East Commuter Corridor Study

[Spartan]

My understanding is that Phase 1 of expansion includes all of the above:

North: Route 1 - Commuter Rail via BNSF to Edmond [$360M/$5M/1,970 :: High-end Capital Cost/O&M/Daily Ridership]
Route 3 - Street Car via Classen to 63rd/Classen (Hopefully to a similar station as Route 1) [$830M/$3.5M/3,300]

South: Route 2 - Commuter Rail via BNSF [$410M/$5.5M/3,060]

East: Route 4 - Street Car via Reno+Old Rail ROW [$440M/$2.5M/2,260]

Totals: $2.04B Capital Cost, $16.5M O&M,10.6k Daily Ridership

Interesting, I like it, but it seems to me that south is the obvious priority looking at those low-ball ridership figures. I didn't realize that the dialogues have chosen the existing RR ROWs? Is there a link to the GOCARTS study/proceedings?

If you study rush hour traffic patterns on Google maps for a length of time, you will notice that the worst congestion is experienced by commuters coming from the south in the morning and going back down south in the evening. Both 35 and 44 usually show up red, while most of the routes to Edmond, Hefner, and Deer Creek are really pretty clear of congestion.

Let's not forget MWC took a blow when GM closed the assembly plant and put 2500 people out of work. That doesn't include the many jobs that supported the work force at GM. To be fair, that will damage any city the size of Midwest City, and bring development to a halt. I think it's a big reason we see mostly '70's, '80's and '90's architecture (as mentioned by TEO9969 above).

Quick edit....and they were good jobs. I just looked at the census from 2000-2010. MWC had a grand increase of 371 people during that decade. Ouch.

That is still growth. I think MWC has an interesting "tale of two cities" within its boundaries. Toward the SW part of the city near I-40, things look pretty rough - although if you go deeper into some of the hoods, there are these really cute stone ranch/mid century houses that I've not seen concentrated anywhere else. Then toward Air Depot and points east of there, it's the fairly well-done Town Center and then large-lot, high-end subdivisions. Many hoods are probably losing population, and the fringes are growing slower (than Moore or Norman) because of lot sizes and topography, but the balance is still net growth - which is nothing to scoff at!