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Committed to transit-oriented development

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The Trump administration has decided to discontinue support for our TOD technical assistance program. While it’s unfortunate to lose a federal partner for this work, our team at Smart Growth America is still deeply committed to transit-oriented development, and to providing technical assistance to communities across the country. TOD is central to so much of what smart growth is about: creating economically sustainable, environmentally sound, and socially equitable communities. With or without federal funding, we will continue to apply our expertise working with and for communities on TOD through other channels.

The clear benefits of compact, transit-oriented growth

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The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) expects the Columbus area to grow to 3 million people by 2050, up from about 2.4 million today. To accommodate that growth, MORPC developed a long-range plan—insight2050—in 2014, which called for studying the potential of high-capacity transit corridors to see how they would be affected by various development patterns.

Developer goes to the state to avoid city deal

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South of The Loop in Chicago, a developer is eyeing the rail yard across from Soldier Field as the site for the city’s next mega development. The project, called One Central, has been the talk of the town and is in the middle of big discussions about what role the developer, the city, and the state play in building a major transit hub.

Economic mobility drives Charlotte’s new TOD zoning

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Charlotte is booming. Since 2003, upwards of 12,000 new housing units have opened along the LYNX Blue line. But when planners went back to look at the development over the last decade, they weren’t entirely satisfied with the results. So the city decided to create new TOD zoning that would better reflect the needs and context of different stations as we hear on this month’s episode of Building Better Communities with Transit.

Thousands of new homes along frequent commuter rail

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Denver’s newest commuter rail line— the G Line—connects Union Station with the northwest suburbs of Arvada and Wheat Ridge. With 15 minute headways between 6 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., the line is expected to attract thousands of riders from the thousands of planned, under construction, or completed housing units along its path.

Does new transit actually cause displacement?

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New research out of the University of North Carolina (UNC) is calling into question the widespread assumption that newly constructed transit lines cause the displacement of low-income residents near stations.

Laying the groundwork for Union Station redevelopment

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One hundred and fifty years after the completion of the transcontinental railroad near Ogden, Utah, the city hopes to use the celebration of the railroad’s milestone to jump start development around Union Station that will incorporate housing, office space, and green space.

Getting the pulse of Richmond, VA

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This month on Building Better Communities with Transit we’re joined by Maritza Pechin, a planner with AECOM who works with city staff in Richmond on long-range planning. On the podcast, Maritza talks about the Pulse and the broader bus network redesign that was rolled out at the same time. In a wide ranging conversation, Jeff Wood and Maritza discuss how the new system is bring people back to transit, how the city might tackle housing affordability, and what big ideas the city is considering for the future.

FTA proposes updating Joint Development Circular

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FTA has placed in the Federal Register docket and on its website proposed changes to Joint Development Guidance (Circular (7050.1A). The changes would increase flexibility for transit agencies to pursue joint development projects, resulting in more value capture opportunities that help create value for both transit systems and surrounding communities. The guidance also would streamline … Continued

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