The results are quite clear, rail transit can help to limit suburban sprawl and focus more development back into established areas. Any rail transit line in Rochester would most likely service suburban neighborhoods, and the same revitalization potential that would help the city would also help the villages served by rail transit stations. Also, many suburbanites are concerned about the overdevelopment of their neighborhoods. With the sharp rise of suburban office and industrial parks and retail centers, many suburban residents are facing traffic and noise problems that they never envisioned when they bought their homes. Many suburban residents are concerned that commercial development is changing the character of these neighborhoods for the worse.
Rail transit can help restrain over development of the suburbs.
Not unless the residents want it to change. Rail transit only makes it possible to increase the density of an area. If an increase in density is not desired, existing zoning laws would prevent an increase in density in established neighborhoods. There have been several studies done in cities that have introduced new rail transit systems, and there is no evidence that the new lines have increased crime in the suburbs. From a law enforcement perspective, it is much easier to apprehend a suspect fleeing on a rail transit route than it would be to find a suspect fleeing by car.