The latest blog poll yielded a measly 45 votes (a safe bet no one was stuffing the “ballot box”) and even those were split pretty evenly. There was no clear majority, with the top three options garnering within one vote of each other:

Would you use Zipcar if it was available at Rahway Station?
Never — gots my own wheels: 26% (12/45 votes)

Absolutely — go green: 24% (11/45)

Sometimes — when don’t want to deal w/ NJT: 22%  (10/45)

Doubtful — anywhere need to go, got other means: 15% (7/45)

WTF is a Zipcar? 11% (5/45)

If you combine the two answers that indicated some likelihood of using Zipcar, it was closer to gaining a majority (46%) than the two options that weren’t likely to use it (42%) — but not by much. So it was pretty much a toss-up; wonder if that would be enough support for Zipcar to consider it. Then again, it wasn’t anything close to a scientific poll, but as our polls go, still interesting. There were a variety of comments, both on the blog and our Facebook page.

Certainly Zipcar has its pros and cons and while much of the development in Rahway over the years has focused on attracting those who would commute to the city (and thus, perhaps not require as much parking), it’s important to remember that those people still will need cars because they’ll be living in New Jersey, where a car is still essentially a requirement, and not a luxury, unlike New York City. It’s not like they can walk to a major supermarket from downtown. And if projects lack parking, then perhaps Zipcar might address some of those shortcomings.

Thanks to those who voted in the poll and those who suggested the question.

You might have seen I’m trying something different when it comes to development-related articles not specific to Rahway that I come across. I’ve been posting them on Twitter and Facebook on their own, separate from individual blog posts. I might still tack on some light development-related reading to the end of blog posts. Let me know what you think. Among the posts shared recently:

* “Stalled construction projects litter the city”, from Crain’s New York Business.

* “Williamsburg on the Hudson:” Hudson Valley towns try to reinvent themselves with arts, Brooklynites, from The New York Times.

* City launches new effort to track buildings in danger of becoming blighted, also from Crain’s New York Business.