At the April 4, 2017 BOCC meeting DOLRT proponent Tom Farmer cited St. Louis and Minneapolis as a shining examples of light rail success.  [details]

Here are pictures of each city:

Note that each has numerous skyscrapers and an ample supply of water (the Mississippi River). 

Do we want skyscraper-like density built along the DOLRT route?  In 2014 Chapel Hill residents had a conniption when the Alexan building was proposed and later built on Elliott Road.  It's only 90 feet high.  A skyscraper would be 250 feet high.  Another issue is geology.  The downtown area of Chapel Hill is built on rock.  That could support a skyscraper.  The area on the east side of Chapel Hill has spongy soil.  Building a skyscraper on it would be far more expensive.  Developers would have to dig much deeper to reach solid ground.  I live in the Briarcliff section of Chapel Hill.  We have foundation issues.  [details]

Chapel Hill endured drought conditions during 2007-2008.  Thanks to OWASA, we're now better prepared for droughts, but we still don't have the good fortune on living on the Mississippi River.  [details]

What Tom Farmer did not talk about is the light rail story of Honolulu.  It has suffered massive cost overruns and is a debacle.  [details]

Light rail did not solve Minneapolis's traffic problem

[full story]

Light rail did not solve Minneapolis's pollution problem: 

[full story]