Quote:
Originally Posted by the urban politician
^ I've been on the Metra a few times in the last few weeks, and observed that the Golf station project is already under construction.
I"m not sure if it's the same thing Ardecila is referring to, but right outside the Metra windows at the Golf station stop is a pretty sizable multifamily project U/C.
I know that we aren't Washington DC, but I actually don't think Chicagoland is doing too bad with TOD in the suburbs. I have visited many suburbs over the years, and a lot of them have a good number of newish multiunit buildings near their Metra stations. Some towns are doing a better job at this than others, of course, but Glenview, Golf, Naperville, Des Plaines, Arlington Heights, Northbrook, Downers Grove are at least a few that come to mind that have really taken advantage of real estate around their trains stations.
|
Yeah, but the numbers don't check out. Many of those Metra stations saw declining ridership, and the downtown census tracts often saw population losses, despite new TOD going up. Downtown Arlington Heights is usually held up as the model, but it lost population from 2000-2010, just as those towers were going up.
Des Plaines did see a notable population jump, but they have also made a compromise that most suburbs would find unacceptable, replacing long blocks of single-family homes with 6-8 story apartment buildings.