Given that Sound Transit 3---rail connecting downtown, Ballard, and West Seattle---won't be a reality for decades, Mayor Mike McGinn, a Sound Transit board member, has suggested that Seattle go it alone on in-city light rail, building its own rail lines with money collected exclusively from city residents.

Sound Transit board member and King County Council member Julia Patterson, who represents South King County, argues that light rail should be part of a larger, regionally funded transit system. Does McGinn's plan make sense?