This post was written for the ground Floor by Jack Skelley who chairs the Communications Committee for ULI Los Angeles and represents Cuningham Group Architecture.
Like many cities, Los Angeles has seen transit-oriented developments (TODs) help revitalize its neighborhoods. However, not all TODs have been successful. Site limitations, insufficient planning, and lack of capital are all reasons why some rail stations have not stimulated the most desired investment in their communities.
That’s why ULI Los Angeles, a district council of the Urban Land Institute, recently convened a series of Technical Assistance Panels (TAPs) recommending solutions for four under-performing transit stops in Los Angeles County. The TOD issues raised in Los Angeles--especially parking and connectivity--are echoed in other major cities including San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
In Los Angeles, the Slauson Blue Line light-rail station has seen very little development activity since its inception. The Slauson station suffers from:
- poor security;
- poor pedestrian connectivity to the surrounding neighborhood including an; above-grade platform that’s separated from street life;
- poor insulation from noxious industrial uses; and
- multiple jurisdictions that inhibit good planning.
“Like any development, a well-designed TOD does not exist on its own. It is part of a web of relationships with other uses in the surrounding community,” said Jonathan Watts, Slauson TAP chair and principal with Cuningham Group Architecture. “Our overall goals include improving these relationships, revitalizing the station neighborhoods with a greater mix of uses, pedestrian-oriented design standards, and improved pedestrian access.”
The ULI panel focused on getting people to the station and adding retail. This included adding a security kiosk, improved lighting, more visible crosswalks and sidewalks. But a key proposal may rankle those who support TODs purely to get people out of cars: The ULI TAP urges not less but more parking…particularly, a new parking structure connecting to the boarding platform. “Adding parking is not ‘good’ from a typical green perspective, but it will increase ridership,” said Watts.
Indeed, the parking issue reappears in TOD TAPs across the country. In the San Francisco Bay area, the problem has often been too much parking around TODs. ULI San Francisco Executive Director Kate White noted that Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) previously had a 100 percent parking replacement policy: New development around transit stations was required to replace every parking space it removed.
“You’re talking about hundreds of spaces. It can kill a development deal,” said White. “At the same time, a lot of people drive to BART stations and they need parking. We recommended changing the policy and fixing the problem with transit feeder systems.”
Other San Francisco panels have focused on pedestrian linkages. A Richmond, California TOD (with both BART and Amtrak service) is less than a mile from the city’s civic center, but only a small percentage of people working or visiting used public transportation because of poor walkability to and from the station.
“The walk was unclear, unpleasant, and traversed a major boulevard,” said White. “We recommended creating a clear pedestrian corridor, with widened sidewalks, better walk signs, and traffic ‘bulb-outs’ to calm the automobiles. It helped make the area less treacherous.”
ULI Washington conducted a far more extensive TAP in College Park, Maryland near Washington, D.C. The College Park Metrorail Station was not living up to its potential as a dynamic, mixed-use development, even though it was anchored by College Park Airport (the world’s oldest continuously operating airport), its adjacent Aviation Museum, and the nearby University of Maryland. The panel, chaired by David Kitchens of architecture firm Cooper Carry, Inc., envisioned an additional 600 units of residential, a 140-180-room hotel, 40,000 square feet of neighborhood-serving retail, public plazas and open space, and up to 300,000 square feet of office space--all providing desirable economic activity to the area.
Design solutions focused on:
- Sustainability: Recommending the entire development becomes certified through the LEED Neighborhood Development rating system, which combines smart-growth principles with green building.
- The Cultural Experience: Establishing visual connections to the Aviation Museum, and possibly naming the development Aviation Plaza, allowing the museum to be a “cultural catalyst” for increased interest and activity.
- Connectivity: Developing a viable street grid more supportive of pedestrians.
- Civic Space: Incorporating opportunities for children’s activities, outside dining, and places to people-watch.
- Parking: Creating easy access to parking, but “screening” it by other uses, such as the office space.
The recommendations of all these TAPs are in various stages of fulfillment. In the meantime, ULI Los Angeles will host a June 4 TOD Summit, evaluating progress on four separate TOD TAPs, including the Slauson Blue Line.
