M II A II R II K
Senior Member
Light rail produces a burst of development, but not everywhere
March 22nd, 2011
Read More: http://newurbannetwork.com/article/light-rail-produces-burst-development-not-everywhere-14344
PDF Report: http://ctod.org/portal/sites/default/files/CTOD_R2R_Final_20110321.pdf
The Denver, Charlotte, and Minneapolis-St. Paul regions all opened new light-rail lines between 2004 and 2007, aiming to enhance their transportation systems and at the same time encourage efficiently-placed real estate development. They got much of what they were looking for. “All three transit lines experienced a tremendous amount of new development†— 6.7 million square feet along the Twin Cities’ Hiawatha Line, 7.8 million square feet along Denver’s Southeast Corridor, and 9.8 million square feet served by Charlotte’s Blue Line, says a new report from the Center for Transit-Oriented Development.
- The 80-page analysis, Rails to Real Estate: Development Patterns Along Three New Transit Lines, says residential construction came on particularly strong. In the Twin Cities, 86 percent of the development near the 12-mile Hiawatha Line was housing. In Denver, 68 percent was housing, and in Charlotte, 54 percent. But if anyone expected development to crop up at every station, there was cause for disappointment. Transit-oriented development (TOD) concentrated primarily in areas that already had plenty of jobs or amenities to offer.
- Seventy-two percent of development along the Hiawatha Line clustered in downtown Minneapolis. Sixty-four percent of development served by the Blue Line arose in Charlotte’s downtown. Much residential construction along Denver’s Southeast Corridor appeared to be the result of being near the Denver Technology Center, a major employment center. Rails to Real Estate suggests why some rail-served locations appealed to developers and residents, while others didn’t. The answers vary from one metro area to another.
- While freeway adjacency provides increased accessibility to the area, it also poses major barriers to TOD. The exhaust and noise of the freeway limit the building forms and land uses of parcels that abut I-25 and the stations. New projects are often built in a way intended to mitigate these effects, forming visual and physical barriers between the freeway and nearby areas; unfortunately, because the stations are also next to the freeway, these also form barriers to transit.
- Pedestrian bridges have been constructed to enhance access to the stations from both sides of the freeway, but the presence of the highway limits the amount of land that is truly transit-accessible. Finally, the excellent automobile access provided by the highway encourages driving and necessitates the provision of a large amount of parking, which limits both development density and the potential for a vibrant pedestrian-scaled environment.
- In both Minneapolis-St. Paul and Charlotte, “the introduction of light rail coincided with a boom in downtown development,†the Center says. The downtown boom in these cities “appears to be in large part an outgrowth of long-standing efforts at revitalization.†“While the light rail was not a major factor stimulating development in these two downtowns, improved access to downtown entertainment and cultural amenities [was] an important factor making nearby station areas newly connected to the downtown attractive places for development,†the report suggests.
- “These condominium towers took many years to sell out, but have reportedly been very popular with empty nesters and second homeowners who value the transit, including accessibility to the airport,†says the report. The developer designed the project to maximize the benefit of being situated near transit. Transit has apparently not boosted the prices of the units, but it has been “a key factor†in generating sales, according to the report.
- The Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota recently found that near several stations of the Hiawatha line, the light-rail line had a significant positive impact on property values — but only on the line’s west side. The geographic limitation was attributed to the influence of major industrial uses and a four-lane arterial road, which largely cut the stations off from residential neighborhoods to the east.
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March 22nd, 2011
Read More: http://newurbannetwork.com/article/light-rail-produces-burst-development-not-everywhere-14344
PDF Report: http://ctod.org/portal/sites/default/files/CTOD_R2R_Final_20110321.pdf
The Denver, Charlotte, and Minneapolis-St. Paul regions all opened new light-rail lines between 2004 and 2007, aiming to enhance their transportation systems and at the same time encourage efficiently-placed real estate development. They got much of what they were looking for. “All three transit lines experienced a tremendous amount of new development†— 6.7 million square feet along the Twin Cities’ Hiawatha Line, 7.8 million square feet along Denver’s Southeast Corridor, and 9.8 million square feet served by Charlotte’s Blue Line, says a new report from the Center for Transit-Oriented Development.
- The 80-page analysis, Rails to Real Estate: Development Patterns Along Three New Transit Lines, says residential construction came on particularly strong. In the Twin Cities, 86 percent of the development near the 12-mile Hiawatha Line was housing. In Denver, 68 percent was housing, and in Charlotte, 54 percent. But if anyone expected development to crop up at every station, there was cause for disappointment. Transit-oriented development (TOD) concentrated primarily in areas that already had plenty of jobs or amenities to offer.
- Seventy-two percent of development along the Hiawatha Line clustered in downtown Minneapolis. Sixty-four percent of development served by the Blue Line arose in Charlotte’s downtown. Much residential construction along Denver’s Southeast Corridor appeared to be the result of being near the Denver Technology Center, a major employment center. Rails to Real Estate suggests why some rail-served locations appealed to developers and residents, while others didn’t. The answers vary from one metro area to another.
- While freeway adjacency provides increased accessibility to the area, it also poses major barriers to TOD. The exhaust and noise of the freeway limit the building forms and land uses of parcels that abut I-25 and the stations. New projects are often built in a way intended to mitigate these effects, forming visual and physical barriers between the freeway and nearby areas; unfortunately, because the stations are also next to the freeway, these also form barriers to transit.
- Pedestrian bridges have been constructed to enhance access to the stations from both sides of the freeway, but the presence of the highway limits the amount of land that is truly transit-accessible. Finally, the excellent automobile access provided by the highway encourages driving and necessitates the provision of a large amount of parking, which limits both development density and the potential for a vibrant pedestrian-scaled environment.
- In both Minneapolis-St. Paul and Charlotte, “the introduction of light rail coincided with a boom in downtown development,†the Center says. The downtown boom in these cities “appears to be in large part an outgrowth of long-standing efforts at revitalization.†“While the light rail was not a major factor stimulating development in these two downtowns, improved access to downtown entertainment and cultural amenities [was] an important factor making nearby station areas newly connected to the downtown attractive places for development,†the report suggests.
- “These condominium towers took many years to sell out, but have reportedly been very popular with empty nesters and second homeowners who value the transit, including accessibility to the airport,†says the report. The developer designed the project to maximize the benefit of being situated near transit. Transit has apparently not boosted the prices of the units, but it has been “a key factor†in generating sales, according to the report.
- The Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota recently found that near several stations of the Hiawatha line, the light-rail line had a significant positive impact on property values — but only on the line’s west side. The geographic limitation was attributed to the influence of major industrial uses and a four-lane arterial road, which largely cut the stations off from residential neighborhoods to the east.
.....
