Portland Streetcar: The Boom Started Here Economic development from a new streetcar line. Portland was the first city to consider the use of modern streetcars as a means of redeveloping inner-city neighborhoods. Because there were no modern streetcars operating in the U.S., and therefore no point of reference, the City of Portland engaged the services of LTK to canvas European manufacturers to gauge their interest in providing a small number of streetcars. LTK and Portland representatives visited many carbuilders, first trying to identify any “off-the-shelf” streetcars that might be usable in the Portland environment. LTK performed feasibility studies and developed design standards for all of the streetcar’s systems. These studies covered all facets of the project, includingvehicles, tract

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