To be clear, I think the responsibility is totally Scio’s on this–I’m not suggesting that Ann Arbor build us a transit system.

Scio doesn’t really have a “downtown” but, oddly enough, has a DDA, centered on the Jackson and Zeeb area, with a corridor along Jackson. There are some pretty good sized businesses there (Meijer and Lowe’s are the biggest, but also places like Quality 16 and Comcast), that draw workers from Ann Arbor and Ypsi, and it’s not easy for the ones without cars to get to work. I gave a woman a ride one day who took the bus out to Wagner and Jackson and then walked three miles to work at Metzger’s (Jackson and Zeeb) every day. I’m sure she’s not the only one to make that. If the Scio DDA really wants commercial development, it would really make sense for them to advocate for (or fund) transit, just so employees could get to work.

Scio’s not really likely to become another Pittsfield soon–any intensive development is really restricted to the pretty narrow water/sewer district–so I don’t think pushing transit out another three miles is like to create a lot more sprawl. What it would do is knit things together a little more tightly with Ann Arbor.