Here’s a question – Is it likely that a world class city will evolve just because an area is a profitable place for developers to build dense housing/retail, even when a public transit system serving that housing/retail area is non-existent? There are zero plans to add any public transit in Carmel Valley until 2035, and even then it’s only listed in the SANDAG documents as a possibility.
And does anyone think SANDAG will hurry up and implement public transit because of a development in Carmel Valley? It’d be nice to dream they’re that responsive to evolving needs, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Believe me, there are many residents who’ve been lobbying for years for at least a bus to go up and down Del Mar Heights Rd. We don’t even have public transportation for the 4000 students who go to the 3 high schools that are within 2 miles of each other on DM Heights Rd. It’s every family (or carpool) for itself, driving up and down DM Heights Rd. Crazy.
I can’t think of one world class city without a robust public transit system, but I can think of lots of cities with dense housing that continue to attract residents. These cities probably rationalize building these developments for the same reasons – the demand is there, let’s increasing housing stock so our kids can afford to stay, etc. Think of Orange County. Would you call Costa Mesa or Irvine a world class city? That’s where it looks like we’re headed without a public transit system.
But we can change that if we want to…just not by first creating overly dense housing and increasing our traffic mess in an area with zero public transit.
