Denver 9/27 Catherine Cox-Blair

Interagency Coordination at the State and Local Level

Partners in Innovation Symposium

Catherine Cox Blair

Reconnecting America

• Affordability Crisis

• Shift in Demographic

Trends

• Public Health and Safety

• Economic Development

and Competitiveness

• Community

Revitalization

• Global climate change

• Federal, state, and local

policies need to respond

Imperatives for Sustainable

Transportation and TOD

Leveraging the Transit Space Race: Regions Building New Systems

• Denver – 5 new LRT, BRT, Commuter Rail lines in 15 years + Streetcars

• Salt Lake –4 new lines, public-private partnerships, innovative federal agreement. Full system in 10 yrs. Linked to Envision Utah

• Portland - Already a large system, now creating a robust local streetcar network

• Houston – 6 new light rail lines in 10 years

• Atlanta – Belt Line, Peachtree Streetcar, commuter rail + aggressive TOD strategy

• Minneapolis – Aggressive Regional Rail/BRT network + streetcars linked to Walkable Urbanism

• Los Angeles - Recent $6 billion sales tax measure for transit

Denver’s FasTracks Plan

National Demand for TOD

• By 2030 10 Million more households will want to live near transit.

• About ½ of that demand comes from households earning less than the area median income (AMI)

• But given recent market trends, we believe the demand is higher and the needs for more affordable units

No One Can Do it AloneMaking the Case

Federal Policy is Starting to Align

• HUD/DOT/EPA

Partnership

• Established 6

Principles

• $140 million for

planning grants in

FY2010 budget

Emulating the Federal Partnership

• Region 8 example

– Denver

• Region 9 example

– San Francisco

Central Corridor TOD Investment

Framework

• Diverse partnership with a corridor

focus

• Central Corridor LRT project

• Integrate 35 existing plans and

guiding documents for areas along

the corridor into an integrated

framework for realizing a TOD vision

over 30 years.

• $1 billion rail investment

• $6 billion in needed private and

public investment

Denver TOD Strategic Plan

• City leadership and diversity

of partners

• Set priorities for allocation of

city resources

• Identify creation of TOD

supportive policy

development

• Identify implementation tools

and strategies for TOD

• Ensure close coordination

internally and externally

Partnership Trends and

Observations

• Emulating Federal Agency Partnerships

• Corridor Collaboration

• Regional Planning

• Housing authorities, CDCs, non-profits and

developers need to understand the MPO and

transit agency, programs and policies

• Advocate for these replicable programs and

policies

Sustainable Transportation and TOD

Are Complex, But Not Difficult

• Multiple stakeholder

agendas requires careful

outreach and education

• Proactive planning and

investment set the table

• Long-term visions are

needed to keep the

momentum

• Partnerships are essential

at every step of the way