Portland's transit problems stem from the fact that most of the region's job growth over the past 20 years has taken place away from downtown. On a given morning, there are almost as many commuters driving to jobs in the west suburbs as driving to jobs in the city. Of course, the light rail doesn't go to where the jobs are in the suburbs. Not without the need to walk considerable distances or transfer to a bus.
most of the region's job growth over the past 20 years has taken place away from downtown
I think that's central to the point of my linked citation.
People stubbornly insist on buying homes where they want to live, rather than where bureaucrats claim they should. For a transit strategy to have any success, it needs to address what people are actually going to do -- or at least not pretend that it is doing so.
