Presentation from Partners in Innovation Policy Forum in Denver, CO on September 27, 2010.

1. EQUITY & TRANSIT-
ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
LINES, SITES & SYSTEMS
Catherine Lowe ■ PhD Candidate
City & Regional Planning, Cornell University
Presentation at Partners in Innovation:
Including Affordable and Workforce Housing
within TOD.
September 27, 2010 ■ Denver, CO
Research team: Rolf Pendall, Juliet Gainsborough,
Mai Nguyen & Catherine Lowe.
Support from the Support from the John D. &
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

2. CONTEXT
 Ongoing research on fast growth regions’ preparation for
future.
 Regions
 Denver, Houston, Charlotte=major system expansions
 Miami=proposed expansion and TOD
 Boston corridor=CBO & CDCs secure investment
Opportunities and challenges
 Lines: Rail investment
 Sites: TOD challenges
 Systems: Ensuring resources & system equity
Importance and potential for advocates and housing
community involvement in each

3. LINES: EQUITABLE RAIL ROUTING
CHALLENGES
 Today’s projects from yesterday’s planning
 Building support for rail investment areas require
compromises in complex metros
 Happy accidents?

4. SITES: TOD LAND ASSEMBLY CHALLENGE
Talbot Station,
Fairmount Line, Boston

5. SITES:
TOD & INDUSTRIAL LAND, HIGHWAYS
Belleview Station, Southeast
Corridor, Denver

6. SITES: LIMITS TO AFFORDABLE TOD
THROUGH VALUE CAPTURE
 Assumption: Transit raises land value that can
be recaptured to subsidize housing
 Reality: Not that simple
 Therefore: Affordability will require more
and redirected subsidies

7. SYSTEMS:
SMART GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
 Civil rights and
environmental
justice goals
 “Smart growth”
goals driving
“equitable TOD”
 Reconciliation:
Plan systems, not
just stations

8. SYSTEMS: SUPPORT FOR MIXED INCOME
TOD PART OF METRO SUPPORT FOR
 Public sector commitment
 Experienced affordable housing
builders
Ismael Guerrero,
Denver Housing
Authority http://politics.mync.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/11/080515_pat_mccrory.jpg
Denver Housing http://www.cityofboston.gov/dnd/images/NR
Authority’s Curtis Park
development, a downtown transit-accessible
_Norwell_5-10-05_dig.jpg
HOPE VI project
Boston Mayor Tom
http://www.denverhousing.org/development/curtispark/Publ
Menino at ground-
ishingImages/CurtisParkandBean506054.jpg
Pat McCrory, breaking for Norwell
Charlotte Homes, a project of
http://www.inside-lane.com/wp-
Mayor,
Dorchester Bay EDC’s Dudley Village, with 50
content/uploads/2010/02/DSCN3772.JPG Codman Square NDC on
1995-2009
affordable units and ground floor retail (Boston). the Fairmount Corridor

9. LESSONS: SITES, LINES & SYSTEMS,
 Lines
 Ensure transit serves low/moderate income
communities
 Coalition opportunities
 Sites
 Challenges of land assembly and supporting
amenities
 Value capture can’t support all workforce/low-income
housing needs
 Systems
 EJ & smart growth in metro housing & transport
system
 Support & resources for workforce/low-income
housing generally

10. EQUITY & TRANSIT-
ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
LINES, SITES & SYSTEMS
Rolf Pendall, The Urban Institute
rpendall@urban.org
Juliet Gainsborough, Bentley University
jgainsborough@bentley.edu
Mai Nguyen, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
mai@unc.edu
Catherine Lowe, Cornell University
CRL64@cornell.edu
Support from the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation.