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Executive Summary
The build out of the proposed
regional transit system envisioned under FasTracks would present the Denver
metro area with an enormous opportunity to create new exciting transit-oriented
neighborhoods and communities that will offer new housing options, small urban
centers throughout the region and expanded lifestyle choices. A high quality
transit system, because it provides efficient access to an entire region, will
attract people to live, work, shop and be entertained near transit stations.
All across the country,
cities that are building transit systems are seeing a new wave of transit-oriented
development (TOD). Transit-oriented development occurs when local municipal
planners actively work with developers and community leaders to design compact,
multi-use communities around rapid transit stations. These communities typically
have a one-quarter to one-half mile radius around the transit station which
serves as the central focal point for the community. Office space, retail shops,
restaurants, entertainment venues, and residences can surround a single transit
station, creating an active and exciting area to live, work, or experience entertainment
and shopping.
With only one real transit
line in operation and another nearing completion, transit oriented development
in Denver is still mostly a vision for the future. But what little transit has
been built here has already begun to spur transit-oriented development along
the Southwest line, including the Englewood City Center, and along the Central
corridor, including the site of the old Gates Rubber factory at I-25 and Broadway.
Other transit oriented developments are already springing up along the T-Rex
line even before it opens.
This report examines the
potential for transit oriented development if the FasTracks plan passes and
analyzes the likely impact of those developments on regional land use and transportation
patterns using data from the Denver Regional Council of Governments’ (DRCOG’s)
own preliminary analysis of the impact of urban centers.
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