Taunton Transit Oriented Development - Roger Williams University

Taunton Transit Oriented DevelopmentThe 2006 RWU Taunton TOD StudioProject Definition: Beyond Park & RideWe have used the MBTA's planned New Bedford / Fall RiverCommuter Rail Extension as the basis for the exploration offocused research and design proposals that will help raise ourawareness of the potential implications of this extension for thecommunities it will serve. The MBTA's endorsement of TODand the State's TOD Infrastructure and Housing Support Programshow a substantial commitment at the state level; however, it isequally important to get local communities and decision makerson board. We should also not underestimate the challenges forplanners, architects (and architecture students) not accustomed toworking at the intersection of infrastructure, architecture andcommunity.At the local level, many of the communities along the proposedrail extension are rightly concerned about the impact of thisregional initiative. There have already been very real impactsfrom changing commuting patterns. Growth pressures alreadyexist and more growth is inevitable. The question is, how do wegrow in a way the takes advantage of our investment in existingcommunities and protects valuable open space? How do we planin a way that channels growth to those areas that are bestequipped to handle new development or that can supportsustained revitalization efforts and brown field developmentopportunities?Existing ModelsNew York, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia were among thefirst American cities to use rail travel to manage the tremendousgrowth that followed the industrial revolution. Philadelphia'sMain Line Communities, Chicago's Riverside, New York'sForest Hills Gardens and Boston's Brookline were all earlysuburban adaptations of Ebenezer Howard's Garden City conceptto an emerging suburban landscape. These pre-automotivecommunities formed naturally around the rail or streetcar servicethat linked them to the heart of the city; however Howard'svision was of a regional scale and not a metropolitan one. Hedetested the sprawling urban agglomerations that had formed inresponse to the Industrial Revolution and proposed a regionalvision of semi-autonomous cities linked by rail infrastructure andbound by green space. By also placing a central park at the corehe sought to merge the benefits of town and country living. TheGarden City ideal, and the New Towns and Green Belt Towns itinspired, could not contend with the relatively abundant supplyof land and the predominance of the automobile in this country.Edge Cities and suburban sprawl, fed by an addiction to theliberating power of the automobile and an enormous investmentin highway infrastructure, soon displaced more hierarchicalpatterns of development based on rail infrastructure. As jobshave moved out from the core, this has placed new barriers toentry into the job market for the urban poor and those withlimited independent mobility.East Coast / West CoastContinued growth pressure, congestion and pollution concernshave led California to adopt an aggressive program in support ofTransit Oriented Development. The scale, integrated design andplanning of many recent West Coast examples is exemplary.Many make excellent use of new light rail technology tomaximize pedestrian orientation, the integration of multiple uses,density and total design. Examples of heavy rail along thePeninsula Corridor (Caltrain) Line connecting San Francisco toSan Jose (by way of San Mateo and Paolo Alto) also show thesensitive integration of multiplex cinemas, structured parking,and new shopping, office and housing typologies within the6