Modern Streetcar the Game Changer

June 11, 2014 Tucson's Modern Streetcar, I call it the Trolley, goes into service July 25,2014. Its been an interesting process watching it evolve as a service, and watching it transform neighborhoods. When we first moved to Tucson, there barely was a downtown Tucson. There was the Hotel Congress and the Screening Room on Congress Street. And that was about it. Of course there were other bars and some places to eat, but they basically catered to a select group of people who lived and hung out in downtown. But slowly over the past 15 years things began to change. The biggest one to start things changing was the reopening of the Fox Theater in 2005. Then slowly things began happening. More events and shows took place at the Railto Theater, after that underwent some transformation. The train depot was refurbished as a drinks and eatery venue. One North Fifth was rehabbed as an urban apartment building. As residences came to be available so that people could live downtown, more services moved in. Coffee houses, upscale restaurants, more entertainment venues, the University created a presence downtown with a building on Stone Avenue. The final piece of the puzzle is the Modern Streetcar. The initial start of construction of the Streetcar was disruptive. Many streets were torn up for a long period of time, traffic was interfered with. However, once the tracks were laid and the first cars started to roll on them for testing, the excitement started growing. It will be very interesting to see how this all evolves, its so exciting to feel like we are at the beginning of a new era.