RINGING UP THOSE HOUSING VALUES. Streetcars and buses have comparable usefulness in urban transportation, but streetcars add curb appeal.

Mike Szilagyi, a planner for a Philadelphia company who maintains a website about the city's streetcar history, says the time is right for streetcars, which make downtowns more accessible and get people out of their cars. "A streetcar ride is more comfortable, more civilized," he says.

Streetcars work because they appeal to people who want to live in cities and are "proven to have the ability to attract investment," says John Smatlak of RPR Consulting, a Los Angeles company that helps plan streetcar projects.

The article opens with a favorable report on Portland, Oregon's streetcar. Yes, the streetcar might have contributed to a warehouse district becoming an entertainment district. As some of the district is in the free zone, a different incentive might be at work.