from the editor
For streetcars, a new desire
I
f you’re around long enough, you see lots of things go out of style and then become fashionable again. John G. Gabbert, a retired appellate court justice, has experienced that many times during his 103 years. He grew up in Riverside, and as a kid he would ride electric streetcars all over — to downtown where he would spend part of the day, to Claremont for orthodontist appointments, to Los Angeles to visit his grandmother. “They were a very efficient mode of transportation,” he says. Not seen around here since about the middle of the last century, it appears that streetcars are due for a return engagement. In his State of the City address, Mayor Rusty Bailey called them part of “Riverside’s transportation future.” While details of their rollout are far
6 | riversidethemag.com | february-march 2013
RIVERSIDE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM
A streetcar on Riverside’s Main Street, circa 1915
from finalized — to say nothing of actually locating and purchasing a fleet of streetcars — the plan is to have them connect downtown with the city’s universities, hospitals, neighborhoods
and retail centers. One of the lines is expected to travel University Avenue, essentially shuttling riders to and from UC Riverside and UCR ARTSblock plus other downtown venues. Sure, there are many other, faster ways to make the trip. But none come with the charm, elegance, romance and direct connection to Riverside’s past. There are many things we never want to see again — 1970s clothing and hairstyles, for example. Streetcars are different. Gabbert, who welcomes their return, has it right when he says, “I think their time has come again.”
Jerry Rice jerry.rice@riversidethemag.com 909-386-3015 @JerryRiceIE