(Michael Moose/Glaserworks)

Terrence Mann said “If you build it, they will come”; I once said at a public meeting about a Toronto streetcar line that “investment follows infrastructure.” Portland proved it; 10,000 residential units have been built and $3.5 billion has been invested within two blocks of its streetcar line since it opened.

Bob Driehaus writes in the IHT:

At least 40 other cities are exploring streetcar plans to spur economic development, ease traffic congestion and draw young professionals and empty-nest baby boomers back from the suburbs, according to the Community Streetcar Coalition, which includes city officials, transit authorities and