The Road Ahead 2013: Stations Becoming Places
Hosted by Transportation Solutions
Thursday, March 21, 2013, Infinity Park Events Center
SGlendale, Colorado
In attendance: Rich McClintock, Bill James, Kevin Hougen, Scott Caldwell, Bill Sirois, Tom Shahaden, Karen Worminghaus, Steve Erickson, Tom Boone, George Thorn, Mac Callison, Rocky Piro, Buddy Knox, Charlie Kercheval, Fred Cheever, Julie Underdahl, Mary Beth Susman, Jeanne Robb, Barbara Metzger, Erin Marilley, Chris Nevitt, Dave Hadsell, Jackie Millet, Sue Horn, Sharon Richardson, Jennifer Schaufele, Larry Harte, Bill Sirois, Erika Kampe, Katie Bonomo, Alex Mehn, Meg Griffin, Tom Tobiassen, Claudia Folska, Davian Cagne, Laura Rinker, Parry Burnap, Maureen Phair, Loretta Daniel, Jose Cornejo, Maria Garcia Berry, Lorraine Anderson, Bruce Daly, Larry Hoy, Chuck Sisk, Mark Homlish, Michelle Kelley, Tamara Varney, Steve Erickson, Tom Boone, Matt Christensen, Brian Smith, Jeff Allen, James Corless, Susan Daggett
Host: Jeff Allen, Board Chair, Transportation Solutions
Facilitators:
James Corless, Executive Director, Transportation for America
Susan Daggett, Executive Director, Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute
Call to Order: 11:16am
Introductions lead by Jeff Allen: 11:16am-11:22am
Introductions by the facilitators, Susan Daggett and James Corless
Opening Statement - Those in attendance are considered the leaders in the Denver TOD discussion. The eyes of the country are on Colorado, and we are at a critical point in history. We have the opportunity to be real leaders in this space. What will we do to maximize this great opportunity over the next 10-15 years?
Input and responses from the attendees - Two words – Collaboration and Intermodal.
Collaboration - We need collaboration between the public and private sectors. Property owners and station developers are all working together to merge individual goals with global goals.
Intermodal – How do we make it so cars, trains, bicycles, planes, busses, etc. can all work together?
Regarding National Policy - How do we convince Congress and leaders in Washington D.C. that transportation IS economic development? It is about job creation as well as transportation solutions. Economic development is the major element in TOD.
Response from the facilitators - We can actually invest in places and regions with return on investment. Congress does not fully understand that, and we have the ability to make that a different conversation. As it is now, TOD is considered a Dollar-in Job-out exchange. This is a good start, but Congress doesn’t yet understand the long-term economic benefits.
Input and responses from the attendees - We must use economic development as leverage. There is big public money to be saved by taking vehicles off roads, and transit does that. We need a strategic plan involving more regional and national strategic planning. Dealing with development, public policy, and financing a private project is extremely cumbersome. We need to work together to distribute responsibilities to other parties so that someone who would like to build a project may do so in a timely manner. We need to prioritize to have the biggest impact over such a long time period.
Regarding the ‘last mile’ problem- The steering group is attempting to solve the last mile issues of making car share, bike share, shuttle service, bike stations, pedicabs, and other transportation options available. We are looking at ways to put these in stations and reach out to the community. We are attempting to link these modes to information technology such as smartphones and other digital platforms. People want to make sure these services are available beforehand.
Regarding housing (construction defect litigation) - Another piece of legislation, SB 52, tries to soften the impact of construction defect litigation on housing. If you look at housing, there is almost a 100 to 1 favor of rental housing over owner housing. The reason is that developers build hundreds of units, and then plaintiff attorneys go to HOA to uncover construction defects. Then when they find a defect the lawyers take a contingency of 25-30%, and then fund the whole HOA.
Regarding zoning – TOD projects should stimulate coordinated land use development across corridors. We are using case studies of best practices to coordinate new modes of land use. DRCOG would never mandate that people get zoning aligned along corridor, but we recommend it.
Questions from the facilitators - Should we have new ways of capturing value of these areas? Should these be special districts? What do we do about parking facilities? How do we fund last mile?
Input and responses from the attendees - From a resource or program perspective we are looking not only at fee parking, but also reaching out to fund cross-modally bike and walkway improvements, etc. From an economic development perspective, who would have thought that Aurora would have Light Rail built out at this time last year? Aurora is seeking to transition from a suburban area into an urban corridor with modal development. Aurora is a model for sustainable growth, development, and TOD.
PPPs and private sector funding - We see this in the transportation industry whereby if funding is there, the need is there. We have out-of-the-box thinkers that are looking at PPPs and different financing ideas. The private sector is looking to see what it can add to the TOD conversation because Denver is a great opportunity. Let’s continue to open the dialogue for out-of-the-box thinking for private sector side of TOD.
