I think that's what frustrates me about Cleveland and RTA (and NOACtion)--they don't see that they could easily buy into the Rapid and a commuter rail system as the skeleton on which to hang the economic development of the area.  There isn't any reason they can't--they just won't. 

 

I haven't had the "pleasure" of riding Septa in Philly, so I can't really do a direct comparison.  I can't say I've ever heard anything good about it, though.

It's not Ohio, but think of what some current "town center" style developments like Easton near Columbus could have been like had they taken the approach outlined in this story from Boston.  I know the area they are talking about and it has long-needed such an improvement.  All it takes is some developers with some decent vision and a sense for incorporating some of the natural elements into the project.... like access to existing light rail and passenger rail.

 

Mini-city would be an antidote to sprawl

Homes, shops, offices planned at rail station

By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff  |  January 17, 2006

 

WESTWOOD -- Two familiar names in Massachusetts commercial real estate are joining up to replace a worn-out industrial park with a $1.5 billion city in the suburbs, where people would live, eat, shop, work, work out, and hang out, right at one of region's busiest transportation hubs.

 

For more info, click the link

 

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at [email protected]. 

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/01/17/mini_city_would_bean_antidote_to_sprawl?mode=PF

Wow!  That's awesome.  I've been through there quite a few times on the train,  and have been amazed at how little development there is nearby.  Imagine being able to walk to the train station, and from there, take a quick ride to the Back Bay or South Station.  In the other direction, it would be a piece of cake to get to Providence, or you could catch Amtrak to New Haven, Stamford, or New York. 

 

Might as well take advantage of the existing infrastructure, right?  Too bad Ohio would rather spend more money on unneeded freeway lane-miles than use what's already existing and paid-for.

RTA has done 2 things right...first the new web based trip planner and now a new website??

 

what's going on here?

 

http://www.riderta.com

 

are here is a nice photo to put a face ion RTA:

 

 

go joe go!

 

actually back to the topic, here is the current org chart.  Where would you put the TOD box?

 

i'd make "tod development" under engineering since project development and the ectp are already under there. or under marketing?

RTA has done 2 things right...first the new web based trip planner and now a new website??

 

what's going on here?

 

http://www.riderta.com

 

are here is a nice photo to put a face ion RTA:

 

 

go joe go!

 

 

OH HELL TO THE NAW!

  Smart Growth America

 

 

 

_ANNOUNCEMENT

_FREE TOD WEBCAST SERIES STARTS THURSDAY

 

*TOD: Connecting Neighbors to Neighborhoods and Communities to Regions*

 

Are you convinced that accessible, convenient transit is a key to

community vitality, but unclear about how to take advantage of transit

opportunities? Join Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Smart Growth

America, and Reconnecting America for a three-part series about the ins

and outs of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). Explore TOD as a tool

that can spur planning and development, enhance housing and jobs, expand

economic activity, and positively change neighborhood dynamics. Learn

about transit finance, and hear on-the-ground best practices from small

and large places across the country. All sessions will be at 2:00 p.m.

ET. For more information, visit the LISC website

<http://support.smartgrowthamerica.org/site/R?i=XIKynfYfSMhZUGtPSs7RZw..>.

 

*Session 1. TOD 101: Putting the Pieces Together March 2, 2006, 2-3:30pm *

The first session of the series will cover TOD's basic principles with

practical examples from around the nation. With the expansion of the

real estate market in some urban core neighborhoods and suburban town

centers, TOD offers a way to expand sustainability and affordability,

boost ridership at key transit stops, bring businesses and people back,

and create community value. Learn how to design, plan, and finance TOD

to bring these benefits to your community. Sign into the webcast here

<http://support.smartgrowthamerica.org/site/R?i=jsAxedJW2q2cPWGiKhW04w..>.

If there are any problems, please email [email protected]

<mailto:[email protected]>.

 

*Session 2. TOD: Key to Neighborhood Revitalization and Affordable

Housing - April 4, 2004*

This session examines how TOD can be pivotal in place-based economic

recovery. TOD can revitalize neighborhoods for people of all income

levels, as households living near transit sometimes save up to $5,000

per year on transportation costs. Presenters will highlight policies,

strategies, and tools to include housing as part of mixed-income,

mixed-use neighborhood revitalization efforts. Learn more about

integrating TOD into neighborhood redevelopment and engaging community

partners to ensure affordability, accessibility, and vibrancy.

