A Groundside Effect of Air Transportation

Project summary:

When connections between land use and transportation are considered, attention usually focuses on road or rail. Though ground transportation does have the most impact on patterns of land use, other modes have an influence as well. Airports present an interesting combination of land use requirements, with some uses encouraged and others discouraged. Though noise effects and safety requirements are usually taken into account in the planning process, few other effects are studied. This report will examine how both new development and existing land uses near a major metropolitan airport are affected by noise, accessibility between the airport and metro destinations, economic prosperity of the region and the major airlines which serve it, and level of community involvement in the planning process. Two case studies compare changing land uses around an expanded airport within a central city (Minneapolis-St. Paul) and a new facility on the edge of an urbanized area (Denver).