Transit Oriented Development - PhillyBlog

thunda · #1 (**permalink**) 03-01-2008, 12:11 AM

Sorry if these were already posted, but interesting articles from WashPo and NYT about development around rail stations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...022803731.html

Quote:

Too often in the past, board members said yesterday, land around stations was sold mainly to raise cash. The new rules focus on increasing transit-oriented residential and commercial development to encourage Metro ridership and reduce automobile traffic.

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"Transit-oriented development concentrates jobs, housing and retail around transit, reducing congestion, greenhouse gas emissions and sprawl,'' said Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) in a statement issued in response to Metro's action. "Over the next 20 years, population in Maryland is expected to grow by 1.1 million people. In theory, with effective [transit-oriented development], that growth could be accommodated within a [half-mile] radius of the state's 111 existing transit stations."

Quote:

Concentrating growth around Metro stations could increase ridership by 7.9 percent and decrease severe highway congestion by 4.6 percent, Porcari said, citing projections by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/re...yt&oref=slogin

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NINE years after it was officially created, the state’s Transit Village program has been extended to 19 communities eligible for grants and aid to revitalize the deteriorated neighborhoods around train and bus stations.

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The Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit offers companies an income tax credit up to the full amount of their rent for the first 10 years of occupancy in buildings constructed within a mile of transit stations in Camden, East Orange, Elizabeth, Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, New Brunswick, Paterson and Trenton.

Quote:

Under the Transit Village program, grants and assistance are usually made available directly to the cities and towns that are working with developers to create change in an entire neighborhood.

In some places, the state-financed Transit Village improvements have been relatively modest — commuter bike racks and “traffic calming” medians in Metuchen — and in others, they involve major improvements to infrastructure, as at the Rahway train station and the one in Journal Square in Jersey City.

Quote:

Kris Kolluri, New Jersey’s transportation commissioner, said that in addition to the public benefits of transit-related development, there was a boon for individual households.

“The average cost of a household within proximity of mass transit goes down an average of $12,000 per year,” Mr. Kolluri said. “In cases where not just mass transit is close at hand, but grocery stores and movie theaters and the like, household costs are alleviated further.”

phillyaggie · #2 (**permalink**) 03-01-2008, 12:47 AM

TOD is becoming fashionable in Dallas, too! In fact, more and more new development is expected to be around the current and future light rail stations.

The best and most comprehensive such style of TOD in Dallas area has occurred at Mockingbird Station.

There's an art-house movie theater (Angelika), a big furniture store (West Elm), several trendy restaurants and stores, and many apartments and condos, and still more are getting built. The transformation in the last 5 years has been pretty awesome, and I really didn't think something like this would catch on in SUV/truck-happy Dallas.

http://www.mockingbirdstation.com/

http://dallas.about.com/od/neighborh...ingbirdSta.htm

Is something similar in Philly possible/probable in the near future?

damonabnormal · #3 (**permalink**) 03-01-2008, 09:44 AM

I have long wondered when people in this city would wake up to the benefits of TOD!? The price of gas is never going back people... time to rethink some of the suburban parking lot/shopping mall business layouts. We need progressive governance for anything to really work though. Tax breaks if you refurb an existing factory building on a rail or subway line next to a stop, etc....

MarketStEl · #4 (**permalink**) 03-01-2008, 09:49 AM

One of the interesting things about the New Jersey program is that it might restore the area around Ferry Avenue PATCO station to its original state.

You can clearly see that in the early 1970s, right after the station opened, the Ferry Avenue station area became a small office hub. All those office buildings now sit abandoned; when I moved here in 1983, they were all occupied. This credit might help fill them again -- or maybe replace them with more mixed-use development.

eldondre · #5 (**permalink**) 03-01-2008, 11:11 AM

It's also worth noting that NJ and MD are two of the states with the MOST sprawl so before anyone starts down the "they're smart than we are," to some extent re-embracing TOD is something they HAVE to do. I wonder if littering Camden with prisons, mental health institutes, and letting it fester in its own incompetence were part of the TOD plan.

