Land Use & Light Rail

I came across this video that’s ties into the Car Dependency post from last week. The piece, created by Arnold Imaging for Kansas City Public Television, re-imagines parts of KC rebuilt among light rail lines.

Most people do not know that Light Rail is a land use issue - and not just about transportation. This video shows how pedestrian friendly developments are created around station locations, making light rail a catalyst for positive change in the community.

In other words, there is potential for a “build it and they will come” phenomenon with Light Rail. For those who doubt, I’d point to projects both proposed and under construction in the last few years around the city’s most prominent transit stop, Stamford Station on the Metro North Line. Harbor Point, RBS, Metro Green (already proposing phase II) all owe their existence in Stamford largely due to their proximity to the train. Rail, which is hard coded into the city, albeit at a higher investment level, attracts these patterns of development whereas bus lines alone do not.

Imagine KC from Arnold Imaging on Vimeo.

Sure overall the video may feel a little corny, and the message at 1:26 in seems to be that Transit Oriented Development can get you laid (not arguing it can't), but it does lay out an environment many would recognize as more attractive to live in than say a car ghetto like High Ridge Road.