Now that dust has settled from last week’s symbolic groundbreaking for high speed rail in Downtown Fresno – a groundbreaking that didn’t actually include any ground being broken – people across the nation are taking a fresh look at the bullet train.
One of the most interesting perspectives came from our Josh Stephens, a journalist and commentator for the California Planning and Development Report, an online publication that focuses on the development industry and urban planning.
Stephens compared California’s plan for high speed rail with the line that already exists in Taiwan, and explored why California’s geography and development history make the bullet train a much more challenging project in the Golden State.
He also dug into the massive planning challenges cities like San Jose, Fresno and Bakersfield will face in designing areas around their proposed high speed rail stations, especially given the uncertainty surrounding the project.