The RTA Master Plan is not only a choice for increased transportation options. It is a vote for the kind of Metro Detroit in which we want to live. Do we want ever-increasing sprawl that stretches out into fertile farmland? Or would we prefer investing in our own communities, with revitalized commercial districts, more housing options, and high-quality public spaces?
Do we want more of Macomb Township, or do we want more of Downtown Plymouth? More importantly, what do we think the next generation will want? Which urban landscapes will be more appealing for those considering moving to the Detroit area?
Not that there is anything wrong with Macomb Township. It is an excellent community for families, with spacious housing and good schools. But most people would agree that we have plenty of that suburban landscape, from Taylor to Canton to Farmington Hills to Troy to Chesterfield Township.
Walkable urban environments, however, are rare in Metro Detroit. They are limited to our old downtowns, emerging inner suburban communities like Royal Oak and Ferndale, and of course revitalized Midtown and Downtown Detroit. Communities where you have the option to walk or bike to the store, and kids can walk to school. In general, these communities hold their real estate value better (just look at per square foot prices in Berkley, which is walkable and has a downtown, with Warren, which is more traditional suburban).
Principles of Transit-Oriented Development
Effective public transit enables this kind of urban form. Transportation alternatives may allow developers to build less parking per square foot of commercial space, and these walkable spaces can be built more easily. Emerging downtown districts may not need expensive parking structures.
Established communities can encourage new growth by selectively planning for increased development intensity (i.e. taller buildings) immediately around their rapid transit stations, with densities tapering off to blend in with the surrounding neighborhoods. This allows for more housing choices and new retail amenities supported by the increase in population.
In urban planning, this development philosophy is called transit-oriented development. You can see it in newly developed walkable mid-rise neighborhoods around Metrorail stations in Arlington, VA outside Washington, DC. You can see it around Denver’s expanding light rail network. You can see it along Euclid Avenue at Cleveland’s new BRT stations. In all these cases, rapid transit stations enable new walkable neighborhoods to develop.
Visions of Revitalized Communities
In Metro Detroit, rapid transit can enable our inner suburbs to take advantage of their strong grid street systems, and revitalize their economies (and tax bases) with new development. You could start to see 5–6 story condos in downtown Roseville along Gratiot. New office development at 13 Mile and Woodward in Royal Oak. New condos and shops in downtown Wayne along Michigan Avenue. New townhouses on the edge Mt Clemens. Expansion of development in downtown Dearborn at Schaefer.
Transit also can breathe new life into Detroit’s neighborhoods, which can benefit from better connections to downtown and the suburbs. New shopping and offices at Greenfield and Grand River in Detroit. Denser development in Corktown along Michigan Avenue. Expanded development opportunities at the State Fairgrounds. Revitalized neighborhoods that stretch northeast along Gratiot from Eastern Market.
Over time, as the focus of development returns to our existing infrastructure, the region becomes healthier. More people will be able to walk to the corner store again, or enjoy a dinner at a restaurant in the community downtown. We will not need to expand our water and sewer systems northward and westward as quickly, but instead make use of investments already in place.
The housing market will offer people more choice, from single-family homes (still prevalent) to townhouses on the edge of suburban downtowns or city neighborhoods to condos along our core corridors to high-rise penthouses in downtown Detroit. The region will be able to offer a wide variety of lifestyle options to people at every stage of their life.
In the future, our kids will no longer need to move to Chicago or New York to get a taste of the big city life.
Instead, we will have a more cohesive metropolitan landscape enabled by high-quality transit investment.
Vote for that future.