TeamMisha t1_j4tecl3 wrote on January 18, 2023 at 3:02 AM

Reply to comment by HEIMDVLLR in Left Hand Meet the Right Hand: New York’s Failure to Implement Transit-Oriented Development - Skynomics Blog by vanshnookenraggen

On topic, an interesting question for eastern Queens is whether people there such as yourself want transit expansion (I assume in your case yes). Half the boro is basically a suburb, especially the northeast around Whitestone and Bayside, it's all detached housing pretty much. I used to have a lot of friends over there, and the feelings seemed like they want it to stay more suburb-like, similar to many other areas that have opposed transit expansion (similar to north Astoria blocking previous N expansion attempts, and Staten Island as a whole). TOD by design would expand density wherever transit expands to, which seems very anathema to many suburban dwellers. This feeds into the concept of should these areas even exist as they do now, is logical to have such low density housing within city limits? Some would argue building an expensive subway for detached houses is a waste of money unless you upzoned, so it's an interested proposition.

HEIMDVLLR t1_j4tqle2 wrote on January 18, 2023 at 4:39 AM

The entire eastern part of Queens is full of detached housing. From College Point and Whitestone on the north side all the way down to Laurelton and Rosedale in the south side.

Extending the subway system further East is an option. The lines could follow the commercial streets, like Northern Blvd, Union Turnpike, Hillside avenue, Jamaica Ave, Merrick Blvd and Rockaway Blvd.

Jamaica Center, Supthin and the Van Wyck stations on the E train didn’t exist before the mid 80s.

Packed buses from Jamaica is a big indicator that people haven’t reached their final destination. Most still have another 30 to 45 minute bus ride. This is also true for anyone living in other parts of the city not within walking distance of a subway station.

Which is why dollar vans became a thing the further out you lived, but the city dropped the ball with that. So I can’t see why any one would oppose expanding it. Except racist NIMBY who “don’t want other city folks coming into their neighborhood”. I’ve heard this is the reason why there is no direct subway line between the Bronx and Queens.

The transit system likes to slow down or not run at all (Express Buses), during off-peak and weekends. That’s when the MTA really becomes a last resort option if you work late nights/weekends or decide to go anywhere.

Which is why having access to a car means freedom. You can work wherever and whenever you want. It also means a lot of time saved not waiting for the bus and train, or forced to go out of your way because there’s no direct connection.

There’s nothing like getting stuck far from home because of a service disruption. Like no Queens bound E or F train after 10pm. Or getting off the bus at Jamaica to find out there’s no Manhattan bound service.

There really should be a documentary about the 2005 transit strike, what Sandy did to the subway tunnels under the East River and how people got home during the 2003 black out.