Transit Integrated Development

When wide, high-speed thoroughfares divide transit stations from nearby development, the term "Transit Adjacent Development" or "Transit Vicinity Development" may describe the setting more accurately than "Transit Oriented Development."  Central Florida's commuter rail system, SunRail, opening in spring 2014, may have sparked construction of senior housing across U.S. 17-92 in the City of Maitland.  But I would not call it Transit Oriented Development.

"Uptown Maitland" senior housing--not TOD. 

Portland, Oregon showcases true Transit Oriented Development by integrating transit into the urban context.  In fact, Orlando developer Craig Ustler calls Portland, "Transit Integrated Development," an apt term.  Portland makes transit accessible, easy to use, easy to know where one's heading, and easy to transfer between transit modes.

Portland's regional government decided two decades ago to invest in a first-rate transit system.  Portland's Tri-Met light rail system connects the airport to the downtown urban core and beyond.  Stops are easy and convenient to major destinations.   

Red Tri-Met line -- Library to the airport.

Light rail stop at the Pioneer Courthouse. 

The trains are clean, feel safe, and carry a cross-section of people, from those wearing suits and ties, to Moms with children, to Portland State University students.  After riding Tri-Met, I kept revisiting in my mind the Orange County Commission's error in the late 1990's to give Central Florida's light rail system to Charlotte, North Carolina. 

In Portland, it's easy to know where one's heading.  Tri-Met provides maps, not only for the rail lines, but for buses, too.

Maps for bus routes--Portland, OR

I proposed this to a Lynx official a few years ago--and received a litany of excuses: too expensive, routes change, we'll develop a smartphone app, etc.  Maps provide the most basic information that a prospective transit rider requires.  Lynx runs at least two lines outside my office.  If I surveyed the people in my office, I suspect no one would know where either line goes.

Transfers between transit modes in Portland are easy, too.  For $5.00, one can use the light-rail, streetcars, and buses all day with one card.

This is the type of interchangeability that Lynx and SunRail need. 

The Future of Creative Village

     Some of Central Florida's best planning minds are thinking about how Orlando's Creative Village--the district west of I-4 where the old Arena stood--should develop.  The City's master developer, Craig Ustler, is looking at Portland's Pearl District for inspiration.  Two decades ago, the Pearl District was a run-down industrial zone.  Today, by integrating parks, rail transit, bike and pedestrian friendliness, and by maintaining its urban authenticity, the Pearl comprises some of the most desirable real estate in the United States.  The number of young people who are living in the Pearl District--including the two dozen Moms I observed running with their strollers for exercise--is striking.  During my recent visit, Craig gave Rollins Master of Planning students a phenomenal tour.  Here are a few photos, from which you can get a flavor of the Pearl, and perhaps glimpse the future of Orlando's Creative Village:

10th Avenue and Lovejoy Street, Pearl District

Jamisen Square, Pearl District, Portland, OR

Burnside Street, Portland, OR--edge of the Pearl District

Food Trucks Can Line Parking Lots to Create Urban Vitality

Last week, Rollins College Master of Planning students discovered Portland, Oregon's creative way to transform downtown parking lots--common dead zones in most cities--into places of urban vitality.  Food trucks line parking lot edges, creating instant street walls for sense of place and drawing people.   Food trucks compete with, and can hurt nearby lower-priced brick and mortar restaurants, so local governments should consider carefully where to allow or encourage such a set-up.

Food trucks lining--and hiding-- parking lot in downtown Portland, Oregon.

Same area--different angle.  

Portland's Bike Boulevards

I visited Portland, Oregon last week with Rollins College Master of Planning students. Portland has an extensive network of "bicycle boulevards."  Last Saturday morning, I saw a constant stream of bicyclists, in fact, more bicyclists than motorists.  The boulevards are well marked with signs informing bicyclists of their distance and average time to bike to various destinations.  The boulevards contain a fair number of roundabouts and larger traffic circles, which keep bicyclists moving.  Nearby residents turned some of the traffic circles into community rose gardens.

This is an easy, low cost idea to adopt in Central Florida.  I took the following photo in Ladd's Addition.  

Bike Boulevard in Ladd's Addition, Portland, Oregon.

