Restaurants, retail, offices, and adobe homes pop-up in and around the long-suffering downtown damaged by urban renewal.
Tucson's Sunlink streetcar opened in July 25, linking University of Arizona and its Health Sciences Center to the Fourth Avenue corridor, downtown, and a redevelopment district called Mercado.
Since the "modern streetcar" was announced in 2006, more than $1.5 billion in investment has occurred along its route, including housing, restaurants, offices, and retail, according to the US Department of Transportation.
Similar stories have played out in many cities like Portland, Seattle, Atlanta, and Tampa that have installed streetcars (and taken many other steps that have including planning, infrastructure investments, and tax-increment financing) that resulted in big private investment.
The Mercado District is of particular interest to urbanists, including a new 14-acre neighborhood built of southwest adobe homes with narrow, winding streets.
FULL STORY: Place-based development and streetcar transforming downtown Tucson
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$87.7 million in voter-approved funding, a $63 million TIGER grant, a $6 million New Starts grant, and $35.6 million in other regional and local funding built the Sun Link streetcar. A whole weekend of festivities will welcome its opening.
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LA to Replace Inglewood Light Rail Project With Bus Shuttles
LA Metro says the change is in response to community engagement and that the new design will be ready before the 2028 Olympic Games.
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