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Curious to hear thoughts on the best US TOD areas...
I would say Portland and Salt Lake City have some great TOD development from projects I have seen. Most new light rail lines are building TOD development now in conjunction with the light rail lines construction. Dallas has huge potential for TOD with a very large system but hasn't built much TOD yet.
There aren't any heavy rail subway lines under construction outside of Washington D.C. which you probably don't want to hear about and NYC which doesn't need TOD because the new line goes through Manhattan. San Francisco could use a lot of TOD on Bart which I don't believe has much.
I think a lot of the metros (especially the larger ones in the Northeast) have the advantage of having a ton of the infrastructure in place. There are dozens of suburbs around Boston, New York, Philly, etc. that used to be independent small cities and towns with railroads running through the middle. They've now been absorbed into the metro areas and have been reborn as urban suburban centers. Essentially, it's organic TOD. Old Streetcar suburbs are essentially TOD too.
As far as NEW TOD goes (or at least, relatively new), Washington DC stands out as sort of an American pioneer. Lots of TOD along the Metro.
Im extremely impressed by the TODs in the Washington DC Area. They seem to fit their surroundings like a glove and immediately bring vibrancy. I wish we had similarly successful TODs in the Bay Area.
I'm not sure whether these qualify as TODs (due to the development possibly having predated the transit), but the areas around many NJ transit stations including Westfield, Ridgewood, Rutherford and probably many others fit the bill.
Decatur MARTA station seems like a good TOD. Lenox Square MARTA station may also fit the bill, but I'm not sure which came first (the mall or the transit). Dunwoody MARTA can qualify as good transit-proximate development.
I think LA has a lot of major TOD projects in the works.
BART, while not on the scale of DC metro, has some decent TODs in El Cerrito, Walnut Creek, Downtown Berkeley (not sure if this qualifies due to development possibly having predated transit), etc.
I think TTC in Toronto has some great TODs. A lot of the North York area is built around TTC stations. Yorkdale and Scarborough Centre qualify is good "mall TODs." I think Vancouver has some very notable TODs centered around SkyTrain stations.
I'm not unique in noting that DC may be the model in this regard. Back when the metro was being built, neighborhoods pushed hard to have a station built nearby. I contrast this with my experience in hsotuon. When the second line of the light rail was being planned, businesses and neighborhood associations gathered petitions to PROTEST the placement of the line in their neighborhoods. Further local congressmen did their best to prevent government funds from being directed to Houston to fund the line to begin with Culberson says he'll oppose Richmond rail line - Houston Chronicle).
Location: NY-NJ-Philly looks down at SF and laughs at the hippies
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Originally Posted by 18Montclair
Im extremely impressed by the TODs in the Washington DC Area. They seem to fit their surroundings like a glove and immediately bring vibrancy. I wish we had similarly successful TODs in the Bay Area.
I agree, DC is vibrant in that area. Even more vibrant than what is found in SF.
As far as transit in Phoenix, we have lots of trucks. Some are lifted, some are 4x4, some are lowered with lots of bass. Sometimes when people are in transit in their trucks they'll see someone walking or on a bike and they'll yell something at them out the window or flip them off. We're very progressive here in regards to forward thinking transit.
If we are talking about per capita TOD, I would say Gaithersburg MD which is only 10.1 sq. miles might be #1 in the nation for TOD and smart growth development. Gaithersburg is home to two Marc commuter rail stops and a coming light rail line the Corridor Cities Transitway which will have 4 stops in Gaithersburg proper. Here are the different TOD developments under construction and a few that have not broken ground yet:
Crownfarm Mixed Use development for lightrail stop: (Under Construction)
Just for a frame of reference, most ridership for the light rail line will be going to the massive "Great Seneca Science City" anchored by John's Hopkins Universities New Research Campus. Science City is right outside of Gaithersburg city limits and will have 4 light rail stops.
Great Seneca Life Science City (Approved)
-4,360 acres development
-17.5 million square feet of development
-9,000 residential units mainly in high rises
-52,500 new jobs
-4 CCT light rail stops
A new light rail line with connections to the subway and a redeveloped waterfront east of 95
[SIZE=5]The Future of the Festival Pier
[/SIZE]The Festival Pier, located at the foot of Spring Garden Street on the water front, is one of the major focal points for the revitalization of the Central Delaware waterfront. The pier currently host a long list of public events throughout the year, mostly during the spring and summer months. But all of this is soon to change, with plans of establishing Spring Garden as a greenway from the Delaware to the Schuylkill, and increasing density around and on the pier, which will drastically change the programming and use of the site. Increased density will certainly make this site a 365 destination anchored by residences, live work units, and entertainment.
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