In January, about a year after Houston's new light-rail commuter line opened for business, the Houston Chronicle ran a story handicapping the potential for new development along its seven-mile length. One local activist said he was "incredibly disappointed" by the lack of construction, and the story's reporter noted that the area surrounding the line "looks much as it did before the line was built." A revelation? Scarcely. Architects and developers familiar with transit projects are hardly surprised by Houston's slow start. Most new systems begin with a whimper and catch on gradually as daily riders learn to change their commuting habits. If Houston's light rail had prompted a huge wave of development during its first year, it would have been a marked exception. And it would be an even greater exception if in five years the line still had not sparked development activity—or if in 15 years speculators could still find a range of available parcels along the line on which to build. Around the country, the lure of abandoning cars for efficient transit is proving irresistible.
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