Transit Oriented Development

Developers on Long Island are hoping to build transit-oriented developments as a way of keeping young residents on the island and increasing the amount of affordable housing. But some local opposition is standing in the way.

September 20, 2010 - The New York Times

Study indicates that public transit improvements and more transit oriented development can provide large but often overlooked health benefits.

August 15, 2010 - APTA

Renata Simril, regional VP for national developer Forest City, describes the financing and policy mechanisms she sees as necessary to bring TOD to cities.

July 8, 2010 - The Planning Report

Plans to expand the Bay Area's BART system to the Silicon Valley have brought into question the future of a San Jose flea market that some want to turn into a transit-oriented development.

July 2, 2010 - The Wall Street Journal

A new report from the Urban Land Institute finds that California's VMT-focused Senate Bill 375 can potentially reverse the state's sprawl. Transit-oriented development is seen as a strong strategy.

June 23, 2010 - The City Fix

A debate is simmering in Los Angeles between transit planners, developers, urban planners, and community activists about the future of transit-oriented development.

June 13, 2010 - Los Angeles Streetsblog

Most North American cities offer only basic public transit service, with limited coverage and frequency, modest speeds, unattractive waiting areas, poor land use integration, and few amenities. Such service is used primarily by people who lack alternatives. In such communities, riders tend to abandon public transit as soon as feasible.

February 22, 2010 - Todd Litman

As planners, one of our roles is to help stretch the scope of what is considered possible. For example, between 1950 and 2000 most development was highly automobile-dependent, based on the assumption that almost all travel would be by personal automobile and other modes were relatively unimportant. This pattern is so well established that many people have difficulty imagining anything different. It is useful to help people understand the full range of options available, from automobile dependency to carfree communities.

February 8, 2010 - Todd Litman

City officials in Houston have unanimously approved zoning and policy changes that will encourage walkable development around the city's expanding light rail network.

August 21, 2009 - The Houston Chronicle

The Denver Housing Authority is planning on demolishing one of the city's oldest low-income public housing projects to make way for a new mixed-use, transit-oriented housing development.

August 13, 2009 - The Denver Post

As a planned rapid transit line gets closer to completion in Vancouver, there's a debate brewing about what sort of development should spring up around it.

July 21, 2009 - The Vancouver Sun

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) refers to communities with high quality public transit services, good walkability, and compact, mixed land use. This allows people to choose the best option for each trip: walking and cycling for local errands, convenient and comfortable public transit for travel along major urban corridors, and automobile travel to more dispersed destinations. People who live and work in such communities tend to own fewer vehicles, drive less, and rely more on alternative modes.

June 7, 2009 - Todd Litman

Transit oriented development is lacking near many of Philadelphia's transit stops, but new projects are bringing the city up to speed.

May 3, 2009 - The Philadelphia Daily News

This column argues that legislation to build a new stadium for Washington D.C.'s professional soccer team is also a move to jumpstart development around many of the area's transit stations.

April 11, 2009 - The Gazette

A transit-oriented development boom in Southeast Seattle is coming to a halt, as the economic recession sets in.

April 7, 2009 - The Seattle Times

The City of Denver plans to spend more than $15 million over the next decade to purchase real estate near mass transit.

March 1, 2009 - The Denver Post

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.

January 13, 2009 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Transit oriented development experts John Renne, PhD, and Jeff Wood recently fielded questions from Planetizen readers about TOD, its current applications and its future.

January 8, 2009 - Planetizen

While home values in the rest of the region decline, homes near Denver's light rail system have experienced an increase in values over the past two years.

November 3, 2008 - The Denver Post

Planners in Baltimore have unveiled a 30-year plan to remake its arts district into a mixed-use, transit-oriented, regional destination.

November 1, 2008 - The Baltimore Sun