What is interesting about the renaissance of light rail to me is that for many cities it's a restoration of how the city was originally designed. Relatively mo

What is interesting about the renaissance of light rail to me is that for many cities it's a restoration of how the city was originally designed. Relatively modern cities, especially north american ones, would have grown along with the tram network, adding on "streetcar suburbs" as the city grew. For example if a neighbourhood comprises of one major street lined with commercial with residential everywhere else, that was likely once a streetcar line. At some point these cities threw out the trams and replaced them with buses and cars, but these cities weren't designed for that infrastructure. Newer cities that are designed around cars are unwalkable stripmall deserts. It will be much more difficult to turn these into walkable transit oriented communities.