Regional Perspective Needed to Create Distinctive TODs
To successfully create distinctive transit-oriented developments (TODs), local governments will need to know how their plans fit within a system of other TODs along the corridor and in the region.
This was one of several lessons from TODay Workshop #3, titled Station to Station: Distinctiveness. The workshop, held May 22, 2007, brought both public and private sectors together to discuss strategies for attaining TOD distinctiveness.
"You are going to have more than 50 new stations. That is unprecedented. So, what is their individual identity? What is your strategy for your station area in a whole sea of stations?" asked GB Arrington, vice president, PB Placemaking, and one of the keynote speakers.
Attendees were advised to think about their individual stations in the context of where they are located within the region, within each corridor and in relationship to other stations.
The TODay workshops, planned in collaboration with the Colorado District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI Colorado), were designed to "focus the dialogue on some of the most relevant and timely information needs of our member governments," according to Jennifer Schaufele, executive director of DRCOG.
In addition to a call for a regional perspective on TOD, communities were encouraged to:
- create a shared vision for their station areas;
- organize teams to facilitate development;
- guide TOD while remaining flexible;
- educate the public so citizens are able to engage in productive debate; and
- marshal the political courage to say "no" to car-oriented development near TOD and "yes" to transit- and pedestrian-oriented development.
Two previous workshops were held in December 2006 and February 2007. Workshop #1, Timing is Everything: Phasing, focused on how the private sector phases TOD. Workshop #2, titled Making The Vision Reality: Financing, delved into how the public sector finances and invests in TOD.
The TODay workshops launched the TOD dialogue into the detail desired by many local jurisdictions, according to Renee Martinez-Stone of Perspective 3 and co-chair for the TODay workshops. "We encouraged a regional and corridor perspective; we involved the private and public sector in an uncommon joint learning and brainstorming dialogue; we focused the dialogue on how national solutions and ideas are relevant locally; and we pressed for action to identify new tools that should be pursued to fill the gaps in the TOD implementation toolbox," she said.
For the coming year, ULI Colorado and DRCOG plan to combine the TODay workshops with the ULI Best Practices series. Three ULI Best Practices workshops are planned that will feature a TODay style "after class" session for local government staff and elected officials. Watch for e-mail announcements of future ULI Best Practices workshops.
Workshop Reports, Presentations and Audio Files.
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