For PA, we have so many old, small cities I'd like to see them reconnected much the way Lancaster has been with the Keystone. I read their newspaper and it seems like things are reawakening there but I haven't been there to see it myself. That said, there are some good opportunities for new TOD's here. My short list is ARdmore (in process), Paoli (supposedly in process), and Fern Rock. anyone else have stations they'd love to see developed?

thunda · #6 (**permalink**) 03-01-2008, 04:51 PM

Yeah, I think developers should be given a very enticing FAR bonus for building car-free projects near subway/el stations in the city. It's ridiculous that there are parking lots and drive-thru fast food places around, say, Broad & Girard. The area around 40th & Market could also benefit from higher-density development, given it's proximity to Penn, Drexel, Presbyterian, and the Science Center.

Also, how about a BID around the North Philadelphia-North Broad complex?

CityMaps · #7 (**permalink**) 03-11-2008, 10:13 AM

Guidelines for TOD development ARE in the works 'round these parts...

phillyaggie · #8 (**permalink**) 03-12-2008, 07:22 PM

I just came across this new project under-development in northern Dallas. I have so given up on living in Dallas and so focused myself on moving to Philly that I've really not been paying attention to a lot of "good" development taking place or expected to soon take place right here. It's pretty amazing how outsiders and new residents of Dallas are bringing the best ideas from elsewhere (mostly the west coast and east coast but also Chi-town area) and demanding change here.

The Dallas forum I seldom visit had a link to this project, with the author proudly noting that he has contacted the developer to seek out best retail tenants for this place, and also wrote to Trader Joe's (nobody local to Dallas would know about a place like Trader Joe's!) and Pot Belly's to open new locations at this future site! That's what I call optimistic and "go and get it!" attitude.

http://www.prescottrealtygroup.com/index.php?id=263

The Lake Highlands Town Center will be a unique mixed-use, pedestrian friendly, “signature place” community.
Significant retail/restaurant development, with a variety of upscale residential properties.
Approximately two million square feet of finished land sites (1.6 - 2.0 million square feet of vertical mixed use development).
Plans call for approximately 1.3 million residential square feet, 300,000 square feet of retail and an additional 50,000 - 100,000 square feet of office space.
The property will feature rolling topography, mature trees, and natural creek setting.
Development will demonstrate a marriage between public and private financing working together to create a premier destination for one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in suburban Dallas.
Access to/from Lake Highlands Town Center will be convenient via the to-be-developed DART light rail station located at the northeast corner of the development. Structured public parking for DART riders, the “kiss and ride” drop-off, van pool and bus drop-off are also part of the proposed public improvements at Lake Highlands Town Center.

http://www.prescottrealtygroup.com/index.php?id=257
The Location: 69 acres of land inside LBJ Freeway loop, just east of Skillman at Walnut Hill in Dallas.

The Scope: 45-acres of net developable land plus a 20-acre park with a natural water feature.

The Opportunity: Lake Highlands Town Center will be a unique, mixed use transit oriented development with a combination of retail, residential and office uses [Here, I should note that a few similar developments have already happened, such as the Legacy Center in Plano, but they're not TOD due to lack of rail or bus connections]A pedestrian friendly “Main Street” promenade will be lined with shopping, dining and entertainment venues, all of which will be accessible via convenient on-street and garage parking. Outdoor concerts and live theater performances will be possible in the proposed outdoor amphitheater overlooking beautifully landscaped green spaces. Tree lined streetscapes and sidewalks and restaurants overlooking the lakes will create a sense of place for people to meet and stay.

The Timeline: Closing scheduled for Summer 2007. Demolition of existing structures will last approximately nine months followed by nine months of horizontal land development. Vertical construction projected to begin in early 2009 with completion scheduled in phases beginning in 2010.