The final approval of the $25 million federal grant to fund The Loop Trolley has highlighted the discussion of what sort of development might truly arise post construction. A large goal of the two-mile streetcar track, which will stretch from University City Hall to Forest Park, is to revitalize the stretch of property along Delmar, … Continued
Dr. Tsung-Chung Kao, a professor and scholar from the Railroad Transportation & Engineering Center at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign visited St. Louis this week and gave a highly enlightening glimpse into what High Speed Rail (HSR) in the United States-more specifically the Midwest region-would look like. Drawing from his experience in his home country … Continued
The Mile-High city of Denver has a Transit Oriented Development Fund which will generate and preserve at least 1,000 affordable homes for the areas along the existing and future transit corridors. With new transit station openings approaching, $15 million is available to purchase and hold sites, which are within one-half mile of fixed-transit stations or … Continued
Fresh food markets and $250 million MX highlight of awards ceremony at Annual Meeting. This year CMT’s Sandra Schoenberg Kling New Initiatives Award honored a great new way in St. Louis to deliver healthy foods to many of our communities through the transit system – Metro’s Mobile Markets. For the first time, St. Louisans can access … Continued
Rail~Volution is a conference of passionate people who want to engage in thoughtful discussion about building livable communities with transit. This year, the event will take place in Los Angeles, CA from October 14-17; the conference will include over 75 workshops, networking events, and toolbox sessions. People from all perspectives, dedicated to transit, livability, and … Continued
Dominium Development and Acquisition will be advancing with negotiations for its proposed historic redevelopment of the Arcade Wright Building in downtown St. Louis. The proposal will now go to the building owner, the city’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, who is being offered $6 million for the Arcade as part of a project that could … Continued
Across the country, cities in the U.S. are putting dollars towards streetcar systems to revitalize their downtown neighborhoods. These projects are receiving major support, but also some skepticism. In Caroline Porter’s Wall Street Journal Article, she says, “Proponents say the streetcars would boost economic growth and catch the fancy of younger generations.” Most of the … Continued
Cities all across the U.S. have big plans for their individual train stations. So many of the rail depots across the country have rich history that is coming back to life with plans to revamp their existing structures. Union Stations in such cities as Denver, Los Angeles, St. Paul, Charlotte, Washington, D.C. (as mentioned in … Continued
The Federal Transit Administration’s MAP-21, or Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, was signed into law at the beginning of July by President Obama. This will extend SAFETEA-LU through September 30, 2012, and will go into full effect after through September 30, 2014. MAP-21 will provide a steady flow of funding for FTA … Continued
Out of 459 voters, 318 favored the transportation development district in downtown Kansas City. This district will be a special taxing district to help pay for a downtown Kansas City streetcar. This is a huge milestone for transit in the Kansas City region! “We won…with this vote, the city is very confident that the taxes … Continued
On Monday, July 30, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) opened the first 4.5 miles of the Orange line, which will eventually reach 14 miles, bringing access to employment and educational opportunities for thousands who commute in and out of Irving daily. The arrival of light rail culminates more than 12 years of land-use planning. … Continued
East-West Gateway has launched a regional comprehensive TOD Study to explore development opportunities along the 37 MetroLink stations in the St. Louis metropolitan area. The study team is working to educate stakeholders concerning the potential for TOD and to develop strategies to encourage economic development around the existing MetroLink stations, including additional retail, residential housing, … Continued
Join CMT on September 27 for a Developers Workshop entitled, “Opportunities Around Light Rail.” The event, which will be held from 7:30-9a.m. at the RCGA, will provide a great opportunity for local leaders, businesses, developers, real estate specialists, lenders, non-profits and citizens to hear opportunities available right in our backyard around MetroLink for development. Panelists … Continued
In a July-August 2012 article in Better! Cities & Towns, retailers are moving into the city and bringing along multistory setups, a decreased footprint, roof or basement parking, lower ceilings and custom architecture. “For years, retailers built standard boxes on the edge of sprawl, a little ahead of the market, confident that residential subdivisions would … Continued
Transit lines proved to be integral in building up cities in America in the 1800s and 1900s. But with the wide use of the automobile in the 20th century, cities faced the problem of populations dwindling due to urban sprawl to suburb areas. When this happened, commute time and distance rose, pollution increased and more … Continued