Transit-Oriented Development
Predicting the Future is Hard
About two years ago, the Urban Land Institute published Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change, which argued that it will be crucial to build cities in a more compact fashion if the country hopes to avoid substantial growth in vehicle miles traveled and carbon emissions over the next few decades.
September 25, 2009
Rezoning Tysons Corner: It’s Hard To Teach Old Dogs New Tricks
Streetsblog has previously covered the effort to transform Tysons Corner, a bustling but car-oriented and traffic-plagued jobs center in Fairfax County, Virginia, into a walkable, transit-oriented corridor based around four new Metro stations -- similar to the immensely successful redevelopment of the Wilson Boulevard corridor in Arlington, just a few miles to Tysons' northeast.
September 18, 2009
Understanding the Importance of Land Use
Experience with case studies has made it clear to many urban planners and environmentalists that to maximize the benefits of transit investments, and to slow growth in traffic congestion, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and carbon emissions, you have to focus on land use issues.
September 3, 2009
The Power of Transit-Oriented Development
Back in the late 1970s, when Washington's Metrorail system first began operating in Arlington County, Virginia, the future of Arlington and other old, inner suburbs was far from certain. Across the Potomac, the District of Columbia was suffering from depopulation, rapidly rising crime rates, and serious fiscal difficulties.
August 25, 2009
D.C. City Government Considers “Cash for Close-in Urban Living”
The nation's capital is proposing to use money from the Obama administration's economic stimulus law for a pilot program that would give grants of up to $3,000 for suburban commuters to move closer to transit or their place of work.
August 21, 2009
Glaeser Goes Out With a Whimper
For those just tuning in, economist Ed Glaeser has been writing a four-part series on the potential costs and benefits of high-speed rail at the New York Times' Economix blog. He began three weeks ago with an introduction. The following week he addressed direct costs and benefits from a hypothetical line, and last week he attempted to gauge the environmental benefits of high-speed rail construction.
August 19, 2009
Senators Propose $4 Billion for Transit-Oriented Development Grants
Making good on a vow first reported in Streetsblog Capitol Hill, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) and three colleagues today offered a bill authorizing $4 billion in grants to help states and cities pursue transit-oriented development, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and other green transport projects.
August 6, 2009
Glaeser Takes an Unserious Look at High-Speed Rail
Ed Glaeser is a very good economist, and his papers are indispensable reading for those interested in the workings of urban areas. But he is also a strident conservative, whose popular writings frequently challenge conventional progressive wisdom (and my own views).
August 5, 2009
Maryland County Foolishly Seeking Congestion Relief in New Lanes
One would not normally describe Montgomery County, Maryland as a place with retrograde views on land-use and planning issues.
July 30, 2009
What Happens Once You Get Off the Train?
Economist Tyler Cowen responds to my recent take on Ed Glaeser's recent HSR column:
July 8, 2009