Living the TOD Lifestyle in Denver: Growing Transit and Affordable Housing

"Equitable transit oriented development (TOD) aims to prevent [rapidly increasing rents] by including housing that’s affordable to local residents in the development plan early on, and assuring that it remains so for decades to come," writes Hawkins-Simons.

The article details the work of the Urban Land Conservancy (ULC), working with Enterprise Community Partners, the city and county of Denver, and other investors to "establish the first affordable housing TOD acquisition fund in the country."

"The purpose of the Denver TOD Fund is to support the creation and preservation of over 1,000 affordable housing units strategically located near transit, as the region builds 122 new miles of rail lines through the FasTracks plan. ULC’s primary role is strategic property acquisition and land assembly, and they oftentimes partner with other organizations— both nonprofit and for-profit—to develop those properties. At times, the ULC also functions as a community land trust, by retaining long-term ownership and stewardship of the land, ensuring the property will benefit the community for generations."