No one doubts the frustration among Issaquah Highlands residents. Commercial and retail developments are long overdue for those who were enticed by them to settle there in the first place.

There have been constant reports of Port Blakely and Issaquah struggling to bring retail to the area. But a recent quote in the Issaquah Reporter (“Green or gone astray?” The Reporter, Feb. 5) caught my attention. Resident Darcy Holder asked “What ownership can we take to make sure we get the type of retail we want?”

The problem for residents is that retail developments aren’t attracted by a “green” community or a “playable” community. They are attracted by the potential for business. Part of the potential depends on how accessible those businesses are. In a typical suburban community, there is one ubiquitous solution that retailers turn to for accessibility: Parking lots.

Parking lots are often taken for granted. What we consumers fail to realize is that they are not free. They are amenities usually provided complimentary to us by the retailers to increase the accessibility of their businesses. To retailers, they are burdensome expenses. They are even more so in the compact city blocks of the Highlands, which require structured parking, such as above or below grade parking garages.

The Issaquah Highlands is shaped around an “Urban Village” concept that promotes pedestrian-friendly developments. Theoretically, it should have removed car-centricity, but in practice cars still play a crucial role in Highlands transportation. Residential areas are simply too far from the central core to walk. That is why we have a Park and Ride. If residents are not able to walk to the central bus stop, how can developers expect them to access central retail by walking?

Instead, we have no choice but to drive, and as a result we place on retail developers the responsibility of providing parking accessibility which, again, is a substantial expense.

According to the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, the average cost of providing parking in the U.S. is $15,000 per space. The New Jersey State League of Municipalities states that the cost of structured parking ranges anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000 per space.

Last week, Judd Kirk from Port Blakely confirmed that the cost of providing structured parking was prohibitive. The Issaquah Press quoted him saying “If [Microsoft] announces tomorrow that they’re going to build here, we would have retailers banging on our door,” Kirk said. “They’d be willing to pay a lot more to be here, because they would see they could get a lot more sales, which means we could afford more structured parking.”

So going back to Darcy’s question, how can we attract businesses to the Issaquah Highlands? The answer is an incentive for businesses to operate here without over-burdening them with the cost of providing accessibility.

The solution: Port Blakely, the City of Issaquah, and Sound Transit should invest in a streetcar linking residential neighborhoods, retail developments, and the Swedish Medical Center.

Electric streetcars are not new-fangled novelties with hypothetical returns. They are internationally proven systems that have been successful throughout the Northwest and have been supported by both residents and businesses. They are significantly quieter and cleaner than buses and provide much higher capacity for long-term use. Unlike parking lots that provide accessibility to only limited numbers of businesses, streetcars serve the entire community.

A Highlands streetcar would link residential areas with the High Street retail core, the Park and Ride, and Swedish Medical Center, without the use of a car. It is the missing component that will fulfill the “Urban Village” concept.

The Issaquah Highlands, in contrast to Seattle or Tacoma, is largely undeveloped, which gives the City of Issaquah and developers the advantage of starting from a relatively clean slate. Rather than building a streetcar around existing developments, developers can build around the streetcar. They can reduce the cost associated with parking and turn what would be non-revenue generating parking structures into more retail space. We will then not only have a vibrant Urban Village, but also desirable high-density Transit Oriented Developments (TOD) like those being planned in Rainier Valley along Sound Transit Central Link Light Rail stations.

The long-term benefits are regional. By investing in a streetcar line in the Issaquah Highlands and promoting TOD, local residents will be laying the foundation for regional accessibility in the form light rail, which is already being planned in Bellevue. The Highlands Park and Ride could become the Highlands Transit Center. The vision for Issaquah Highlands residents commuting to Bellevue, Redmond, Seattle, and Sea-Tac Airport using only high-capacity rail transit could become reality in the future.

Investing in a streetcar line will significantly reduce the burden on businesses having to inherit the cost of providing us with accessibility. It will also give us a convenient alternative to driving in the Issaquah Highlands and result in increased property value. But most of all, it will attract even more residents and businesses to the community through its short and long-term accessibility benefits.

What the community has to realize is that rail transit is as much of a catalyst for development as it is a high-capacity transportation tool.

Jason Lu is a senior at Skyline High School. He has a personal interest in transit and development issues, and has studied transportation systems in different cities and countries and their impacts on daily commuting cultures. Jason has lived in Taiwan, and has traveled to Tokyo, London, and Paris.