Light Rail May Bring A 'There' There

7 February 2007 - 7:00am

With the expansion of light rail projects in Portland, Oregon, an inconspicuous town center may finally find an identity and truly become a center of activity.

"'People drive through not even realizing it’s a town center,' said Jess Laventall, a Lents resident. 'It has no identity. It has nothing attractive.'"

"But all that is changing, in large part because of TriMet’s I-205 light-rail line project, which includes a station stop near the intersection."

"The nearly abandoned town center is now the focus of an urban renewal effort led by the Portland Development Commission, which has been steadily pouring money into the Lents neighborhood since the City Council designated it an Urban Renewal Area in 1998."

Source: The Portland Tribune, February 6, 2007
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Now, more than ever, Americans are clamoring to get out of their cars and have more transportation options than the car-centric approach first envisioned and deployed in the 1950s is providing.