Development around high-quality public transit creates vibrant communities. Concentrating housing and jobs near public transport helps reduce commuting distances, make public transport financially sustainable, and stimulate economic activity.
Equitable TOD can be achieved using various strategies, including setting explicit affordable housing goals and requirements, engaging the community, and offering discounted land for affordable development projects – see this resource page for examples from Washington cities like Tukwila.
High-Density Development
High density housing brings people closer to public transportation, helping to reduce car dependency and support sustainable mobility. Furthermore, it can increase affordable homes in regions where land resources are limited.
Residents may worry about high-density developments and their effects on quality of life. But density’s benefits outweigh its downsides if developed in an appropriate location; near transit stations or near services and stores that can be easily reached on foot. Living and working close to transit is proven to boost social and economic productivity while encouraging innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurship.
Walkable Communities
Walking to work, school or the grocery store can be an economical and healthy form of transport that saves energy costs while increasing activity levels. Walking can bring additional environmental benefits as it provides cleaner air pollution results as well as providing greater physical fitness benefits for its users.
TODs (transit oriented developments, or TODs for short) typically consist of high density, pedestrian friendly development clustered within 1/4 to 1/2 miles (400 to 800 m) of public transit stations, creating effective walksheds and eliminating “last mile” issues by connecting walking with mass transit services.
Communities designed with walkability in mind must feature a range of housing types – including missing-middle properties that offer affordability and diversity – along with complete streets that prioritize walking over motor vehicles.
High-Quality Public Spaces
Ideal, residents should have easy access to the amenities needed in their community within walking distance, which reduces reliance on automobiles while encouraging healthier lifestyles and conserving energy and resources while mitigating environmental impact.
TOD neighborhoods boast vibrant local small businesses that attract more people to the area and help boost economic vitality, leading to greater tax revenue that can be reinvested back into city services and infrastructure, further benefiting all.
Many TOD neighborhoods prioritize high-quality public spaces, such as parks and pedestrian streets, which promote sustainable, natural urban forestry practices. One such TOD community that excels in this regard is New York City’s High Line park, which repurposes an old railway line into an eye-catching linear park. Furthermore, several TOD communities are planting Silva Cells as part of sustainable, natural urban forestry strategies.
Economic Vitality
Economic vitality is at the core of every community’s economy and essential for long-term success. Economic vitality entails making sure businesses thrive, property values rise and local investments take root in an area.
Transit-oriented development (TOD) can be an invaluable way of strengthening economic vitality. By placing amenities close to jobs and decreasing overall commuting costs, TOD has an immediate positive effect on household budgets.
Equitable TOD (Transition to Opportunity-Rich Development) is an approach to planning that specifically meets the needs of low-income residents and communities of color in order to prevent displacement while creating healthy neighborhoods full of opportunity. Discover its underlying principles and considerations that take TOD beyond theory to practice.
Equity
TOD (Transit-Oriented Development) may bring great economic opportunities for residents living nearby train and bus stations; however, its implementation must be equitable to avoid increasing housing costs and businesses fees while leading to gentrification, displacement of low-income residents in those neighborhoods, gentrification or displacement of them as a whole.
Equitable transit-oriented development (eTOD) emphasizes community engagement and affordable housing during its planning process, so that people can reap all of the advantages associated with living near transit: stronger economy, reduced traffic congestion, better health outcomes, less car use etc. Furthermore, this development helps meet greenhouse gas reduction goals while at the same time decreasing inequality between localities.
Sustainability
Sustainability refers to our efforts to reduce our environmental footprint. It includes activities such as installing solar panels or riding bicycles to save energy use; using renewable sources of power like wind or solar; as well as strategies that mitigate climate change, pollution and deforestation.
Transit-oriented development is an essential element of sustainable urban communities that offers residents access to amenities within walking distance, reducing reliance on their carbon-emitting cars for transportation needs.
However, without equitable measures in place, TOD can exacerbate inequality and price low- and moderate income households out of the market. Our research highlights a monopolization trend observed near central station areas as evidence of the need for equitable TOD (eTOD). This presents smart growth advocates as well as those working toward climate-resilient communities a significant challenge.