It's important to remember that this is not a news story, it's an editorial. Letters to the editor allow folks to express their opinions in the newspaper (and internet) and has been part of what makes America great (my opinion). Of course, in 1957, if the PRR got out of the railroad business and went into the museum business we would have a PRR T-1 running on a test plant at 100MPH as a daily demonstration at the museum.

I think its important, when discussing the entire post-industrial/history thing, to look at one of the US test tubes on the concept - Lowell, MA, and since it is a streetcar operation under NPS it belongs here, too.

If you go back 20 years or so it was pretty much of disaster area, with a lot of high-minded civic concepts, government spending, NPS involvement planned, etc. Lowell failed early when the textile mills moved south, never mind to China, leaving a water-powered civil-war factory system behind.

We've been working up there the last couple years, and before that, it was 1995-6 when we last spent significant time there. Frankly, during that time, it was rather depressing, because while there were a lot of good ideas, the overwhelming feel of the place was still 'abandoned mills'.

But now, since the Hamilton Canal plan got underway, that is - believe it or not - the LAST big remaining vacant mill complex in Lowell. The rest are all redeveloped already. They are finally in a position in the City where there are no huge undeveloped tracts of post-industrial wasteland. The majority of the mill space appears to be condos, an artists colony has developed, and its really rather remarkable.

It's a very interesting and nice place to be now. My oldest son just moved to the area (hi-tech job). Your typical Lowell ex-mill space condo is selling in the $400-500K range. While development paused during the recession, it never completely stalled. It's still going.

So about the time that the debate gets going on whether anybody has ever successfully taken an industrial area, managed to revitalize it with government priming and private redeveopment, and still preserve the industrial character of the place, look at Lowell today. I know I was impressed. Oh, and yeah, the train tracks are still everywhere, and the project of linking the NPS system into MBTA continues.

But if you're looking around for examples of failed ideas and policies in all this heritage/preservation/redevelopment discussion, you'll have to look elsewhere to prove it won't work. Lowell, at least to this set of eyes, has succeeded wildly to revitalize an area that I wouldn't have given much hope for 15 years ago. And of course that doesn't fit the current mindset, so if you enjoy confounding preset conclusions the way I do, its a good study.

South End in Charlotte, Deep Ellum in Dallas, most (to come) of old New Orleans if they don't screw it up with local corruption, which is more likely than victory - and, that corruption is courtesy of the private sector exploiting the public sector by way of bought politicians, an obvious example of the Dark Side of public / private partnerships. Could go either way...... Georgetown Loop showed both the light and dark sides over the past 3 decades, but a different darkness not due to bought politicians. So, my "success" paragraph is devolving into the "both ways" section.

OTOH, Memphis? From my POV, Little Rock is still something of an open question, but it has been a few years since I was last there. How about the streetcar's success in Seattle followed by its eventual death by redeveloping itself in to the path of an art development? Too much success or a failure - of technology, vision, planning, combination?

Fascinating and very multifaceted collection of why blindly following any single philosophy as universally true or applicable is not practical, and therefore incorrect. Thanks Randy, keep them coming, there's much to be learned from what works where and why and what doesn't - right now.

dave