5 ms·

> can't physically or geographically support subways or light rail Why? Genuinely curious, I don't know much about US geography

• qgin 16d ago
  It's the 2nd least dense large city in America. It has a population of San Francisco but across like 15x more land.
• pc86 16d ago
  There are a couple reasons (not the least of which is political will but that's a separate discussion). Jacksonville sits on a coastal plain and is almost entirely fine sand. You simply can't build a subway in that without astronomical cost. As for rail I'm pretty sure Jacksonville already has elevated rail in some places but ground rail would be difficult for the same reasons.
• pchristensen 16d ago
  Jacksonville (and most of Florida) is extremely low lying with a high water table, so sub-surface construction (basements) and subways are basically impossible. Structurally, it's a low density, car-based city so light rail (as opposed to busses) requires a lot of up front investment without the land use to justify it. At this point, like many US cities, adding effective transit is a chicken and egg problem with land use.