M II A II R II K
Senior Member
Denver Rethinks the Modern Commuter
July 24, 2012
By KRIS HUDSON
Read More: http://online.wsj.com/article_email...AyMDIwNTAyODU3Wj.html?mod=wsj_valetleft_email
As Denver moves forward with a $7.4 billion expansion of its rail system, the city is looking to rectify what some see as a flaw in the original concept. The dilemma is how to encourage the development of dense, walkable villages around stations so people don't have to drive to use the system.
- After the system opened in 1994, planners built parking lots and garages around many of its stations to cater to commuters. That strategy put parking on land that would have been ideal for stores, apartment buildings and squares catering to riders living adjacent to the stops. As a result, there has been little of that kind of development around the stations to change the area's car-dependent culture, and riders commute to the stations from up to 20 miles away.
- Denver-transit planners now are becoming more flexible when it comes to how much parking they require near rail stops and where they put it. In the continuing expansion of the Denver rail system—which will add up to 122 miles of light rail and commuter rail lines to the existing 35 miles within the next 10 years—land adjacent to stations will be earmarked in some cases for village-type developments. Parking lots can be as far as half a mile away from stations in this these types of projects.
- "Maybe you lose some [riders] on the front end by taking some spaces away," says Mr. Sirois. "But you enable something else to happen with…development." Whether to cater primarily to commuters or to residents near rail stops is a pivotal question for mass-transit planners in some cities. Many western cities expanding relatively young rail systems don't have the density or "walkability" that has allowed residents in older, Eastern cities such as New York to eschew cars in favor of mass transit.
- Still, some of Denver's peer cities already have embraced this approach. San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART, and the TriMet mass-transit system in Portland, Ore., long have favored relegating park-and-ride service to their farthest flung stations in the suburbs. Meanwhile, they encourage dense clusters of apartments, condominiums and offices adjacent to their urban rail stops. The twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., have taken a similar approach recently. "Cities and transit agencies are getting a lot more sophisticated about the use of parking," said Marilee Utter, a Denver-based executive vice president at the Urban Land Institute, the research-and-education group focused on urban planning and land use.
- Yet cutting back on parking spaces isn't always practical. For that approach to work, basic services such as grocery stores and parks must be within walking distance of the system's rail stops. And other transit options, like bus service, must be available. That isn't always the case in fast-growing cities. "You can't just eliminate the parking [spaces] unless there is an alternative for people to get there," said Jeff Ordway, property-development manager for San Francisco's BART district. Critics ask whether Denver's change in approach on parking will chase some riders away rather than attract them. "So, they're going to make it more difficult to use transit in hopes that the real-estate speculators who use public money to build these things can flourish?" asks Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, a think tank in Denver.
.....
July 24, 2012
By KRIS HUDSON
Read More: http://online.wsj.com/article_email...AyMDIwNTAyODU3Wj.html?mod=wsj_valetleft_email
As Denver moves forward with a $7.4 billion expansion of its rail system, the city is looking to rectify what some see as a flaw in the original concept. The dilemma is how to encourage the development of dense, walkable villages around stations so people don't have to drive to use the system.
- After the system opened in 1994, planners built parking lots and garages around many of its stations to cater to commuters. That strategy put parking on land that would have been ideal for stores, apartment buildings and squares catering to riders living adjacent to the stops. As a result, there has been little of that kind of development around the stations to change the area's car-dependent culture, and riders commute to the stations from up to 20 miles away.
- Denver-transit planners now are becoming more flexible when it comes to how much parking they require near rail stops and where they put it. In the continuing expansion of the Denver rail system—which will add up to 122 miles of light rail and commuter rail lines to the existing 35 miles within the next 10 years—land adjacent to stations will be earmarked in some cases for village-type developments. Parking lots can be as far as half a mile away from stations in this these types of projects.
- "Maybe you lose some [riders] on the front end by taking some spaces away," says Mr. Sirois. "But you enable something else to happen with…development." Whether to cater primarily to commuters or to residents near rail stops is a pivotal question for mass-transit planners in some cities. Many western cities expanding relatively young rail systems don't have the density or "walkability" that has allowed residents in older, Eastern cities such as New York to eschew cars in favor of mass transit.
- Still, some of Denver's peer cities already have embraced this approach. San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART, and the TriMet mass-transit system in Portland, Ore., long have favored relegating park-and-ride service to their farthest flung stations in the suburbs. Meanwhile, they encourage dense clusters of apartments, condominiums and offices adjacent to their urban rail stops. The twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., have taken a similar approach recently. "Cities and transit agencies are getting a lot more sophisticated about the use of parking," said Marilee Utter, a Denver-based executive vice president at the Urban Land Institute, the research-and-education group focused on urban planning and land use.
- Yet cutting back on parking spaces isn't always practical. For that approach to work, basic services such as grocery stores and parks must be within walking distance of the system's rail stops. And other transit options, like bus service, must be available. That isn't always the case in fast-growing cities. "You can't just eliminate the parking [spaces] unless there is an alternative for people to get there," said Jeff Ordway, property-development manager for San Francisco's BART district. Critics ask whether Denver's change in approach on parking will chase some riders away rather than attract them. "So, they're going to make it more difficult to use transit in hopes that the real-estate speculators who use public money to build these things can flourish?" asks Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, a think tank in Denver.
.....