ASU and Phoenix Light Rail

A couple of months ago, I wrote about how Light Rail should be a great asset to ASU students. Today, as a follow up, I was downtown and took some photos of the area near some of the campus buildings. The stop at Central and Van Buren, has a sign that says, "ASU Phoenix campus." (see pic below) Also shown below is a pic in front of the ASU Nursing school building which is just North/East of the rail stop. The amount of construction in this area is amazing and downtown is growing like crazy.
Today's trip reminded me of a conversation I had with Ron at Metro about the early adapters of the rail project. We discussed the fact that this should be very useful for students that want to get back and forth between the Phoenix and Tempe campuses. We also talked about the fact that students would probably be very willing to be some of the early adapters and ride the line on a regular basis. Interestingly enough, my friend Samuel ( Deserted After Dark blog ) and I agree that rail will be beneficial. Maybe I can get him and some of his friends like Candi and Danielle and the rest of the "StAR" crew to give us some insight. :-)
I hope you like the pics.. For next week, I'm going to check out some of the cool stuff going on around the Tempe campus..

Will they ride the Rail?

For the past year, or so, I have been watching the development of the Light Rail project that is projected to open in Dec 08.
The project is interesting to me for many reasons and I have taken the time to attend public meetings, read and gather several articles and gather a ton of information concerning current and future housing along the 20 mile route.
While many people have been critical of the expense and have been quick to say that "nobody" will ride the line because of the sprawl that AZ is known for; I believe that the Valley is ready and people have begun to embrace the project. ASU students will undoubtedly ride between the Tempe and Phoenix facilities. People working along the line will actually be able to get to lunch without a car! People attending meetings/conventions at the Phx Convention Center will probably find the line to be very useful.
In Dec of 06' I attended a public meeting and had the opportunity to discuss many aspects of the light rail project with Metro's "public involvement" manager. At the time, I was told that nearly 3000 businesses were located along the line and that "approximately" $750 million of private investment had already been planned along the route.
Many commercial projects, hotels and a ton of interesting residential projects are currently being built. I look forward to sharing my findings with everyone!