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Comment by desdiv | Hacker News Reader

>Fortress Investment Group, the parent company of the Brightline, is hedging that its investment in new transit hubs will increase property values surrounding stations as well as revenue generated by real estate development. Forrest Investment Group is already building more than 800 high-priced rentals at its Miami station and close to 300 in West Palm, in tandem with new skyscrapers dedicated to commercial and retail functions.

https://archpaper.com/2018/01/floridas-brightline-private-ra...

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There's talk of a remotely similar venture in Australia connecting Melbourne and Sydney ("via" Canberra), and establishing up to eight greenfield cities along the route.

http://www.clara.com.au/the-clara-plan.html

Bold plan but I hope they can see it through.

That'd be an absolute dream. Never going to happen with the current political climate though. The Victorian government could barely get some level crossings removed without Murdoch and the Liberals shitting all over it.

It's basically sacrilege to invest in infrastructure other than coal power plants in this country.

If only there was more sunshine, then you could use solar panels. :-/

Funny. I just listened to a lecture about streetcars in my city. The owner of the first streetcar company just happened to be an at-large councilman whose family happened to own the farms adjacent to the route the car line took.

Generally, if you're serious about getting people were they need to be quickly, you use light rail technology and principles.

Streetcars, in the sense that they're being implemented in North America are no faster than buses in mixed traffic. What they mostly lend is the idea of permanently high frequency transit, which is a positive sign for developers although not as useful for residents as light rail.

Oh sure. I’m talking about lines built in 1890-1925 to take folks from the center business district to 1-4 family detached housing.

These lines stuck around until the late 1950s, and had dedicated lane ownership. The city I live in is small and was demolished by urban renewal, so as suburbs that were a 15 minute drive away developed, the system declined with the central business district.

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