Being a European its odd that I agree with what your saying (cheerleader), I was never really a Steel writer as it always seemed to much hassle for something I was never going to see again, apart from on a flick, I tend to paint where I travel, therefore ill hit the tracks that I take everyday to work, or bomb the streets that I drive down.
However... as a cultural thing there are always ways of making sure people know you are hitting transit, in the UK when you do a yard there are always ways to see whose been there recently (New tags on the way in, bored bombing whilst waiting for the cleaners to move etc). Also there are still parts of the trains that will run (undersides, boxes by the wheels). I think your point about "critical mass" said it best, it would probably only take one or two people in your city to really hit the subway hard for it to become "flavour of the month"
In the UK Subways have always been highly valued, but it was only a few years ago that we had such a resurgence, a couple of people showed that Tubes could be hit, and could be hit hard. Mace, Nok and then Tox should you could absolutely smash just about every tube running.
This then had an affect that showed it was possible, this got a whole new generation hitting tubes and even got plenty of the old timers back out again. It all seems fairly cyclical to me though, the Police will make the yards even more secure, a few people will get busted and the whole "Yard" movement will die down again with the exception of a few die hards. Then everyone will go back to doing insides, or Tracks or whatever is the current buzz.
As a few people have said though, subways will always remain the highest prize, and a Whole Car is fantastic, a whole train is something I would show my grand children in 50 years time!
I think the reason the US / Europe argument always flairs up is due to a minority of people who won't attempt to understand the other sides view, People from the states who claim subways don't matter when there orgazaming over a freight that many people would class as easy as a permission wall. And also some Europeans who have this blind devotion to painting subways that 99% will never see the light of day.
Again a happy medium is what’s required...