Design Roads to Fit Environment

The Orlando Sentinel published the following op-eds last Friday:

Click to enlarge

Florida District Court of Appeal Upholds City Commission's Legislative Function

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse

The Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed a trial court decision that would have imposed millions in liability on the City of Ponce Inlet for an alleged violation of the Bert Harris Private Property Act.  The Plaintiff threatened to seek $55 million in damages.  The Bert Harris Act provides a basis for real property owners to seek and obtain compensation when government action inordinately burdens and diminishes a property's value.  

The District Court of Appeal decision in Town of Ponce Inlet v. Pacetta (Case D12-1982), released on July 5, 2013, held:

Pacetta based its Harris Act claim on the similar theory that it had a vested right, through the application of the principle of equitable estoppel, to develop its properties as negotiated by the parties, notwithstanding the fact that such development would violate Ponce Inlet's Comprehensive Land-Use Plan. However, as explained in Halls River, equitable estoppel can be invoked only when a property owner relies in good faith upon some government action. No such good faith reliance was established in this case. At the time Pacetta purchased its properties, Ponce Inlet's Comprehensive Land-Use Plan expressly prohibited the type of development which Pacetta proposed for its properties. Any assurances by town officials that the Comprehensive Plan would be amended so as to authorize Pacetta's development plans could not be relied upon in good faith by Pacetta, since town officials lacked the authority to unilaterally amend the Comprehensive Land-Use Plan. See § 163.3184(4), (15), Fla. Stat. (2009) (requiring any proposed change to Comprehensive Plans to be subject to approval by various government agencies). Recognition of a vested right based on assurances from town officials to amend the Comprehensive Land-Use Plan would also be in violation of public policy, in light of the public hearings and other government approvals required for Comprehensive Plan amendments. Id. Accordingly, the trial court's order finding Ponce Inlet liable to Pacetta under the Harris Act is reversed.

The bottom line is that the Fifth DCA upheld the power of local commissions to amend their own Comprehensive Plans, a legislative function.  The Bert Harris Act cannot circumvent that power.  (The District Court of Appeal's decision is not final until any Motion for Rehearing is decided.)  

NACTO Urban Bike Guide Standards Poised to Go National

Peter Koonce, transportation engineer with the City of Portland, is reporting that the next edition of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices ("MUTCD")--which standardizes signs and traffic signals nationally--could incorporate 75% of the Urban Bike Guide released by the National Association of City Transportation Officials ("NACTO").  This was a directive from former Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.  Here's a LINK to Mr. Koonce's report from attending a Joint Signals/Bicycle meeting of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  National standardization of NACTO Guide recommendations means that more urban bike infrastructure will sweep the country.  NACTO--an association of transportation professionals in more than a dozen cities, including New York, Portland, San Francisco, and Chicago--prepared the Guide upon determining that MUTCD and AASHTO guidance for urban bike facilities was inadequate and out-of-date

Nollan and Koontz--A clear explanation

One of my former students emailed me this LINK to the Pacific Legal Foundation's explanation of the Nollan and Koontz decisions.  It's clear and well-written.  The Foundation was representing the Koontz family.

Ban Bike Lanes in the "Door Zone"

Bike lane in the "door zone"--Baldwin Park.  

 The car or truck door opens in an instant, striking a bicyclist or causing the bicyclist to instinctively swerve into fast-moving, motorist traffic.  A fatality can result.  

This is called "dooring" and Commute Orlando posted a chilling video from the vantage point of a motorist at THIS LINK.  A transportation planner or engineer should never assume that a bicyclist can scan the interior of every motor vehicle--especially in Florida where windows are often tinted--and have enough time to react when a door opens.  An average bicyclist will travel the length of a parked car every second where on-street parking is allowed.

The bottom line is that local governments should never allow bike lanes in a door zone.  Internal policies should specifically prohibit them.

Commute Orlando advocates against bike lanes and I generally agree that we do not need bike lanes on many low-speed streets with low traffic volumes.  New Broad Street in Baldwin Park, depicted in the photo above, has slow speeds but also a fair amount of traffic volume.  The absence of a bike lane would discourage  many bicyclists from riding there altogether.  When the City of Orlando resurfaces the street, the City should, at the very least, move the bike lane to the left side, along the median, out of the door zone.

Seaside -- How to Do it Right

How do you create aesthetically attractive, desirable development without debt?  With safe streets for kids?  Which incubates small businesses?  How do you maximize the value of real estate?  How do you create environmentally responsible development for less money?  Check out this terrific video about Seaside, Florida with a tour by the town planner, Andres Duany:

  

If this has interested you, more of Seaside's principal players speak in the following video: