Maybe the kids will finally stop spray-painting people's redwood fences. They'll have trains to adorn with graffiti instead, just like the big cities.

Street performers can move off crowded, steamy Waikiki sidewalks and onto air-conditioned train cars. They'd have a captive audience rather than distracted tourists and annoyed shopkeepers.

Maybe the bad drivers and beat-up cars will disappear from our roadways with a more reliable, affordable transportation option than grampa careening in his rusty Datsun to doctor appointments.

This could also affect the huge problem of Honolulu's homeless population taking over public beaches. They can spend the night riding the rails, just like in big Mainland cities. Government has been accused of just shuffling the problem around from place to place anyway. And people sleep like babies with the rocking of a railcar.

This whole rail transit system could solve so many of Honolulu's urban problems. Solving the traffic nightmare is just a start.

All of the Leeward and 'Ewa land can be crammed with houses — duplexes and triplexes and even multiplex units with extra " 'ohana" bedrooms where the garages used to be. You don't need a car if you can zoom into the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet on a train. Their neighborhoods may become insanely dense, but there won't have to be six cars per family clogging the roads.

And if folks don't keep cars parked all up and down their residential streets, car thieves won't have anything to steal. They won't have anything to zoom Fast and Furious through Pearl City. Thieves will have to resort to jumping commuters for their rail passes instead, and where's the fun in that?

Honolulu will solve so many urban problems with a rail system. Of course, those solutions come with their own problems, but at least they'll be new problems, not the same old frustrations.

The revelation last week of what a mass-transit system could look like was a big reality check. You look at those pictures and there's no pretending. Yeah, that thing is big and tall and just BAM! Out there. There's no hiding a train.

There's no hiding the current situation, either.

Hawai'i is marketed as an island paradise, but that image is shattered from the first glimpse of the city from the airplane. Honolulu isn't a quaint, exotic little town anymore. This is a big city. Maui isn't far behind and Kaua'i has its own Wal-Mart, for goodness sake.

The tropical hideaway is pau.

Just look at the "before" shots of the areas where the rail system would run. Not exactly scenic. Downtown Kalihi, while culturally colorful, is not what most would term visually appealing.

So bring on the rail. Might as well. Not like anybody is going to de-crowd or unurbanize Honolulu anyway.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.