The Innovation Coast of America is located in no other than the stretch of land between Brooklyn and Queens -- parts of New York City that for many years have been missing the presence of subways to connect them. But that all might be changing soon.

In an effort to develop those areas, as well as lure large companies like Amazon, there are plans afoot to create a streetcar system that would traverse the Brooklyn/Queens waterfront. The plans currently suggest that the program is developed through “value capture”, otherwise known as New York City kicking back additional property taxes on the streetcar’s route.

But the real idea simmering is not just connecting Brooklyn and Queens -- areas already served by the New York City bus routes, but by creating a replicable idea that could be scaled and repeated throughout the city, over and over again.

By doing this, New York City would be creating a roadmap to transform the city into a public-transit focused hub that would allow commuters to easily get between locations. As a result of this investment in infrastructure, we would see increased construction in areas that were previously hard to access via public transit and even more people moving into New York City, making our city even more vibrant.

A prototype of a streetcar that could be used in New York City was built by the French design firm Alstom, which created the streetcar system for Toronto. Of course, there are concerns with any kind of major investment project, and the streetcar idea is no exception. Some point to low ridership, or that building the streetcar system would make gentrification take place rapidly.

But Dani Simmons, a vice president for communications at the Regional Plan Association, suggests that if the streetcar system creates value for the community, that, “that value should actually go back in to improve transportation, to improve schools, to improve local communities, so that it isn’t going back up in smoke.”

The project would be paid for through the property taxes that are paid along the streetcar route. Instead of the taxes going into the general fund, they would be used specifically to build the streetcar system -- a way to truly invest the capital that New Yorkers pay, and would see an excellent return on their investment in owning property here.

Still, there are concerns related to future weather events. With Hurricane Sandy happening not too long ago, the memories of the devastation created are still fresh in people’s minds. While we haven’t seen a direct response to that concern, we expect that the fortification of New York City against rising sea waters would prevent the same kind of devastating flooding taking place again.

A Brooklyn native, Mary Michael, weighed in on the project, saying, “I think Brooklyn needs as many avenues for travel as possible,” -- helping the elderly and infirm traverse the city more easily. We agree. We hope that we see the streetcar project realized and expanded to help New Yorkers move with greater ease through this great city of ours.