PPPs and public sector support - The public sector should let the private sector know that it is open to unsolicited proposals. Is this appropriate on a local scale? Can we do this with municipalities? We must make sure that there is enough innovation to make sure this gets done. We should take the experimental approach of software developers and take some chances.
Seattle as an example - There were 82 total jurisdictions and 100 or so nodal places in the Seattle Metro Area; 27 of which are regionally significant. Seattle decided to be bold with regional funding, and recognized the benefits of these areas and how regional money was prioritized. This includes stationary planning and the last mile; including infrastructure, sidewalks, connectivity, bicycle improvements, etc. Like Seattle, Denver wants mixed-use employment and residential without “cookie cutter”. Denver must partner among agencies and private entities to further the conversation.
Response from the facilitators - The importance of turning stations into places is the aesthetic. People want to be in a lovely and beautiful place.
Input and Responses from the attendees – RTD has learned the fundamental issues about how places align with transit by developing design guidelines. We must work on an interface of how bus connections can work with these developments. We must work together so we can create a truly integrated station with development.
Response from the facilitators – Denver would do well by facilitating a TOD marketplace where property owners match up with cities. It is like speed dating for cities and developers. This brings local and national developers into the discussion, and helps cities realize that there are plenty of options.
Input and Responses from the attendees – Denver has attempted such a TOD marketplace and is hosting another in the near future.
Regarding the market driven model - Some developers, such as in Aurora, continue to prefer building strip malls. Some of the planned TOD did not actually turn into TOD. The public sector must take the lead but it is difficult to build interest in some communities and even more difficult to change behavior. We need to create not only an aesthetic, but a vision.
Regarding Tourism - Tourism is the largest industry in Colorado. If we consider the visitor population, we may think about things differently. This would help the ease of use and ensure that branding is part of the conversation. This is another way of considering economic development. The new line to the airport is a great opportunity and a perfect gateway to the world. With the Airport line we will have a showpiece. DUS will be the gateway to the region. It really will be quite an experience for person who gets off a plane, hops onto train, and then goes downtown.
Summary of the main themes by the facilitators – The three main themes so far have been: 1) Funding Innovation – PPPs; 2) Collaboration, and; 3) Design Planning.
What are the important next steps? What can we do to get us from where we are now to where we want to be? Does this include a regional scale or larger operating structure?
Input and Responses by the attendees - We want bold and interesting developments around sites. Maybe take a roadshow and talk to developers. We have opportunities to do big things. Why not market that to the world and bring them in?
Transportation demand management - Let’s consider Transportation Demand Management. What Transportation Solutions does is act as the facilitator to go between in arenas. We look at inter-modal possibilities, design, and facilitation from many different perspectives. Thankfully DRCOG has advanced the TDM in the metro area in the recent past. We need more facilitation for the development process.
Regarding behavioral change - There is a deep behavioral change that needs to develop in order to get people out of their cars along the lines of the “Don’t be an SOV” campaign. We need to help people to think about doing things differently. TOD is healthy, fun, and positive. We should emphasize the fact that driving is uncomfortable. There are currently few market signals to get people to act differently. While we are reaching 24-35 year olds, we also need to reach older generations. We must invite the under 34 and over 65 group at the table. These demographic groups should be part of the conversation. Strategy should include a public information piece.
Final Questions and Closing Points
Input from the facilitators –We have heard ides about education and conferences. Are there any other items to bring up at this point?
Input and responses from the attendees - What should the theme of this conference be a year from now?
Call for a leading organization - All major projects that have political pieces need a champion. There isn’t one right now; who is the clearinghouse about how to make this happen? How do we make this conversation evolve to the next level? Everything that has gotten done so far has had its champion.
Response – Last Road Ahead we had Larry Harte and three mayors engaged in conversation. Maybe that is what is needed. We need the visibility; the gravitas. We need to get more momentum. It is inevitable for us to grow and evolve in this direction. If it is going to happen it should happen faster.
Regarding coalitions - Streetsblog talks about forming a coalition of all the transportation groups. Is there a coalition meeting regularly? The SOV campaign started to form a coalition, but we need a stronger alliance. This group could do something to educate our general public, and include localized trips around the area. We need two things: 1) Visualization of the issues, and; 2) Tours of places that are doing it well.
Suggestions for next year’s theme – One idea is designing for density; using design and successful examples to eliminate people’s fear about density. Another is economic development as a motivator and an intrinsic element of TOD.
Closing Statement by the host facilitators - As for the next step, we don’t have to wait until next year or the next conversation. DRCOG is in the middle of attempting to go out and ask communities where we want to go this summer. In the next six months, DRCOG is planning to call the region together. Over the next six months and year, DRCOG will be developing a plan to build TOD into planning. We would like to acknowledge Lincoln Properties, 1st Bank, Mile High Properties, and all of our other sponsors for attending, and thank you all for joining this important conversation.