Transit Oriented Development

Transit Oriented Development

By: Chris Harpstrite

In my last blog I spoke about what transit oriented development (TOD) is, and how I was leaning towards developing this idea for my thesis. I am currently still pursuing this topic, and I would like to talk about a site I would like to design using TOD. First, I will tell you a little about where I am from; this will eventually lead to where my site will be located. I am from a small town in Southern Illinois called Trenton. Trenton is a town of a whopping 2700 people and transit issues aren’t a big concern for us, however, we are located fairly close to St. Louis which has numerous amounts of traffic issues. Growing up I frequented St. Louis for attractions, especially the Cardinals games. A majority of the time I would take public transportation to get to the games, whether it is bus or the Metrolink, and one of the things I always noticed was the fact that there was almost no development around these stops in outer parts of the metro area (suburbs). It didn’t bother me so much then, but now that I am reading more and more about TOD I feel that St. Louis would be an excellent location for my thesis.
                While there a multiple transit stations in the Metro St. Louis area that could use TOD, for my thesis I only intend on choosing one, or maybe two if they are close to one another, to develop. Choosing a transit stop to develop will take a lot of research. I will need to figure out what stops have the best potential to change, what stops will accept TOD, and so on. This is the kind of research will take some time, I do however have some great resources to help me dive deeper into these sites.

                Citizens for Modern Transit is a great group in St. Louis that deals with transit in St. Louis. They are working to expand Metrolink to other parts of St. Louis. Transit Oriented Development is also high on their list of to do’s, and they are working with public officials to help to implement TOD into the transit stops. Another great resource that I have been using is nextstop, this is a blog all about transit in the Metro St. Louis area, and they give great insight and provide links to other TOD resources. The last resource I will talk about is the East-West Gateway Council of Governments – St. Louis, Missouri. This will probably be my most used resource for information directly related to government information regarding transit. They have an actual committee that directly works with local governments of the bi-state St. Louis area to solve problems that cross jurisdictional boundaries. This will be particularly helpful to me if I choose a site that is located on or near a jurisdictional boundary.
                Well this is all I have for now, I am currently reading a couple books now that will help me on my thesis preparation, I plan on writing on those books next time. Until next time…