reppin_the_847
Service Attendant
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2011
- Messages
- 166
I recently drove from Kalamazoo, MI to Atlanta, GA (spent a night near Nashville en route). And then did the return drive up to Metro Detroit (spent a night in Knoxville, TN en route) via I-75. And eventually returned to Kalamazoo a day later. I was already pretty tired when I made the initial drive southbound from Kalamazoo down to metro Nashville (had to get an oil change in Ft. Wayne, IN first). The construction traffic in and around Louisville, KY was brutal that particular evening.
During the roundtrip drive, I saw the following: an unbelievable amount of Illinois license plates heading down thru Tennessee and into Atlanta (I too am originally from the Chicago area / Illinois), during the northbound reverse trip to Detroit I saw a ton of Ohio plates just about everywhere along the drive along with a nice representation of Michigan license plates. And just about EVERYWHERE up & down the entire trip in both directions there were always Florida plates that would pop up alongside the native Georgia plates, Tennessee plates & Kentucky plates while passing through those states.
What I'm trying to get at is that Chicago has to be the feeder for the 2nd largest snowbird market into Florida after NY/NJ. Folks in various Michigan cities, Milwaukee (WI), St. Louis, downstate IL can easily connect to the Midwest hub of Chicago. Additionally, you wouldn't believe the amount of folks I talk to that aren't especially fond of flying. Besides, plenty of retirees are in no "hurry" to zip down to Florida and wouldn't mind a relaxing train ride instead of flying or even driving. Can we finally get a rail line to connect these particular cities?:
Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Chattanooga - Atlanta - Tampa - Miami
Every single one of the cities mentioned above (with the possible exception of Chattanooga) is pretty sizable and it's a complete shame that Louisville & Nashville completely lack Amtrak service.
During the roundtrip drive, I saw the following: an unbelievable amount of Illinois license plates heading down thru Tennessee and into Atlanta (I too am originally from the Chicago area / Illinois), during the northbound reverse trip to Detroit I saw a ton of Ohio plates just about everywhere along the drive along with a nice representation of Michigan license plates. And just about EVERYWHERE up & down the entire trip in both directions there were always Florida plates that would pop up alongside the native Georgia plates, Tennessee plates & Kentucky plates while passing through those states.
What I'm trying to get at is that Chicago has to be the feeder for the 2nd largest snowbird market into Florida after NY/NJ. Folks in various Michigan cities, Milwaukee (WI), St. Louis, downstate IL can easily connect to the Midwest hub of Chicago. Additionally, you wouldn't believe the amount of folks I talk to that aren't especially fond of flying. Besides, plenty of retirees are in no "hurry" to zip down to Florida and wouldn't mind a relaxing train ride instead of flying or even driving. Can we finally get a rail line to connect these particular cities?:
Chicago - Indianapolis - Louisville - Nashville - Chattanooga - Atlanta - Tampa - Miami
Every single one of the cities mentioned above (with the possible exception of Chattanooga) is pretty sizable and it's a complete shame that Louisville & Nashville completely lack Amtrak service.
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