 

*Session 3. TOD in Real Communities: Walking the Walk and Talking the

Talk May 3, 2006*

This final session features examples of TOD in active communities across

the nation and the lessons learned from their experience. Three cities -

suburban, core city, and small town - illustrate practical application

of TOD - from conceptualization to building, from planning to marketing,

from strategies to punchlist, from leadership building to problem

solving. Participants will engage in an interactive conversation with

local stakeholders who are at the forefront of successful developments.

 

*Sponsored by Smart Growth America, Local Initiatives Support

Corporation, and Reconnecting America*

 

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KJP,

 

I have closely read many of your posts on UrbanOhio, but the ones that really catch my interest are about developement and TRANSPORTATION.  Plain and simple, how can we get you hired to be in charge of RTA!?!?!?!  :)   I get more depressed when I read all of your articles and see the direction that RTA, ODOT, the city, and the region seem to go.....nowhere progressive!  Again, how can we bring our(your) ideas into the general public forum?  Take polls?  get developers involved? etc...

On another note, (I seem to like to torture myself), do you happen to have the routes that were planned for the Cleveland subway system (that obviously never happened)...maps maybe?   Thanks

Thanks for saying, JDD941. But don't get depressed, get involved! Write letters to the editor. Join All Aboard Ohio (www.allaboardohio.com), attend RTA board and citizens advisory committee meetings. An active mind in an idle body is a never a good thing.

 

As for the subways, check out this string I started at:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2726.msg26051#msg26051

  Trust me KJP, I have sent NUMEROUS letters to the PD editorial section and to RTA as well....what do I get in return?  One letter printed a few weeks ago by the PD.  It was on mass transit and how it should be integrated with the new bridge plan.  RTA seems to never return or acknowledge anything sent to them.  I must say, I am no way near as informed about transit as you are, but as a potential transit user, I feel I know what I would like to ride on...and it isn't a bus (or some BS form of a bus [bRT])!  How nice would it be to see park and ride rail systems bringing the regoin together instead of park and wait..I mean ride...buses that are transit, but STILL sit in traffic!  How nice would it be to see rail lines cut down on the need for the ever widening of highways and need for downtown parking.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist(which I am not....maybe a beerologist) to see this.  I think it is hard for someone like me to make noise since A) I am not as informed B) have no direct connections to the powers that be and C) am a bit nervous of going into battle alone against these guys.  SOLIDARITY to me is the key....I would be more than happy to get something together with others and make some noise about what the PEOPLE want...not what some guy that lives in Westlake wants that seems to think RTA is a great thing! 

I want to thank you for the violent wretching I had to endure before I wrote this post!!  After wiping my chin and splashing some cool water on my face...I found the strength to write this....seeing the "what could have been" maps of the transit and subway made me sick!  Damn that would have been nice and I am SURE it would have kept density in the city...jobs or not!  Not having to drive anywhere makes life a LOT easier...but again...what the hell do I know?  :)  Thanks KJP

Sounds like you know quite a bit. You're more educated about transit than 90 percent of your fellow Greater Clevelanders. And since when is an education a pre-requisite for an opinion anyway? Apparently it isn't, based on the letters to the editor that do get published!

By the way, for anyone who's interested in the webcast that KJP posted earlier, I recommend checking it out.  LISC puts on some good forums that are interactive and informative and can be accessed worldwide via the internet.  You can listen in and see visuals at the same time by following the instructions on their site.  Check it out this afternoon at 2:00!

The ones who didn't leave at lunch scurried out to the parking lot before going to the cafeteria, in hopes of finding vacated parking spots closer to the door and moving their cars into them. Many employees filled up all the metered on-street parking next to the buildings every day and went out every two hours to feed two quarters to the meters, rather than park free one or two blocks away. A parking violation cost $10, and one of my co-workers was picked up by police at his home in the wee hours because of $600 in unpaid parking tickets that he got at work.

 

Some people really don't know how to function without a car.  I don't use a car in my daily routine and I've had people look at me like a frickin alien when I've told them that I've sometimes gone a week or more without driving anywhere at all.

