I remember when Mount Diablo Road was the only way to Walnut Creek, where I lived before there was a Highway 24 freeway. My dad was a municipal finance consultant, responsible for financing the Oakland Airport, the Sacramento Deep Water Port, the Port of Oakland... With that background, don't you think I just might have the inside scoop on BART??? Sheesh.
When BART was built, the Bay Area was NOT densely populated all the way out to the burbs it serves like it is today. The whole point was not serving an urban area but to elevate the price of suburban real estate. In fact, the whole project was fronted by four developers who had bought the land for apartment buildings and shopping centers before the station locations were "officially" proposed.
The same thing is going on in the Central Valley today. What the heck do you think the whole Delta Smelt scam is about if it isn't to rip off the land from the current holders of water rights from the CWP??? I promise you, the "insta cities" along the "high speed rail" route are already on the drawing boards. It's not about connecting LA to the Bay Area; it's about building out the San Joaquin Valley.
I’ve been in the Central Valley. Its like a furnace in the summer. I wouldn’t live there if you gave me a million dollars. Not unless they can find a way to change the weather!