The Metro light rail line currently runs through three cities, traveling 20 miles in length. Often, I like to talk about the areas along the line as a “city within cities” because I believe in the premise that anyone living near any of the light rail stops now has easy access to a ton of cool stuff. My friend Gene Urban recently wrote a blog post re-capping a talk that I participated in, along with Marty McNeil of Metro Light Rail, at the monthly Radiate Phoenix group. In that post, Gene quoted me as saying "The Light Rail is like a 4th city within 3 others.” While I am sure I said it, I actually like to think more of the future expansion of our system when there will be more than three cities involved.
Numbers rarely lie.
In fact, when I look at the ridership numbers for these early months of our “new” system in Arizona, it is pretty clear to see that people are using the light rail system for fun as well as a way to commute. As the people drive from Gilbert or from Glendale to attend a Diamondbacks game or a concert, etc., there are sure to be those that like all that the “city within cities” has to offer. The high volumes of traffic on RailLife.com’s map and restaurants pages, and our real estate and rental pages beginning to pick up some serious steam, are clear indicators that life along the light rail line is desirable. Our Phoenix light rail map is a good way for people to get a feel for what is around the area, and people really like the ability to search the restaurants page by station, or by category, etc.
When the real estate market was in hyper-overdrive, people would gladly buy anything they could mortgage and the banks made it easy to do so. Now, as lending guidelines change, prices adjust, many investors and the average Joe try to recover, and a market makes more changes, people once again have the luxury of location, location, location. In today’s economy, many people are looking for a lifestyle, a community, or a new way to get around in the Valley of the Sun.
In our “city within cities” there are a ton of homes for sale near the light rail line. (currently, over 500 homes for sale within 1/2 mile of light rail stations) For those choosing to lease/rent a home or apartment near light rail, the options are nearly endless, as well. Go ahead, check out what the “city” has to offer…
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