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High Speed Rail: Live in the Central Valley, Commute to Work Daily in LA & Visit a National Park Car Free
Photo by time stands still via Flickr
Via CurbedLA, an opinion piece in the Visalia Times Delta weighs the positives and negatives of having a high speed rail stop in their Central Valley city. They question if they want to become another city's bedroom community, thus adding sprawl and losing precious farmland as people flock to the town with it's cheaper housing stock. On the otherside, it could be a two hour ride to Los Angeles or San Francisco, which is great for catching a dodgers game before heading back to the farm.
It could also be good for tourism, especially with the "Gateway to the Sierra" city's Sequoia Shuttle, a cheap way to get bussed to Seqouia National Park for $15 roundtrip (that's a freaking steal). The National Parks Conservation Association last year featured it in their podcast series about the park's air pollution problem:
Even without high speed rail, driving the three hours to Visalia it takes and then parking to be driven to the park (arriving is quite a spectacle, too) is a nice perk. However, there's one downside: you don't get to eat the amazing ice cream in Three Rivers, the town immediately outside the park.