Posted by:
Steve Dubb
Transit comes to Charlotte, Orlando & Phoenix
As Zach Patton notes in a June 2007 feature article in Governing magazine, “Developers are investing more than a billion dollars in projects centered around Charlotte’s transit stations — and the trains haven’t even carried a single passenger yet.” The article adds that, “Charlotte isn’t the only low-density city pegging its future on the rails. Sun Belt cities from Orlando to Phoenix are building out light-rail systems, in an historic break from the car-bound past.”
Of course, the rise of transit-oriented development is far from lacking challenges. Indeed, voters in Charlotte will decide in November whether to cut off the sales tax financing that has made construction of the transit system possible.
Still, a growing number of cities are investing in public transit and seeking to change zoning codes to encourage people to live nearer to transit stations. In addition to the cities noted above, the article points out that Denver is building out a $4.7 billion transit system with 137 miles of light-rail and bus-rapid-transit lines and Salt Lake City is expanding its light-rail system to cover 130 miles. Other cities building light rail lines include: Austin, Dallas, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Sacramento.
One interesting feature of the Charlotte effort is the creation of a coordinator for station area development position that is evenly split between the city’s economic development office and its transit agency. As Patton points out, the job “may be the only such dual-purpose position in the nation.” Patton notes that in many cities transit agencies, developers, and city officials have not always been on the same page, reducing the benefit that transit-oriented development can bring. Charlotte’s efforts to collaborate with developers on the front end bode well for the future effectiveness of its transit system, at least assuming that the transit community in Charlotte maintains its public support in the coming election.