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Pittsburgh Looks to Transit For Rebirth

Posted by: Nate Berg

13 January 2009 - 5:00am

Officials in Pittsburgh are hoping that expanding transit-oriented development will spur growth in struggling and decaying neighborhoods -- and they have the voter-approved legislation to help.

"Can railcars and buses be engines of rebirth for those and other struggling communities? A growing body of planners, nationally and locally, thinks so."

"They have embraced a concept they call transit-oriented development, the aim of which is to create and sustain walkable neighborhoods with a mix of housing and retail development and transit hubs -- light-rail or busway stations -- at their core."

"The General Assembly in 2004 enacted legislation to promote development around transit hubs."

"It allows for creation of Transit Revitalization Investment Districts -- zones within a half-mile radius of those hubs -- where increased tax revenues from development can be earmarked for transit, infrastructure and streetscape improvements."

"Several efforts are under way locally to create such zones."

Full Story: Can transit grow neighborhoods?
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 12, 2009
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If hundreds of people in your community raised reasonable concerns about a planning program you developed, how would you respond? Perhaps you might call a community meeting, or ask community elected officials to reach out to community leaders.
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