Posted on: March 28, 2025
Transforming Transit Corridors to Grand Boulevards
Sunday, March 30, 2025
3:00 PM – 3:45 PM MT
Location: Mile High Ballroom 3
CM: .75
Moderator and Speaker(s)
Rick Williams, Architect, Partner
Van Meter Williams Pollack LLP
San Francisco, California
Implementing light rail and bus rapid transit (BRT) on existing, auto-oriented commercial corridors can achieve regional sustainability goals, but holistic planning is required. These corridors often span multiple jurisdictions, requiring land use to consider stop locations. Infrastructure may be inadequate to support new development. Communities surrounding corridors desirable for BRT are frequently vulnerable to displacement. The private market can often redevelop two-acre or larger sites long before BRT is complete, but smaller sites may provide a natural “land banking” for future subsidized development if thoughtful zoning policy has been adopted.
Questions posed include:
- What role does enhanced transit investment play in redevelopment:?
- Does light rail or BRT have more impact?
- Are streetscape or transit improvements a stronger catalyst?
- What challenges new transit infrastructure?
- What placemaking strategies are appropriate for corridors?
- What obstacles impede mixed-use developments and inclusionary housing?
- What policies will attract affordable housing and small-scale corridor development? and
- Is a “Grand Boulevard” a realistic vision to unify multiple corridor communities?
Learning Objectives:
- Discern the differences between a patchwork approach and a multi-jurisdictional Grand Boulevard vision.
- Understand the potential of outdated commercial corridors to meet housing demand and identify the infrastructure and policy barriers to mixed-use redevelopment.
- Recognize and know when to implement the policies and zoning necessary to limit displacement, preserve naturally occurring affordable housing, and create opportunities for equitable transit-oriented development during transit implementation.
Check out the rest of the APA Panel Discussions: HERE
Posted in: News