On Tue, Nov 28, 2023 at 9:49 AM Virginia Goodwin <virginiahgood...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Regarding the issue of "we don't write discriminatory laws", I have two > examples off the top of my head: > > 1) Arlington refusing to allow the Red Line to go through is a specific > local example of laws passed to control (ie: restrict) all of those “inner > city” (ie: poor; ie: Black) T riders from besmirching the pristine environs > of their precious suburb. > I was a resident of Arlington at that time. I strongly disagree with your interpretation of what happened in the 1970's. The proposal at that time was to extend and terminate the Red line in Arlington Center. It was a terrible idea because the terminus of a subway line should have a large parking facility, a large bus station serving feeder routes, and good access to major highways. Unlike the Alewife site, Arlington Center had none of these. It would have been a traffic and parking nightmare to terminate the Red line there. What many Arlington residents were demanding was an extended Red line to at least Arlington Heights, and preferably all the way to 128. They were open to the Red line going through town, with one or two stations, but opposed to the line terminating in town. The most vocal opposition came from St Agnes Church, which would have been heavily impacted by a terminal built next door. There were multiple reasons for the opposition, in which fear of increased crime was certainly one. It has been popularized by some authors of academic papers as the primary reason for opposition, without any analytical data. My perception as a resident was that racial/crime fears were secondary. Most residents wanted faster, more convenient public transportation, but a Red line terminus in Arlington had too many insurmountable problems. That is why I and many of my neighbors voted against it. Don Seltzer
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