 

I totally agree.  The train is why I love shaker square.  When I tell people to take the train to visit me, since parking is at a premium at times, they either look at me like I've got two heads or (over the phone) give a long pause.

 

I taken my car out of the garage ONCE since the start of the year.  It's just too much to deal with.

^Thats funny, its just the opposite from the suburban view. This summer, our family went to Chicago and stayed in a little hotel in a residential area new Wrigley field. We had to walk almost two blocks to the parking garage and I thought the other 5 were going to die. We took the bus to Navy Pier, which meant changing three times and over an hour on a tourist packed bus. When we decided to leave, I rode back to the van myself and spent an hour in traffic driving through downtown to the pier. They thought it was well worth it however, LOL. I remember my dad making a comment about how glad he was that we lived in Ohio where we didn't have to take PT.

Should have taken the train!!! Buses SUCK!! Not far from Wrigley, and close to the Cubby Bear..which I must say the upstairs has a GREAT turnout for Brown's Backers Club....felt like I in Cleveland when I watched the Raven's pound the Browns!

I guess I should have mentioned that the only reason we took the bus in the first place was because we heard parking was like $8 an hour and we already had spent $30 a night to park at our hotel.

 

You can imagine how $25 a month for parking in Ohio sounds appealing.

Another aspect of mass transit that should be mentioned is that it is safer and would help lower needless deaths by automobile accidents, nevermind those caused by drunk driving. Which, if you were drunk on a train/street-car, the worst thing that would happen is possibly throwing up and is better than crashing into someone's car and killing them.

Just out of curiosity, how many people are attending/did attend the TOD webcast today?

I wasn't able to. Things got a little busy here at the office around that time. I hope they archive it.

It should be available online tomorrow!

Here's some new federal energy legislation to develop transit oriented development corridors....

 

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.2025:

 

S.2025

Vehicle and Fuel Choices for American Security Act (Introduced in Senate)

 

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c109:1:./temp/~c109f0YagZ:e84619:

 

SEC. 308. TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT CORRIDORS.

 

(a) Definitions- In this section:

 

(1) TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT CORRIDOR- The term `Transit-Oriented Development Corridor' or `TODC' means a geographic area designated by the Secretary under subsection (b).

 

(2) OTHER TERMS- The terms `fixed guide way', `local governmental authority', `mass transportation', `Secretary', `State', and `urbanized area' have the meanings given the terms in section 5302 of title 49, United States Code.

 

(b) Transit-Oriented Development Corridors-

 

(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall develop and carry out a program to designate geographic areas in urbanized areas as Transit-Oriented Development Corridors.

 

(2) CRITERIA- An area designated as a TODC under paragraph (1) shall include rights-of-way for fixed guide way mass transportation facilities (including commercial development of facilities that have a physical and functional connection with each facility).

 

(3) NUMBER OF TODCS- In consultation with State transportation departments and metropolitan planning organizations, the Secretary shall designate--

 

(A) not fewer than 10 TODCs by December 31, 2015; and

 

(B) not fewer than 20 TODCs by December 31, 2025.

 

(4) TRANSIT GRANTS-

 

(A) IN GENERAL- The Secretary make grants to eligible states and local governmental authorities to pay the Federal share of the cost of designating geographic areas in urbanized areas as TODCs.

 

(B) APPLICATION- Each eligible State or local governmental authority that desires to receive a grant under this paragraph shall submit an application to the Secretary, at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such additional information as the Secretary may reasonably require.

 

© LABOR STANDARDS- Subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code shall apply to projects that receive funding under this section.

 

(D) FEDERAL SHARE- The Federal share of the cost of a project under this subsection shall be 50 percent.

 

© TODC Research and Development- To support effective deployment of grants and incentives under this section, the Secretary shall establish a TODC research and development program to conduct research on the best practices and performance criteria for TODCs.

 

(d) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2012.

 

Is that 10 TODCs by state or nationwide?

That's a minimum of 10 TODCs nationwide.

3/17/2006    Transit-Oriented Development

Good Jobs First cites 25 top economic development projects near transit lines

 

After conducting a national transit-oriented development study, non-profit resource center Good Jobs First cited 25 projects that provide increased transit access, good jobs and affordable housing.

