Santa Cruz voted down turning the disused railroad branch line connecting Watsonville to the old cement factory in Davenport into a rail trail [0], by an enormous margin. If this trail were implemented, it would basically create a scenic, flat mixed-use trail going through all of the major areas for hardly any cost. It would've created an easy ride to actually get between places people want to go, both for work and tourist destinations.

It was shocking how short-sighted people were about this. So many pro-rail people showed up thinking "we'll turn this into a commuter or tourist thing", with so many people overlooking the fact that a huge amount of capex would have taken to make this safe for trains again (e.g. some of the more decrepit trestles and bridges need to be replaced, fine for bikes, irresponsibly risky for trains).

I love train commuting just as much as anyone, but this train simping was infuriating when we could've had a fantastic easy bike path, like the one that goes along Hwy 90 in Seattle towards the mountains.

It really seems like we deserve the stroady fate we're hurtling towards in California. NIMBYs and ridiculous zoning will rule the day, until everything is just broken :(

[0] https://ballotpedia.org/Santa_Cruz_County,_California,_Measu...