Filling the Financing Gap for Equitable Transit-Oriented Development: Lessons from Atlanta, Denver, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Twin Cities
April 1, 2013
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Foreword
During the past two decades, transit-oriented development (TOD) has emerged as a powerful tool for creating liveable communities near good public transit through the development of dense housing, work places, retail and other community amenities. As demand for liveable communities grows, land values near transit increase, which can sometimes lead to gentrification. Recently, a particular approach to TOD has been gaining greater attention: equitable TOD.
Equitable TOD prioritizes social equity as a key component of TOD implementation. It aims to ensure that all people along a transit corridor, including those who are low income, have the opportunity to reap the benefits of easy access to employment opportunities offering living wages, health clinics, fresh food markets, human services, schools and childcare centers. By developing or preserving affordable housing and encouraging locating jobs near transit, equitable TOD can minimize the burden of housing and transportation…
Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and Employment
May 11, 2011|Center for Transit-Oriented Development
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Executive Summary
Historically, many regional transit systems were designed in a “hub and spoke” pattern, focusing on moving residents from relatively low-density residential communities to a single high-density employment center – typically the region’s historic central business district (CBD). In general, these systems have worked well for those workers with jobs in central cities. The effectiveness of this kind of system hinges directly on the density of the jobs co-located in close proximity to each other and within a short distance of transit stations.
Although CBDs and downtowns remain important regional employment locations, American cities have experienced significant decentralization over the last 60 years, as job centers have shifted from urban downtowns to suburban communities. This “employment sprawl” has helped to generate much of the traffic congestion experienced across regions today, contributing to over 100 billion dollars in lost time and fuel every…
Access for Value: Financing Transportation Through Land Value Capture
May 2, 2011|Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings
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I. Introduction
The worsening financial state of the federal, state, and local governments is a frequent subject in media and political circles. As discretionary expenditures, transportation programs likely face significant changes if they are to cope with spending cuts across all levels of government. These changes would require not only reprioritizing the use of scarce funds, cutting ineffective programs, and improving the performance of remaining programs, but also encouraging states and local partners to find other sources of funding for transportation.
Measuring accessibility is an essential tool in such a makeover because it reveals the benefits of a transportation system. Accessibility is the ease of reaching valued destinations, such as jobs, shops, schools, entertainment, and recreation. As such, accessibility creates value. Capturing some of this value would allow state and local governments to invest in the operations, maintenance, and in some cases expansion of their…
Metropolitan Business Plans: A New Approach To Economic Growth
April 12, 2011
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Introduction
In the aftermath of the Great Recession, America needs to move toward a more productive next economy that will be increasingly export-oriented, lower-carbon, and innovation-driven—as well as opportunity rich. At the same time, leading U.S. metropolitan areas—which drive the national economy—are mounting increasingly strategic, locally developed, and sophisticated initiatives to move in that direction themselves. And so the nation needs to take a new approach to economic development. Federal, state, and philanthropic actors all need to approach metros not as problems requiring programmatic handouts but as compelling investment opportunities for driving national prosperity. In keeping with that, the “metropolitan business planning” concept described in this brief proposes one approach for reorienting such interactions.
Metropolitan business planning adapts the discipline of private-sector business planning to the task of revitalizing regional development. …
Rails to Real Estate: Development Patterns Along Three New Transit Lines
March 21, 2011|Center for Transit-Oriented Development
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Executive Summary
This report documents real estate development patterns along three recently constructed light rail transit lines in the United States. This topic is important for local planning practitioners, transit agencies, community members and other stakeholders in their efforts to plan for new transit investments and foster transit-oriented development (TOD). Setting realistic expectations about the scale, timing and location of private investment along new transit lines is especially critical where new development is expected to help pay for needed transit improvements, neighborhood amenities, or other community benefits.
The three transit lines examined in this report are the Hiawatha Line in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region, the Southeast Corridor in the Denver region, and the Blue Line in the Charlotte region. The report examines residential and commercial development that occurred within a half-mile of stations along the three lines. Development is evaluated in the…
Understanding the Impacts of Transitways: How Light-Rail Transit Improves Job Access for Low-Wage Workers
March 1, 2010
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Project Fast Facts
The number of low-wage jobs accessible by 30 minutes of transit travel in morning peak hours increased by 14,000 jobs in light-rail station areas and by 4,000 jobs in areas with direct light-rail bus connections after the addition of the Hiawatha line and related transit network upgrades.
After light-rail construction, low-wage workers are locating near station areas. Hiawatha and related transit upgrades are estimated to have drawn 907 low-wage workers into the Hiawatha station areas. Out of the 907 relocated workers, 78 percent moved to areas near the Cedar-Riverside, Franklin Avenue, and Lake Street-Midtown stations.
The number of low-wage jobs has increased near station areas. Hiawatha and related transit upgrades are estimated to have brought more than 5,000 low-wage jobs into areas near downtown Minneapolis and suburban Bloomington light-rail stations.
Preserving Affordability and Access in Livable Communities: Subsidized Housing Opportunities Near Transit and the 50+ Population
September 30, 2009
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Executive Summary
INTRODUCTION
A livable community has affordable and appropriate housing, supportive features and services, and adequate mobility options for people, regardless of age or ability. As communities address the general shortage of affordable housing, preserving affordable housing in transit-oriented developments (TODs) is one of the challenges that communities can address to increase their livability.
TODs are compact, walkable, mixed-use communities that are developed around high-quality public transportation. Residents often prize these places for the advantages created by the proximity to transportation and other amenities. One consequence of this desirability is that it can increase land and property values, exacerbating housing affordability challenges.
As policymakers try to extend the benefits of TODs to affordable housing locations, they must ensure that those benefits are available to people of low and moderate incomes and to those with different mobility…
Empowerment Zone Designation and Community Economic Development in Minneapolis, MN
May 8, 2009|Geography Department, Macalester College
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Abstract
The Empowerment Zone is a federal program designed to incentivize investment in economically blighted communities. The Empowerment Zone provides a combination of federal grant money for community development initiatives along with tax incentives for private-sector firms that locate in zone areas. This study explores the effects of Empowerment Zone designation on community economic development in Minneapolis, MN. The project employs both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to study the Empowerment Zone. GIS mapping and analysis explores changes in socio-demographic characteristics of Zone neighborhoods. Meanwhile, interviews with community stakeholders and government officials provide insight into the Empowerment Zone planning and implementation process. The Minneapolis Empowerment Zone program was able to bolster community development projects over the course of its existence, but it did not succeed in dramatically improving the employment options of zone residents or…
Realizing The Potential: One Year Later -- Housing Opportunities Near Transit In A Changing Market
January 1, 2009|Federal Transit Administration
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An update to “Realizing the Potential” study for the FTA and HUD, which assessed strategies to promote mixed-income housing along transit corridors in Boston, Charlotte, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver and Portland.
Twin Cities CTLUS Initiatve: Identifying and Evaluating Regionally Significant Walkable Urban Places
January 1, 2009|Urban Land Institute
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CTOD report provides methodology for assessing and boosting the walkability of existing activity centers. As demographic trends, quality of life concerns, and personal preferences shift, more and more residents of the Twin Cities region are looking to live in walkable neighborhoods with access to shops and services and alternatives to driving. These demands—also seen in national trends—will form an ever-greater segment of the real estate market in the coming decades. Responding to these trends will be necessary to preserve the economic strength and competitiveness of the Twin Cities region.