 

The projects include:

• Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority’s Atlantic Station and Lindbergh City Center;

 

• Bethel Center, located along Chicago Transit Authority’s Green Line;

 

• the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s EcoVillage;

 

• the Cherokee-Gates development being built along the Regional Transportation District of Denver’s light-rail line;

 

• Parson’s Place residential development near St. Louis Metro’s light-rail line;

 

• the Hollywood & Highland, Hollywood & Vine and NoHo Commons developments served by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority;

 

• Fruitvale Transit Village served by Bay Area Rapid Transit;

 

• Portland’s adidas Village, Belmond Dairy, Center Commons and Museum Place developments served by Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon; and

 

• Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Minnesota Avenue Metro redevelopment plan.

 

“These projects fill a gap in the landscape of common transit-oriented development projects by creating tangible benefits for people with limited means,” said study author Sara Grady in a prepared statement.

 

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/prdailynews/news.asp?id=8528

A press release detailing the EcoVillage award was posted at:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=4859.msg84614#msg84614

Questions surround North 5th Street corridor

By MARK SMITH

VIEW STAFF WRITER

 

 

When North Las Vegas urban designer Ned Thomas is asked about the desired champion for proposed North 5th Street land use decisions, he doesn't point to this elected official or that board or commission.

 

He says the true champions should be the residents of the city, especially those who themselves outlined the so-called superarterial corridor's proposed sections.

 

"The five districts started with the citizens," he said.

 

Find this article at:

http://www.viewnews.com/2006/VIEW-Mar-21-Tue-2006/North/6364715.html 

 

Georgia tries to improve deadly road for walkers

Posted 4/5/2006 10:34 PM

By Larry Copeland and Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY

 

ATLANTA — Arely Hernandez, 34, approaches each trip to the drugstore or video rental place with apprehension. Sometimes, she says, she simply postpones the trip or decides against it.

That's because to get to those businesses and others, she must walk across busy Buford Highway, one of the state's deadliest stretches for pedestrians. From 1996 through 2005, 34 pedestrians were killed and 305 others injured in automobile accidents on Buford Highway, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.

 

The seven-lane highway, which has few sidewalks and crosswalks, runs through the Atlanta area's most ethnically diverse community and is heavily used by Hispanic and Asian immigrants. Hernandez, who does not own a car and walks most places, is acutely aware of the perils of Buford Highway.

 

Find this article at:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-04-05-suburban-roads_x.htm 

 

This is from a nonprofit, non-copywrited blog....

 

http://www.baconsrebellion.com/Roadtoruin/BRNS_06-06-14.php

 

Gas Shock

 

The rising price of gasoline is prompting major  re-thinking of Virginia's transportation policies. Just ask Sen. Marty Williams, a conservative Republican who now supports growth management.

 

 

by Peter Galuszka

 

Since opening nearly four years ago, the concrete bridge at Pocahontas Parkway just south of Richmond has won accolades for dramatic design with its steep, sharply twisting access lanes high above the James River. But a $2-per-car toll kept some motorists away from the new 8.8-mile-long expressway that links Interstates 95 and 295 with 64.

 

Thanks to soaring gasoline prices, that’s changing. Even though tolls went up 25 cents in January, usage of the parkway is up as much as eight percent so far this year compared to 2005. With gas prices so high, fewer motorists are willing to drive seven to 10 extra miles simply to dodge the tolls. That’s good news for parkway bureaucrats who feared that low traffic volume might hinder their ability to pay off long-term bonds.

 

Pocahontas Parkway is a small but concrete example of how rising energy prices are changing Virginians' driving behavior. Newspaper accounts are full of anecdotes of people sharing rides, switching to mass transit, moving closer to where they work or finding creative ways to drive fewer miles each week. Meanwhile, in a sign that long-term structural shifts may be taking place, Virginia developers are showing greater interest in transit-oriented and pedestrian friendly development than at any time in half a century.

