Denver and Density
Anybody know why professional planners and our Streetsblog-type friends want light/commuter rail to run through dense neighborhoods?
It's because they're lazy. Eh, I'm only kidding (well sort of).
OTOH, I have the benefit of a mind uncluttered by textbooks.
First, it's important to recall what Denver looked like 15 to 20 years ago when RTD invented light rail. Outside of Capitol Hill, Denver had precious little density. Post-war development, neighborhoods like Virginia Vale, U-Hills, Wellshire etc were all car-centric and not dense. Other than a modest number of apartments like off Colorado Blvd where the CU Med Center was and east Denver/Aurora near Colfax most of the 1950's apartments were in the suburbs - Englewood and Littleton comes to mind.
The 1960's saw a continuation of the same except there were a lot of those 3-story outside walk-up apartments built. Jordan Perlmutter built a ton of them including along So Monaco but most were in the NW suburbs.
Obviously there is some density variance in older Denver neighborhoods but outside of Cap Hill (including north of Colfax), there just wasn't a lot of density. The best transit corridor - East Colfax - unsurprisingly runs through this area and benefits from a more transit-dependent demo.
According to the urbanist elites from back East (not Cirrus) Denver didn't deserve light and commuter rail.
Too bad; suck it up buttercup; it's already done and at a cost that can only make others drool and weep.
At the risk of repeating myself let me repeat myself.
https://news.usc.edu/126791/how-tran...he-difference/
Quote:
The different ways riders leave and arrive at the stops closest to home and workplaces — what researchers term “first- and last-mile access” — can close this gap, even more effectively than more traditional and costly public transit measures like increasing transit frequency by adding buses and drivers.
Those distances that bookend a commute are crucial, according to the study’s lead author, Marlon Boarnet, a professor of public policy and chair of the department of urban planning and spatial analysis at the USC Price School of Public Policy.
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The USC study which related to San Diego reflects most cities in Fly-over country including cities west of the Mississippi. Few cities have the ready-made density of NYC/DC, Chicago or San Francisco.
While Park N Rides help, more needs to be done with respect to suburban access to LRT stations. It's really not RTD's responsibility; that falls to the metro area in general and communities in particular. Only Lone Tree has taken this seriously although Golden has made some effort.
An updated
D-Met Transport should include a strategy for easing and encouraging first and last mile access. It could include RTD offering matching funds for example.
Eventually TOD will happen. But to build a $6 billion rail transit network but neglect accessibility is just plain dumb... and lazy.