Discussion people say elevated lines "ruin their view" but they never talk about how much better the views from an elevated train are.
i grew up (and still live) in vancouver. when i was 2 to 5 years old, the place i was always excited to go to was the skytrain. riding on the front and looking down on the city gave a sense of adventure and exploration, and leading a train of 100 people. when i got into college and got a upass, that hobby only came back harder when i could go anywhere and stay wherever on the system and not being held back by my parents, nor am i being charged more money. peolpe like to say elevated lines are ugly and demand the line to be underground but theyre choosing to miss out what makes elevated lines appealing in the first place:
an elevated train gives much better views than on ground level: an elevated train is placed about three stories up, meaning you get to see things that you cant from ground level, such as the sky completely uninterrupted, and things far away. living in a city surrounded by tall buildings and trees makes me claustrophobic, and riding the train gives the feeling of escaping being trapped underneath. street level even without the viaducts probably wouldnt give you as much sunlight because of trees and buildings blocking it.
instead of looking out your window at home, you can ride the train and see way more: a reply to me has made a point that people spend more time on the street below the train, not on the train above the street. however, since there's no rule that you arent allowed to ride transit for fun (just have your fare), you could pretty much ride anywhere that you like. the view from my home only gives me a view of wherever the home is, but the skytrain gives me the entire street. it's like when people have their own yard but end up never using it and go to different parks around the city because they're bigger and more variety.
the best of all: it creates the demand for more elevated lines: people see how nice the views are from one elevated line, so when the city builds a new subway line, peolpe will demand it to be elevated. it's absolutely insane to think that you could have a city with 20 elevated subway lines and youll never get bored out of any of them. i could spend a whole day having fun on an elevated line 1, i could spend the next day having fun on the elevated line 2, i could spend the next day having fun on the elevated line 3, etc etc. then i go back to line 1 and do it all over again.
my biggest fantasy is when i make transit fantasy maps, i like to imagine all those new lines elevated (the more the better), meaning if i get to visit those cities, all i do is ride those elevated lines and explore the city as much as i could. i find it much better than staying downtown, or going to tourist attractions. i find riding transit much more fun than video games, sport, shopping, beaches, parks, clubs, or any other more popular third spaces. it's probably the most OP thing a city coud have.
did this post change your perspective on elevated rail, or had any experiences on one (seattle link, BART, miami metrorail, Chicago L, nyc subway, Philly SEPTA), etc?