 

Increasingly, General Assembly deliberations over transportation financing seem caught in a time warp. The Kaine administration and the state Senate insist that the state needs to find a stable, long-term funding source to pay for massive spending on new road and rail projects. But if Virginia is entering an era of permanently higher gasoline prices, it may be time to break from the Business As Usual mindset that accommodates the endless push of new development and roads into the countryside.

 

Gasoline shock may be changing some minds. One shifting view is that of Martin E. Williams, a Republican from Newport News who is chairman of the state Senate’s Transportation Committee. “I never thought I would agree with a growth management strategy that hurts property rights but I am already there,” he says. “We just can’t accommodate growth in outer areas like we used to.”

 

The drop in driving is already a big blip on the General Assembly radar screen. Williams says that recent state revenue figures show that that higher prices are cutting into gasoline consumption -- 5.2 billion gallons in 2004 -- and revenue flows. Money earned through per-gallon gasoline taxes now should be about $800 million short over the next six years, Williams says. The figure may increase if gas prices go up more.

 

If the past session is any indication, Virginia can expect to see more bills like the landmark legislation that required the Virginia Department of Transportation to review the impact of subdivision rezoning on local traffic. That particular law might never have seen the light of day had gas prices not spiked last summer. “Five years ago, that bill wouldn’t have gotten out of the first committee. I’d never thought I’d get there on this issue,” says Williams, who, as a conservative Republican, supported what he described as free market and property rights principles that encouraged real estate development with few controls.

 

Future changes may involve counties and cities being less lenient than in the past about approving large subdivisions located far from work and shopping. New state laws could well put more burdens on developers to come up with bigger proffers or other ways of paying for infrastructure improvement if they want their projects to proceed. “If a developer is going to be responsible for a one-third increase in traffic, then they should pay for it,” says Williams.

 

So far most of the analysis on rising gasoline prices has focused on the negative impact on state transportation finances. The Virginia Department of Transportation, for instance, has to find $362 million to cover the extra cost of asphalt for road paving since the product is based on now-expensive oil, according to E, Scott Kasprowicz, deputy transportation secretary.

 

But the gas shock works two ways. Virginians are looking for ways to drive less, which could render VDOT's 20-year forecasts of transportation demand out of date. Mass discounter Wal-Mart is worried that gas prices are keeping customers away, Tom Schoewe, the company’s chief financial officer, said in a recent press release. For the four-weeks ended May 26, when unleaded gasoline prices averaged $2.99/gallon, same-store sales were down about 0.8 percent compared to a comparable period in the previous May, when gas prices were about $2.30/gallon. “We believe that our customers are consolidating their store visits and focusing their spending on consumables – a trend we have been seeing since Easter,” Schoewe was quoted as saying.

 

Meanwhile, developers are factoring higher gasoline prices into their thinking about the kinds of real estate projects that will sell. "Land speculators seem to have stopped snapping up larger tracts of land of 20 or more acres in areas in Culpeper and Fauquier Counties about 50 or 60 miles away from major urban or suburban areas,” observes Christopher Miller, president of the Piedmont Environmental Council. “I’ve seen a severe flattening of speculative development and pricing,” he says.

 

Sensing a shift in energy economics, many prominent developers are building projects with shorter commutes and less fuel usage in mind. Vienna-based KSI Services, for example, is pushing a number of projects in Northern Virginia that put mixed-use projects within short walks of public transportation. One is Lorton Station where residents of 1,170 units are able to commute to jobs in downtown Washington, D.C., and at the Pentagon via a Virginia Railway Express train station nearby. In a reversal of its traditional formula of cookie-cutter subdivisions in outer suburbia, KSI officials anticipated higher energy prices and changing demographic dynamics in the mid 1990s and started planning more commuter-friendly projects. Their experience is being replicated across the U.S. in places such as Denver, San Diego and Chicago.

 

Still, it does not appear that the public has made the leap from curtailing gasoline consumption to adjusting the state's transportation policy. Will voters finally understand that, with higher gasoline prices, they might not be able to continue their previous lifestyles?

 

Some state officials decline to discuss it publicly, noting that the topic is too big and controversial. One reason, they say privately, is that many residents, especially those in low-density areas, have few transportation alternatives and would suffer hugely if gasoline prices continue their upward spiral. Living in places where houses, stores, jobs, schools and doctors' offices are far apart, these exurbanites are locked into an auto-centric lifestyle. “All of their discretionary spending goes away with fuel price hikes,” says one official. “They can’t upgrade. They can’t move.”

