agave1114

I think the long-term solution is twofold;...and a freight rail bypass from west of Weatherford built in the ROW of a future outer loop tollway 

The problem is terrain and distance. Railroads can't simply be built with the same grade elevation considerations that a highway can. Trains are smooth metal rolling on smooth metal and that presents a traction problem. The cut and fill work from the hilly terrain west of Weatherford, over the hills between Cedar Hill and Waxahachie would be insane. The reasons railroads built where the did was because it was the straightest, flattest point.

Consider that just because there are fewer people living in Parker County than, say, Keller, doesn't mean we automatically have the right to bulldoze their property and slap a highway or railroad down. It never ceases to amaze me that we have no problem pushing everyone outwards with urban sprawl. Yet we have miles of empty sky over us.

^But to me, that's why HSR is so appealing, you get from population center to population center very quickly but don't spend a lot of time in the middle of nowhere.

Austin's statement points out something that is being lost in the discussions: "the middle of nowhere."

What many urban dwellers consider the "middle of nowhere" is another person's livelihood, heart, little piece of heaven, and home. Just because you see acres of woods and praries doesn't mean it's a lifeless wasteland. There are people attached to that land.  Everyone has a right to live a lifestyle they please. This includes those that want to live on 100 acres of land surrounded by nobody. Those who want to live 20 miles from the nearest grocery store. Those who love nature, and quiet; walking in their own woods, in their own grassland, on the banks of their own pond. 

The more we build out and add infrastructure (which encourages urban sprawl), the more these people - who contribute to our society and economy in ways most people don't think of - suffer. All this talk of regional mobility, HSR, more freeways is great when you already live in the city. But as someone who has long family ties to the country and small town life, urban sprawl is seen as a method of extinction for a way of life.

An easy answer? There is none. Maybe restrict development to already developed areas? Maybe we should be like Manhattan and build up instead of out (a good example is north Dallas).  But don't anyone reading this leave here thinking that these rural counties are less important. They deserve to have their home and property unencroached upon.  If we continue to allow the spread of our urban areas go unabated, we're going to lose what makes Texas Texas, and what makes America America.

I work in that part of town on a regular basis. There are resources galore for those who are want to get it. Many of them are doing the work necessary to solve whatever personal problems/addictions that got them there. There are many, though, who choose to live like that. Free food, free lodging, no responsibilities, free medical care, and somehow they get cell phones (no joke, just about all of them have smart phones).