 the offical newsletter of DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT - Summer 2009 |
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Home on the Rail
The DART Service Area is at the forefront of a national trend
 After decades of stigma, city living is cool again thanks to the transforming power of public transit. Downtown Dallas has emerged as a 'transit village' with new energy brought by DART Rail to West End Station (top) and Akard Station (above).  |
Indeed, a national return to public transit has gone hand-in-hand with a new take on the "American Dream": Increasingly, Americans don't want a suburban home with two cars in the garage so much as a mixed-use, vibrant neighborhood with a host of cultural and leisure options just steps from the front door. And they want access to transit. This new lifestyle is flourishing from San Diego to Washington, D.C., in the communities known as transit-oriented developments, or TODs.
Locally, Matthews is one of the pioneers of the form, having been a driving force in transforming the Cedars area south of downtown from a battered inner-city neighborhood into a flourishing hotbed of lofts and nightlife. His latest project in the area, the Beat condominiums, is situated within blocks of artsy eateries, a coffeehouse, a jazz club and a major concert venue. And it's right next door to DART Rail's Cedars Station, which he cites as "the whole reason for the neighborhood."
It's a statement that rings true in scores of locations nationwide. TOD can take many forms – compare Downtown Plano to Mockingbird Station – but invariably, they are self-contained communities, with transit forging dynamic connections to the larger region.
A changing landscape
This new landscape is a reversal of more than a half-century of suburban-style development, says Christopher Leinberger, a founding partner of Arcadia Land Company and visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. "For many decades, car-oriented suburban development was the only form development could legally take in most places," he points out. "Today, there are more options – and we've found, not surprisingly, that there's an enormous pent-up demand for walkable urban spaces."
In fact, according to the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, the number of TOD-dwelling households will boom from 68,000 in 2000 to 225,000 in 2030. And Dallas, according to the Federal Transit Administration, will have the highest demand in the nation behind Los Angeles.
The factors driving that demand are numerous. Nationwide, commuters have experienced rapidly increasing traffic congestion that takes a serious chunk out of productive and leisure time. In Dallas, for instance, commuters spend a mind-numbing 61 hours a year in gridlock.
Another factor: Today, only a third of American households have children, whereas a few decades ago the figure was one-half. For young singles and empty-nesters alike, there is great allure to living where the action is. After decades of stigma, city living is simply cool again. And public transportation is a big part of that lifestyle.
The phenomenon has garnered notice in Washington, where the federal government is now recognizing the connection between rail transit and smart living in a big way.
A more coordinated approach
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently formed an interagency task force devoted to stimulating TOD. The task force's goal is for every major metro in the country to have an integrated housing, transportation and land-use plan within the next four years. Through grants and technical assistance, the task force will encourage a more coordinated approach to transit-oriented development.
At the local level, the City of Dallas has gotten in on the act by establishing a unique tax increment financing (TIF) district that's not a contiguous parcel of land, but that encompasses neighborhoods adjacent to several targeted DART Rail stations. Tax revenues within this "TOD TIF" will be redirected to the district itself to pay for infrastructure, public amenities, demolitions, grants for high-density projects and more.
Already, operating and future rail stations have attracted nearly $8 billion in existing, planned and projected TODs. Indeed, according to Leinberger, "Dallas is roaring down the path of walkable urbanism. The region currently has six significant walkable urban places, but the market will easily bear two to three dozen."
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