Raise the Hammer

From your own link:

"Unlike the Red Line, Blue Line, and Orange Line, all of which run rapid transit cars and use stations with elevated platforms (so that the car floor is level with the platform and thus the cars are easily handicap-accessible), the Green Line is a trolley/streetcar line and has used a variety of trolley cars and light rail vehicles throughout its history."

let me break out the main point:

the Green Line is a trolley/streetcar line<<

Further reading of your own link will tell you that the green line did not start using LRT vehicles until 1976. Before then it was mostly streetcar/tram, and before that it was elevated rail.

So, the switch to LRT on that line in the late '70s was obviously one of the contributing factors of population growth that started in 1980.

Since you clearly refuse to read anything about LRT, or modern streetcars (which is the system that is being considered for Hamilton), I'll summarize the physical attributes that differentiate it from other rail based transit:

LRT: - At grade (not subway, not elevated) - Electric - Low floors (not like streetcars) with level boarding at stations - Adaptable (can run in dedicated space or in mixed traffic) - Scalable (can easily grow to meet increased demand)

It is much different than subway/EL in that it keeps riders (and their eyes) at street level. This is why development is attracted along the entire corridor whereas with buried or elevated lines, development is focussed at stations. It is also much easier to add stops along an LRT route if necessary (to server newly developed areas).

It is much different from streetcars in that it is faster, smoother, and offers at-grade boarding for anyone with mobility issues.

I really don't need to say all of this though, because you are simply wrong. You can cherry-pick the occasional rail failure all you want, but it will not change the fact that evidence from just about every installation of LRT shows huge development increases. And, most of the "failures" (in terms of realized development) are due to improperly designed systems (systems that incorporate non-LRT features such as elevated lines).