Post by jeffe77 on Apr 28, 2008 8:27:05 GMT -8
www.ocregister.com/articles/station-metrolink-development-2027188-county-transit
Cities mesh homes, businesses along commuter corridors to balance growth needs with traffic challenges.
By ELLYN PAK and ADAM TOWNSEND
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
With today's steep gas prices, traffic-choked freeways and streets and shifting demographics, more Orange County cities have turned to creative ideas to ease growing pains.
In the past four years, "transit-oriented" developments – a myriad of townhomes, condominiums and lofts located on the edges of Metrolink stations and catering to young, urban-minded buyers – have been woven into city plans aimed at providing accessibility, revitalization and public transportation.
Bill Holford, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Olson Co., a developer that has taken on such transit-oriented projects in some North County cities, said many of the residents not only use the Metrolink to reach their jobs, but travel on the weekends to recreation areas.
Other areas of the county, including Irvine, are also buying into the idea of such development. Irvine has plans to build Heritage Fields, a proposed district near the train station and the Great Park.
And with the Orange County Transportation Authority's plan to devote $382.5 million for Metrolink expansion, cities are preparing for activity around their transportation hubs by studying how to connect train commuters to popular destinations. By 2010, Metrolink will run trains every 30 minutes, 18 hours a day between Fullerton and Laguna Niguel with a projected 20,000 daily riders. In fiscal year 2007, more than 3.8 million riders traveled by train.
"Metrolink service is popular in our station," said Alice Angus, Orange's Director of Community Development. "With the proposed increase in Metrolink, we see it as an opportunity for continued growth in terms of what it can bring to the city."
ANAHEIM
Anaheim is banking on a multilayered transportation hub to pull traffic off the streets around the city's Platinum Triangle development of more than 18,000 residential units. In the next eight years, commuters would be able to catch a bus, trolley, train or taxi from the hub through the proposed ARTIC transportation center. The center also could be linked to John Wayne Airport and Ontario Airport, and eventually have a magnetic levitation train to haul tourists to Las Vegas in 90 minutes. Some officials have also pushed for a public-private partnership to add a monorail in the downtown area.
BUENA PARK
Buena Park has tied its new Metrolink station to a $90-million transit-oriented development project steps away from the tracks. The station recycles a former industrial site next to nearly 100 newly-built townhomes catered to commuting residents. The project is at the end of development with less than six units left to sell.
FULLERTON
SoCo Walk, a transit-oriented project comprised of townhomes, live-work units and lofts, went up a few years ago adjacent to the train station to attract younger commuters. The project, is in the final phase of construction, and has a total of 110 homes with 15 under construction. Fullerton has one of the county's busiest stations..
ORANGE
Orange's vision for their transit-hub in Old Towne includes connectivity and economic prosperity. The Depot Walk project of 32 units near the station is part of that vision. The city, along with the OCTA, is working to build a pedestrian undercrossing at Santa Fe Depot to promote that connectivity but also bridge the station to distinct Old Towne.
PLACENTIA
There are no current plans for re-development around the proposed Metrolink station. The city's plan has not been completed, and after the master developer TOD Properties pulled out of the deal in November, no other developers have been solicited.
SANTA ANA
The city recently filed plans for a $300-million streetcar line that would shuttle people through town and attract development. More than 100 lofts, some built and others in progress, are located near the Metrolink station. The Santiago Street Lofts along Santa Ana Boulevard were dubbed the first transit-oriented project in Orange County four years ago. The streetcar, officials say, could be a way to reel in developers to build high-rise towers, condos and hotels at vacant lots near downtown.
STANTON
With state Department of Transportation funds, Stanton is studying the possibility of building a Metrolink station on the Pacific Electric right-of-way, the rail line that cuts diagonally through town from the northwest.
Tentative plans include building a transit-oriented retail development around the proposed station, anchored by the five acres owned by the Orange County Transportation Authority near the Katella Avenue and Beach Boulevard intersection.
Staff writers Doug Irving, Barbara Giasone and Eric Neff contributed to this report.
