronto's public transit works seamlessly. A subway and streetcar system, and an integrated light rail system make the city very manageable without (god forbid) a car.
I'm sure (in fact I know) the Toronto transit system has warts. But Detroit's has no warts, because IT DOESN'T EXIST.
Imagine a Detroit with operating streetcars, with a People Mover that is serving its designed use, as the terminal loop for a light rail system down Woodward, and with light rail or other rapid transit serving the northwest (Farmington Hills terminus), northeast (Mt. Clemens terminus) and west (Ann Arbor connectng to Chicago).
Anyways, trips to other cities always depress me. Not because of what Detroit is not, but of what it could be.
Is it too late?
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