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This is the podcast for transit lovers

Cities across the country have been turning to transit-oriented development (TOD) as a way to build communities with greater opportunity for all of their residents. A new podcast from our Smart Growth America colleagues explores some great TOD projects around the country and the lessons that others have learned.

Younger and older Americans alike are seeking out accessible, vibrant, and transit-connected neighborhoods to live, work, or age-in-place. But with a dearth of these types of neighborhoods being provided by a market tilted towards single-use suburban development, renting or buying in these places is often unaffordable for many. And with a housing crisis in full swing across much of America—where a lack of new housing is making large swaths of urban areas unaffordable to low- and middle-income residents—focusing new housing around transit is an obvious solution.

Fortunately, there are a lot of great examples of communities pursuing this as a solution, and their lessons can be informative for other communities considering their own transit-oriented development (TOD) projects or policies.

Building Better Communities with Transit, a podcast produced by Smart Growth America in partnership with the Federal Transit Administration, shares the stories of communities that are addressing the challenges of executing TOD. From novel ways to fund transit lines in Kansas City, MO, to new a ‘smart city’ concept along a commuter rail line in Denver, CO, to equitable development in Somerville, MA, this podcast covers a range of specific topics, and each month a new episodes expands the offerings.

Whether you are an advocate or a practitioner working on these issues in your community, this podcast has something for everyone. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, or wherever you get your podcasts to catch a new episode each month!

Check out the most recent episodes below:

Episode 5: KC Streetcar: A demonstration of the possible

In 2016, Kansas City, MO opened the first streetcar the city has seen in almost 60 years and transformed the city’s downtown. In this episode, we’re joined by the Executive Director of the KC Streetcar Authority, Tom Gerend.  According to Tom, former skeptics of the line are now some of the KC Streetcar’s biggest proponents as businesses have boomed and more people are moving to—and spending money in—the center city. The 2.2 mile KC Streetcar, akin to a downtown circulator, is “a demonstration of the possible.”


Episode 4: Reconnecting Somerville with transit

Somerville, MA sits just north of Boston and Cambridge, but is largely unconnected to the region’s network of capacity rail transit. But health and environmental justice issues in the community have finally pushed the city and region to extend the Green Line from Boston. In this episode, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone talks about how the community is working together on plans for future transit-oriented development around the Green Line Extension, and how that process can be recreated in the future.


Episode 3: Albuquerque investing in place

Albuquerque, NM is home to the nation’s first gold-standard bus rapid transit (BRT) line which began limited operations late last year. To learn more about the new Albuquerque Rapid Transit line (affectionately known as ART), we spoke with Brian Reilly, one planners for line, about the integration of transportation and land use in Albuquerque. As Reilly explains, ART forms a frequent and reliable backbone for Albuquerque’s entire transportation system and dovetails with the city’s focus on redevelopment along the Central Avenue corridor where ART runs.


Episode 2: Decarbonize the city, a few blocks at a time

In this episode, we explore a new smart city concept taking shape in Denver, CO: Peña Station Next—a new smart city concept on Denver RTD’s A Line commuter rail. Podcast host Jeff Wood talks with George Karayannis, vice president of CityNow, the smart city arm of Panasonic Corporation. Karayannis discusses smart cities, how to think beyond shiny new technology, and what it means for cities thinking about the future. Peña Station Next will eventually include residential, commercial, and retail space.


See the full post announcing the first episode, Taming Pittsburgh’s hostile streets.

Decarbonize the city, a few blocks at a time

Denver’s RTD A Line commuter rail that connects Union Station downtown to Denver International Airport. (Photo provided courtesy of Denver International Airport)

Today, Smart Growth America and TODResources.org are releasing the second episode of Building Better Communities with Transit: “Decarbonize the city, a few blocks at a time.” This month, the podcast explores a new smart city concept taking shape in Denver, CO: Peña Station Next.

Host Jeff Wood talks with George Karayannis, vice president of CityNow, the smart city arm of Panasonic Corporation. George talks about smart cities, how to think beyond shiny new technology, and what it means for cities thinking about the future.

Jeff and George also discuss what CityNow is working on at Peña Station Next—a new smart city concept on Denver RTD’s A Line commuter rail that incorporates ideas such as district energy, smarter streetlights, and intelligent power management in buildings. George talks about how and why the station location was chosen for this innovative project.

Like the name suggests, this smart development is located at Peña Station, the last stop before Denver International Airport. In addition to being a testing ground for new technologies, Peña Station Next will eventually include residential, commercial, and retail space as we explored in a previous post on TODresources.org.

Building Better Communities with Transit is intended to provide more support to communities and local leaders who are working to catalyze new development around transit, give more people access to public transportation, increase access to opportunity, and build robust local economies. For easier access, the podcast now available on a number of platforms: Soundcloud, iTunes, Stitcher, and others with even more coming soon. You can also access the podcast’s raw RSS feed here.

Recent TOD News

Here are a few things that have been happening this week with TOD projects across the country.

Introducing a new monthly podcast all about transit and development

Pittsburgh north shore skyline. (Photo Credit: Nick Amoscato via Flickr)

Last week, our colleagues at Smart Growth America launched Building Better Communities with Transit, a new podcast series at TODresources.org about transit-oriented development and how it improves communities across America.

There’s a deep well of expertise when it comes to undertaking or encouraging development around transit stations or along transit corridors. This new monthly podcast taps into that expertise to share the experiences of communities across the country, large and small, when it comes to development near transit of all shapes and sizes—heavy rail, bus and everything in between.

Transit-oriented development is not a one-size-fits-all solution and it’s vital that projects are tailored to each community’s specific needs. Yet, the principles are the same. Beginning this month, host Jeff Wood will invite experts for short conversations about how communities can catalyze smarter growth by encouraging new development around transit stations. Jeff and his guests will discuss the finer points of developing local policies to encourage TOD, engaging the public, securing sources for funding, and how certain communities are experiencing success, among other topics.

All of this is intended to support communities and local leaders who are working to catalyze new development around transit, give more people access to public transportation, increase access to opportunity, and build robust local economies.

Listen to the inaugural episode: Taming Pittsburgh’s Hostile Streets

For this first episode, Jeff Wood speaks with Breen Masciotra, transit-oriented development manager for the Port Authority of Allegheny County, PA, and Karina Ricks, director of the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure for the City of Pittsburgh. We discuss the challenges they face in Pittsburgh, including topography, new technologies, and hostile streets. You’ll also hear about how they’re making a more walkable and multi-modal city through new bus rapid transit projects, transit-oriented development initiatives, and “eco innovation districts.”