Contact the writer: epak@ocregister.com
Cities mesh homes, businesses along commuter corridors to balance growth needs with traffic challenges.
By ELLYN PAK and ADAM TOWNSEND
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
With today's steep gas prices, traffic-choked freeways and streets and shifting demographics, more Orange County cities have turned to creative ideas to ease growing pains.
In the past four years, "transit-oriented" developments – a myriad of townhomes, condominiums and lofts located on the edges of Metrolink stations and catering to young, urban-minded buyers – have been woven into city plans aimed at providing accessibility, revitalization and public transportation.
Bill Holford, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Olson Co., a developer that has taken on such transit-oriented projects in some North County cities, said many of the residents not only use the Metrolink to reach their jobs, but travel on the weekends to recreation areas.
Other areas of the county, including Irvine, are also buying into the idea of such development. Irvine has plans to build Heritage Fields, a proposed district near the train station and the Great Park.
And with the Orange County Transportation Authority's plan to devote $382.5 million for Metrolink expansion, cities are preparing for activity around their transportation hubs by studying how to connect train commuters to popular destinations. By 2010, Metrolink will run trains every 30 minutes, 18 hours a day between Fullerton and Laguna Niguel with a projected 20,000 daily riders. In fiscal year 2007, more than 3.8 million riders traveled by train.
"Metrolink service is popular in our station," said Alice Angus, Orange's Director of Community Development. "With the proposed increase in Metrolink, we see it as an opportunity for continued growth in terms of what it can bring to the city."
ANAHEIM
Anaheim is banking on a multilayered transportation hub to pull traffic off the streets around the city's Platinum Triangle development of more than 18,000 residential units. In the next eight years, commuters would be able to catch a bus, trolley, train or taxi from the hub through the proposed ARTIC transportation center. The center also could be linked to John Wayne Airport and Ontario Airport, and eventually have a magnetic levitation train to haul tourists to Las Vegas in 90 minutes. Some officials have also pushed for a public-private partnership to add a monorail in the downtown area.
BUENA PARK
Buena Park has tied its new Metrolink station to a $90-million transit-oriented development project steps away from the tracks. The station recycles a former industrial site next to nearly 100 newly-built townhomes catered to commuting residents. The project is at the end of development with less than six units left to sell.
FULLERTON
SoCo Walk, a transit-oriented project comprised of townhomes, live-work units and lofts, went up a few years ago adjacent to the train station to attract younger commuters. The project, is in the final phase of construction, and has a total of 110 homes with 15 under construction. Fullerton has one of the county's busiest stations..
ORANGE
Orange's vision for their transit-hub in Old Towne includes connectivity and economic prosperity. The Depot Walk project of 32 units near the station is part of that vision. The city, along with the OCTA, is working to build a pedestrian undercrossing at Santa Fe Depot to promote that connectivity but also bridge the station to distinct Old Towne.
PLACENTIA
There are no current plans for re-development around the proposed Metrolink station. The city's plan has not been completed, and after the master developer TOD Properties pulled out of the deal in November, no other developers have been solicited.
SANTA ANA
The city recently filed plans for a $300-million streetcar line that would shuttle people through town and attract development. More than 100 lofts, some built and others in progress, are located near the Metrolink station. The Santiago Street Lofts along Santa Ana Boulevard were dubbed the first transit-oriented project in Orange County four years ago. The streetcar, officials say, could be a way to reel in developers to build high-rise towers, condos and hotels at vacant lots near downtown.
STANTON
With state Department of Transportation funds, Stanton is studying the possibility of building a Metrolink station on the Pacific Electric right-of-way, the rail line that cuts diagonally through town from the northwest.
Tentative plans include building a transit-oriented retail development around the proposed station, anchored by the five acres owned by the Orange County Transportation Authority near the Katella Avenue and Beach Boulevard intersection.
Staff writers Doug Irving, Barbara Giasone and Eric Neff contributed to this report.
Contact the writer: epak@ocregister.com