 

Indeed, simply uprooting and moving closer to a city may not be possible for some because rising gas prices might decrease the values of their far-away real estate so much that they won’t have enough for a down payment for closer-in housing. This may be especially true if they have used up their housing equity, as many have, to pay off expenses such as credit card bills.

 

Prices for housing properties closer to cities, meanwhile, will inflate and calls will come for more bus, light rail and rail public transit. While there are proposals on the books, such as expansions for the Washington-area Metro and more rail lines from Washington to Richmond and south and also from Washington south through Charlottesville to Danville, serious money will have to be found to support such ventures. Such funding is not likely until a public outcry for it becomes much stronger.

 

Miller of the Piedmont Environmental Council says that Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board and VDOT need to reevaluate overall transportation plans that were developed some years ago when gasoline prices were closer to $1 per gallon. He suggests a more realistic approach might be to do new studies looking at needs when gasoline prices are closer to $4 per gallon. His group, meanwhile, is pitching a joint study with Virginia Tech to study how $3 per gallon gas prices have changed real estate prices.

 

It may take more pain at the pump to prod the public into the kind of mental metamorphosis that Sen. Williams has undergone. Williams acknowledges that the sprawling, automobile-driven development he encouraged for years just can’t continue. “We couldn’t afford it 10 years ago and we just didn’t know it,” he says.

 

However, simply passing more legislation with better land use planning alone won’t provide real solutions, says Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth in Washington. “The response must be much more robust and it is truly a national security issue.” For instance, the state’s transportation plans should include energy-use performance standards, he says. State economic development officials should factor in energy and commuting costs as they prepare sites to lure potential businesses.

 

Such notions once would have been dismissed as far fetched. But if other legislators experience epiphanies like Williams, the General Assembly may be taking a very different approach to transportation issues than in the past.

 

-- June 14, 2006

Training growth

Policies are successfully steering new housing and commercial development near transit stations

By Andrew Caffrey, Boston Globe Staff | June 18, 2006

 

It's no accident that a map outlining new and planned development in eastern Massachusetts resembles the layout of the public transit system. With the prodding of the Romney administration and urban planners, and accommodations by local zoning officials, real estate developers are making a beeline to locations that are just a short walk to train, ferry, and bus stops. The activity amounts to about 25,000 housing units and 15 million square feet of retail and commercial space. This map -- based on data compiled by the state Office for Commonwealth Development -- shows projects recently built, under construction or under review, or recently proposed. It includes only developments within a quarter-mile or so of a transit stop, and omits most projects that have fewer than 50 housing units.

 

. . .

 

 

 

http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2006/06/18/training_growth?mode=PF

Here's a few simplified graphics I put together, showing how land use and transportation planning can either increase or decrease the number of vehicular trips, household costs devoted to transportation and the use of fossil fuels/degree of air pollution....

 

 

 

Posted on Wed, Jun. 21, 2006

 

Near rail stops, transit villages begin to sprout

Collingswood, Haddonfield, and other PATCO towns are looking to capitalize.

By Edward Colimore

Inquirer Staff Writer

 

The signs of change have been slowly showing up around stations on the PATCO High-Speed Line the last few years.

 

Near the Collingswood stop, work began last year on the Lumber Yard development: 119 condos and townhouses and 19 shops.

 

In Haddonfield, townhouses were built across from the station, and condos were built above stores about a block away. And in Woodcrest, a former steel plant near the rail stop was converted into offices for hundreds of workers.

 

.....

 

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jersey/counties/camden_county/14865702.htm

Friday, June 23, 2006

 

City considers fee for developers who opt for fewer parking spaces

 

 

By KELLEY BOUCHARD, Portland Press Herald Writer

 

Developers in Portland may soon be allowed to pay a fee for the right to provide fewer parking spaces than required by zoning.

 

The city would charge a fee for each space that's not provided and use the money to build public parking garages. City officials have yet to discuss how much the one-time fee would be, but it could be thousands of dollars.

 

......

 

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/local/060623parking2.shtml

 

KJP..... gotcha.  Already posted this in City Discussions.

