Casey Jones, You Better Watch Your Speed

Urban rail transit investments rarely "create" new growth, but more typically redistribute growth that would have taken place without the investment. 

In general, transit investments and services are incapable by themselves of bringing about significant and lasting land-use and urban form changes without public policies that leverage these investments and the pressure of such forces as a rapidly expanding regional economy.

Oddly, the geniuses in the Portland area keep telling you exactly the opposite:  they tell you that fixed rail is a "linchpin" that "drives" economic development.  Yet the very studies that serve as their bibles state very clearly that public policies (subsidies) must be employed to "leverage" these "investments".    Moreover, a rapidly expanding economy is cited as an additional pressure component.

Unfortunately, Oregon's business-hostile attitude guarantees that the economy will not expand rapidly.  Oregon, in fact, often leads the nation in unemployment figures

So they spend billions of dollars on fixed rail projects that do nothing to drive economic development.  They spend more to subsidize any development at all along fixed rail lines.  They drive employers out of town - and preferably out of state.

Oregon.  Things look different here.