A Decade-Plus in the Making—Transit Village Comes to a Posh Bay Area Suburb

Earlier this week, BART and Walnut Creek officials "helped kick off a long-planned 'transit village' project that will include not only the added [900-stall BART] parking and [600 new] apartments but 12,000 square feet of retail space," reports Sam Richards.

The premise of the article is whether the new development will be a help or a hindrance to the city's congestion. BART officials and the developer of the project say transit oriented development will reduce traffic.

The article includes more details about the project, which was first presented in draft form by Walnut Creek planners in 2005.

The Walnut Creek transit village isn't the only transit oriented development coming soon to the suburban reaches of the BART system. "BART board member [Rebecca] Saltzman said the Walnut Creek Transit Village will be the newest of several others either already online (Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre, BART Coliseum) or farther along in planning or construction (San Leandro, El Cerrito). BART’s formal goal, she said, is for 20,000 new housing units near its stations by 2040," according to Richards.