If you’re a regular reader, you know by now that we’re big supporters of high-speed rail. But at the same time we’re not blind to the fact that the numbers don’t always pencil out. So where would high-speed rail work? We think Chicago to Quebec City would be an ideal place for a high-speed rail corridor for a number of economic, social, political and environmental reasons.
First of all, the Great Lakes region is a $2 trillion economy. If it were its own country, it would be the 3rd largest economy in the world behind only the United States and Japan. There is no doubt that the region is an economic powerhouse.
The region also houses 2 of the world’s global cities: Chicago and Toronto. According to Foreign Policy’s 2008 Global Cities Index, these cities rank 8 and 10, respectively, on their list of cities that shape our lives the most.
But despite these successes, there are cities within the region that are facing huge challenges. Detroit and Windsor are the most obvious. These cities are in the midst of a painful economic transition; they need to reinvent themselves. What better way to help that process along than to connect Detroit with two of the world’s preeminent cities? Detroit would then benefit from the economic spill-over from both of these cities and, in return, Detroit would offer something that both Chicago and Toronto don’t have: cheap real estate.
“Any transportation investment can create large economic ripples only if it significantly increases the speed at which an area with cheap real-estate gains access to a booming place that doesn’t have any comparable, closer available land area. For example, in Spain, the city of Ciudad Real seems to have gotten a big lift thanks to high-speed rail because people can now live in Ciudad Real, where housing is cheaper, and commute into Madrid.” [Ed Glaeser]
From a political standpoint, an high-speed rail corridor of this magnitude could also be spun to demonstrate cooperation between the United States and Canada, and between English and French Canada. The Great Lakes high-speed rail corridor could be about something more than a powerful economic stimulus it could be about international cooperation and national unity — just like Canada’s first trans-national railway.
Finally, the Great Lakes region represents 21% of the world’s fresh water. This is a tremendous asset that needs to be preserved by minimizing the impacts of urbanization. Reducing sprawl (it has been argued that high-speed rail has a centralizing effect) and coming up with sustainable alternatives for moving people around the region is part of the solution.
Image: Flickr
