Events + Media

How One D.C. Suburb Set A Gold Standard For Commuting

How One D.C. Suburb Set A Gold Standard For Commuting
NPR
24 October 2013
Image: Citizens for Modern Transit

Dena Belzer (M.C.P. '83), president of San Francisco-based economic consulting firm Strategic Economics, spoke on NPR about the growing trend of transit-oriented development (TOD) in cities across the country. As communities are tackling commuting challenges and providing solutions for congestion, a successful case for TOD can be seen in Arlington, VA, just outside Washington, D.C.

Local planners designed the Washington area subway to run under a handful of Arlington neighborhoods in order to create mini-downtowns above the stations, causing a complete transformation of the 1960s car-dependent suburb into a lively city where people can interact and commute without cars.

The community has a suburb's benefits of more space and cleaner neighborhoods, but with easy access to restaurants and shopping, and the effectively designed system for commuters has created a reduction in traffic despite Arlington's growth and economic development.

"Portland is an example that a lot of people have looked to more recently, but now, people are also looking a lot at the Denver region. They're starting to look at St. Paul and Minneapolis," said Dena of other cases for TOD.

However, the succesful case of Arlington, which was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency with a Smart Growth Award, has also seen skyrocketing housing prices that could eventually undermine the purpose of changing a community without increasing traffic.