Damn!

http://www.lightrailnow.org/

 

16 July 2006

 

Baltimore:

Rail transit is focus of major central-city multi-use development

 

Metro subway stations and light rail stations in the heart of Baltimore are the focal center of a mammoth, $800-million, multi-use real estate development project intended "to reshape a section of midtown bordered by Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Howard and Dolphin streets and Madison Avenue", according to a report in the Baltimore Sun (5 May 2006). A major component of the development team is renowned national developer McCormack Baron Salazar, which will specifically handle the housing portion of the huge project.

 

The complete development team, according to the Sun, is led by Baltimore's Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse and, besides McCormack Baron Salazar, includes minority-owned Doracon Development and the Canyon Johnson Urban Fund, a private equity fund started by basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson.

 

Team members emphasized that their approach would be sensitive to the needs of the existing community. According to the report, "Bobby Turner, a managing partner in Canyon Johnson, said his fund's backers share a vision with other team members about revitalizing, rather than gentrifying, urban areas."

 

Interviewed by the paper, McCormack Baron Salazar's Richard Baron "said he was attracted to Baltimore's market and the opportunity to build a community centered around public transit." The company has established solid credentials for producing projects that are both livable and viable.

 

Kathryn Schukar Bader, chairman of U.S. Bancorp's Community Development Corp. in St. Louis, which has been a lender and investor in a number of the company's projects, emphasized to the newspaper that McCormack Baron Salazar shares an understanding of key inmgredients for successful urban projects. "The key focus that we share is you can't put unsupported housing in the middle of nothing, or in the middle of negative influences and expect it to succeed. There needs to be an anchor, like schools, churches and employers, some kind of neighborhood center programming."

 

Rail transit may well be part of that anchor in Baltimore. As the Sun reports, the complex of state-owned office buildings, employing some 3,500 workers, is slated to be transformed into a 25-acre "hub" of offices, shops, a hotel, and mixed-income housing centered on Metro subway (rail rapid transit) and light rail transit stops.

 

"Ultimately," relates the paper, "the State Center project could be the springboard for the 20-year revitalization of a 110-acre swath, with 3,200 homes, 1.2 million square feet of privately developed offices and 570,000 square feet of retail space."

 

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All hope is not lost for the auto-dependent (or even the auto-addicted). Remember the scene in the movie LA Story when Steve Martin drove from his home to the house two driveways down? If transit investment and spin-off development can happen in LA, it can happen anywhere.

 

By the way, I wrote in my newspaper column a few years ago in which I called such people "Car Potatoes" -- the automotive equivalent of couch potatoes. I got some interesting and diverse feedback from that one!!

 

KJP

 

I never saw this article, Ken. Do you still have it?

 

 

I think so, but not in electronic form. I'll see if I can find a copy, scan it, and extract the text via OCR.

Developers track the rails to build houses

By Jim Watkins

SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Published August 4, 2006

 

Commuter rail services in the Washington area are creating new opportunities for home buyers around rail centers as well as in what once was considered the hinterlands of the metropolitan area. Housing affordability has driven expansion into once-rural areas of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia's eastern panhandle. At the same time, there is an increasing focus on transportation-oriented development (TOD) centered on commuter rail hubs. Housing and transit development can, but don't always, work in concert.

 

......

 

http://www.washtimes.com/fhg/20060802-091015-1464r.htm

 

 

Copyright © 2006 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

^^ I love how the blame in this article is put on the people looking for affordable housing, not on the developers and home/condo owners who price housing stock out of the range of what most people can afford to buy near a rail/METRO station. Bring housing/condo/apartment stock back to affordable middle-class levels, and you won't have farmland being paved over at alarming rate in this (the DC) area.

8/24/2006    Transit-Oriented Development

Maryland to develop land near commuter-rail station

 

The state of Maryland recently contracted developer Petrie Ross Ventures to redevelop a 15-acre state-owned parking lot near Maryland Rail Commuter’s Savage Station into a mixed-use development.

 

The $175 million transit-oriented development project includes building one hotel, two restaurants, 53,000 square feet of retail space, 260 multi-family residential units, 145,000 square feet of office space and a five-level parking garage.

