Why Car-Crazy Cities Are Now Riding the Rails

With New Demands for Housing and Activities Downtown, Sun Belt Metropolises Are Rethinking How Their Residents Get Around

Rail tracks are being laid in the unlikeliest of places.

Phoenix voters recently approved a transportation tax hike that should provide decades of funding for new light rail lines. Dallas has more miles of light rail than any other city in the country. Los Angeles’s rapidly expanding light rail system has more riders per day—far more—than any other city in the nation except Boston.

Houston carries more light rail riders per mile—the typical measure of success—than any other place except for Boston and San Francisco. Meanwhile, Denver is building a …