Transit-Oriented Development without Money?
by
Abigail Lundy
Market Common in Arlington, VA, is a great example of successful transit-oriented development.
November 17, 2009
Yesterday afternoon, representatives from communities in Virginia, Arizona, and California gathered to share their thoughts on transit-oriented development (TOD) in a session entitled, "The Road Less Traveled: Transit-Oriented Development from Conception to Implementation during Hard Economic Times." Highlighting their experience with light rail, subway systems, and bus routes, each panelists made a brief presentation before answering questions from the audience.
While dollars may be scarce, there are plenty of steps you community can be taking to explore TOD options now:
- You're going need a plan, so start envisioning what you want to do when the economy recovers.
- Amend current zoning districts and other planning strategies to make them amenable to TOD.
- Develop green building code to include energy efficiencies and other practices to compliment TOD initiatives.
- Consider incentives for TOD. In Arlington, Virginia, developers are given increased density options based on whether they follow smart-growth design standards, achieve LEED certification, or offer affordable housing.
- Streamline process for project approval. Time is money, and the more time you can save a developer, the more likely they are to want to invest.
- Engage citizens. People might not like the "d" word, but they do like all of the amenities that come with it. Get their buy-in by engaging them in thoughtful conversations around development. Make sure you stay away from technical terms and speak their language--they might not have an opinion on FAR's, but they can weigh in on the number of floors a building has or how it's designed.
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