 

Construction is expected to begin in summer 2008.

 

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/prdailynews/news.asp?id=9377

Great story from a Denver TV station on how transit-oriented development is booming along Denver's T-REX light rail line.

 

http://www.cbs4denver.com/video/[email protected]

Anyone check out this TOD story?

Aug. 25, 2006, 11:04PM

Houston hopes forums help shape transit corridors

Having residents, builders involved should facilitate plans, officials say

 

 

By MIKE SNYDER

Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

 

City officials today will launch their latest attempt to influence the form of new development in the city's rapidly changing core.

 

A workshop at the George R. Brown Convention Center will explore ideas for development standards around five corridors identified by Metro for construction of rail or bus rapid transit lines during the next five to seven years. The potentially affected areas include dozens of residential neighborhoods and commercial centers, mostly inside Loop 610.

 

.......

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4142472.html

Anyone check out this TOD story?

 

I thought it was superb, so I e-mailed to the Cleveland TOD discussion group.

Mall expands -- parking doesn't

Shoppers are urged to take public transit to Bloomingdale's

- Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, September 28, 2006

 

A new mall and Bloomingdale's store, opening today in downtown San Francisco, will lure big crowds to the shops, restaurants and movie theaters. But visitors also could encounter traffic jams and parking shortages -- at least during the holidays and big events at Moscone Center.

 

.....

 

No new parking was built to accommodate the 25 million people a year expected to visit the mall, which has tripled in size. The decision not to add parking is in keeping with the city's "transit first" policy, which encourages the use of public transportation.

 

.....

 

URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/09/28/MNG89LEBTL1.DTL

 

 

Nothing stirs up jealousy like this thread!

Odenton station complex planned

Homes, shopping, hotel set for defense boom

By Phillip McGowan

Sun reporter

Originally published October 17, 2006

 

In the latest major real estate project sparked by the boom in Maryland's national security sector, state leaders announced yesterday a $150 million complex of homes, offices and shops and a hotel next to the Odenton MARC train station that would be the cornerstone of a regional town center.

 

.....

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/bal-md.ar.odenton17oct17,0,6641291.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

One Answer to the Question that Haunts Smart Growth

The Joy of Walking

Otis White's Urban Notebook

Governing Magazine

 

A couple of months ago, we posed a question for smart-growth advocates: How does adding large numbers of people to a neighborhood benefit those who are already there? It is, we said, the question that haunts smart growth and, if unanswered, threatens to derail the entire movement. Well, we now have an answer. Difficult and complicated, but an answer nonetheless.

 

Background: If you pay attention to smart-growth controversies in big cities, you know the drill. Developer proposes major new mixed-use development, with condo towers ranging five, 10, 15 stories above neighborhood scale. Neighbors hit the roof, demanding the buildings be shortened. Their argument: The towers will flood the area with new people, theres not enough parking as it is, the streets are too narrow. Hence, the development will turn our nice neighborhood into a nightmare of congestion.

 

.......

 

http://governing.com/notebook.htm

Just in case you missed this. For comparison's sake, Amtrak coach fares tend to fall in a range of about 10-20 cents per mile, and transit (bus and rail) fares are lesser still...

__________________

 

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=163828,00.html

 

IRS Announces 2007 Standard Mileage Rates

 

IR-2006-168, Nov. 1, 2006

 

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2007 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

 

Beginning Jan. 1, 2007, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (including vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

 

48.5 cents per mile for business miles driven;

20 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; and

14 cents per mile driven in service to a charitable organization.

The new rate for business miles compares to a rate of 44.5 cents per mile for 2006.  The new rate for medical and moving purposes compares to 18 cents in 2006. The primary reasons for the higher rates were higher prices for vehicles and fuel during the year ending in October.

 

The standard mileage rates for business, medical and moving purposes are based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. Runzheimer International, an independent contractor, conducted the study for the IRS.

 

The mileage rate for charitable miles is set by statute.

 

A taxpayer may not use the business standard mileage rate for a vehicle after using any depreciation method under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS), after claiming a Section 179 deduction for that vehicle, for any vehicle used for hire or for more than four vehicles used simultaneously.  Revenue Procedure 2006-49 contains additional information on these standard mileage rates.

 

 

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