Specific Strategies for Achieving Transit-Oriented Economic Development: Applying National Lessons to the Twin Cities -- Phase 2

Project summary:

The success of the regional transitway system will hinge on attracting dramatically increased private-sector housing development and job creation to station areas. Previous TIRP research conducted by PI Fan—"Maximizing the Benefits of Transitway Investments"—has established the importance of attracting both housing and jobs to transit accessible locations. Corridors of Opportunity research conducted by both investigators—"Research on How to Achieve System-Level, Transit-Oriented Jobs-Housing Balance"—has identified pent-up demand among Twin Cities developers and business leaders for transit-served locations, and what they see as obstacles to selecting them, as well as general policies to remove those obstacles. Building on those foundations, this research aims to bring national knowledge and experience on transit-oriented development (TOD) to a local level to produce concrete, action-oriented, and ready-to-implement TOD recommendations for the Twin Cities region. More specifically, we will reach out to and conduct interviews with people who have been at the forefront of various TOD promotion programs, i.e., people who have participated in ongoing TOD programs or projects associated with these programs in the Twin Cities region and its 11 peer regions. These people will include planning practitioners at Metropolitan Planning Organizations, local governments, state and local economic development agencies, and transit provider agencies; as well as representatives from private-sector businesses, development firms and financial institutions. Interviews will approach TOD from an economic development perspective. As such, we put specific focus on station area job creation efforts, as well as on station area housing development efforts that support robust transit system-oriented economic growth and emphasize workforce housing. We will perform content analysis and close readings of interview transcripts to produce detailed recommendations for specific economic development programs, policies and implementation efforts to maximize the benefits of the Twin Cities' regional transit system.