On 2011-02-17 17:30:09 -0500, (Doug Miller) said:

Urban rail systems in America disappeared in large part because after
WWII the automobile and petroleum industries saw far greater profits to
be made selling cars and buses and the fuel to run them, not because
streetcars weren't a good form of public transport.

.. and in even greater part because a booming economy made cars both
plentiful and affordable, and people decided they preferred the freedom
and convenience of private transport to public transport.

In part, sure. Now, throw in good highway systems (think Interstate, et
al), Levittown(s), the GI bill, and pent-up consumer demand unleashed
after WWII. Result: the cities emptied, and work, school, and shopping
all became more remote from the home. The car became a necessity
because public ransportation either did not expand to meet new
realities, or was actively dismantled (a la Los Angeles).

Indiana at one time had an Interurban system that spanned the state,
meaning that a salesman could live in Columbus (an hour southest of
Indianapolis) and still easily call on customers in Lafayette (an hour
norhtwest of Indy). Or you could work in Indianapolis and live in Terre
Haute. (God knows why you'd want to do that!) Try either today without
a car...

Some predict a "new urbanism" with suburbanites fleeing back to the
city -- you can see it in Indianapolis, with luxury apartments and
condos being built along Indiana Avenue* in what was until not terribly
long ago a stable and historic Black community.

*Immortalized as Leroy Carr's "Shady Avenue," and home to music halls
featuring such luminaries as Wes Montgomery, Lionel Hampton, and yes,
James Hendrix as a backing musician -- his only Indianapolis appearance.