The State of Transit-Oriented Development

TOD can take many forms based on location, land use composition, community character, and architectural style; however, there are common elements that are typically included with TOD developments, including: density, a mix of uses, walkability, and a focus on transit.

Higher population and employment densities along transit lines place more potential transit users and more potential destinations within close proximity of a train or bus stop.

Mixing retail, office, housing, and public spaces close together promotes concentrations of activity around transit. It also makes more vibrant destinations in which people can live, work, shop, and conduct business in one place.

Designing buildings and public spaces to be enjoyable for pedestrians encourages walking and reduces the need for using a car to access multiple destinations. Walkability means buildings close to the sidewalk, attractive storefronts, well-designed streetscapes, and a deemphasis on parking lots.

Developments along transit lines reduce the need for cars because people can access places via transit or on foot. Emphasizing transit also means reducing required parking and locating it behind, beside, or below developments, rather than in front. Reduced parking also allows for denser development or the incorporation of public spaces.

County Planning and partners identified 22 transit corridors that touch significant parts of 26 Cuyahoga County communities to analyze the State of TOD. These corridors were selected because they are existing high-capacity corridors, run through the densest parts of the County, serve populations that rely on transit, or are GCRTA priority routes.

In addition to TOD corridors, walksheds around these corridors were also mapped. These walksheds correspond to a 1/4 mile buffer around each bus stop and a 1/2 mile around each train station along the TOD corridors. These walksheds have been used to analyze land use, zoning, development patterns, and other metrics around TOD corridors. The walksheds encompass 54,946 acres of Cuyahoga County, which corresponds to approximately 18.7% of the County's total area. Despite covering less than 20% of the County's area, the TOD walksheds are estimated to contain 35% of the County's total population, 47% of the County's non-white population, 54% of the County's population living under the poverty level, and 56% of households without a vehicle. The TOD walksheds also encompass 29% of total jobs within the County.

Zoning determines what uses are permitted or prohibited on a site according to existing regulations. It is the primary mechanism used by local governments to regulate the use of land and the manner in which those land uses are distributed throughout the community. The Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office has generalized the zoning of individual communities into categories that have been further refined into six groupings by the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. While properties may be zoned for specific uses, how that land is presently being used may differ. For instance, a property may be zoned for commercial use, but a previously constructed industrial use may still be operating on that site. Generalized zoning can tell us what can be built in the future. The results show that within the TOD walksheds, more than half (54%) of all land is zoned for single-family use. This is followed by 15% of land zoned for commercial use, 15% of land zoned for industrial use, and 9% of land zoned for multi-family use. The map shows that many corridors are lined with commercial uses, which, if developed in appropriate manners and with TOD design principles, could support walkable, mixed-use development. It also shows how much of the area around TOD corridors is zoned for low-density single-family uses. Finally, a significant portion of TOD walksheds are zoned for industrial uses, which are not typically considered as part of transit-oriented development, but can be significant job centers that could attract ridership.

The Cuyahoga County Land Cover Analysis uses aerial imagery and LIDAR data to show whether land is covered with buildings, roads, other paved surfaces (such as parking areas), or is covered with green features such as trees, grasses, or other natural vegetation. For TOD walksheds, areas with a greater percent of building coverage generally mean denser areas; while areas with large expanses of pavement or greenery tend to be less conducive to transit as they correspond to less dense and more spread out development patterns with large parking areas. The results show that within the TOD walksheds, only 17% of the land is covered by buildings, while 12% is covered by roads, and 25% is covered by parking lots and other paved areas. An additional 45% of land is covered in green features. This indicates that roads and other paved areas take up more space along the frequent transit corridors than buildings do. Comparatively, 10.6% of the County as a whole is covered by buildings, 7.3% by roads, 15.5% by parking and other paved areas, and 65.7% by green features.

Mapping developments within Cuyahoga County can show where investments are being made and how they relate to TOD walksheds. Investment amounts come from the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office's Delta Track data, and this information is shown for properties that added more than $1 million in building value from the previous year. The map showcases developments in Cuyahoga County between 2011 and 2022 with the exception of certain tax-exempt projects. In teal are developments within the TOD walksheds but outside of Downtown Cleveland, in bright green are developments located within TOD walksheds inside Downtown Cleveland, and in pink are developments elsewhere in the County. Larger circles indicate greater levels of investment. The data shows that over the course of more than a decade, $6B of building value has been added through major projects in Cuyahoga County, with 56% or $3.5B invested in TOD walksheds. Many of these TOD area investments were concentrated in certain areas including Downtown Cleveland, University Circle, Fairfax, Ohio City, and Chagrin Highlands.

Examples of recent developments in Greater Cleveland show the breadth of projects along transit lines. The Intro project in Cleveland’s Ohio City Neighborhood was completed in 2022 and includes residential, event, and retail uses. The nine-story project includes 298 housing units and 550 parking spaces located along multiple bus routes and adjacent to the Red Line W. 25 – Ohio City Station.

The Van Aken District in Shaker Heights is a suburban example of a transit-oriented development that includes residential, retail, and office space. The project includes multiple buildings as high as five stories with 103 units and 643 parking spaces. Located at the terminus of the Blue Line, the project is expanding with additional residential and mixed-use buildings that are growing the district.

A final TOD example is Aspen Place along Lorain Avenue in Cleveland’s Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. The project was built on GCRTA land in 2019 and comprises residential and retail uses. The 40-unit building includes affordable housing and ten parking spaces located adjacent to bus routes and the Red Line W. 65 – Lorain Station, and residents of the building are provided with transit passes.

Transit-oriented development promotes sustainability by expanding mobility options, reducing sprawl, and lowering emissions. For example, expanded mobility options allow people to rely less on personal vehicles. One long-term study of TODs in Portland, Oregon showed that the share of people walking or biking to work at least one day a week rose from 9% to 29%, and the share of people living in low-car households (fewer cars than adults) increased from 34% to 50%. When TOD reduces vehicle travel, it can also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), household greenhouse gas emissions from development near BART were at least 12% lower than the regional average. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is critical for improving air quality and addressing climate change.

Transit-oriented development also stimulates local economies by attracting new investments, reducing parking and transportation costs, and increasing access to opportunity. By concentrating housing and destinations near transit, TOD increases access to jobs, education, grocery stores, and services. For example, in Chicago, households near new TOD projects had, on average, transit access to 1.73 times more jobs than households that were not near TOD projects. The economic impact of TOD can be seen locally. For example, along the GCRTA Healthline, there has been a reported total investment of $9.24 billion dollars—consisting of $6.96 billion in completed projects, $1.16 billion under construction, and $1.12 billion in planned projects, which correlates to 23.5 million square feet of development and 8,000 dwelling units as of 2018.

Finally, transit-oriented development improves public health by encouraging active lifestyles, improving public safety, and reducing accidents. TOD's design and emphasis on transit can help create an environment that is safer for all road users by reducing car use and speeds, which leads to fewer injuries and fatalities from crashes. For example, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) found that metro areas with more than 40 annual transit trips per capita had around half the traffic fatality rate of metro areas with fewer than 20 transit trips per capita. TOD can support local safety initiatives such as Vision Zero Cleveland, which is a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries in Cleveland, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. According to the crash data analysis supporting the action plan, between 2016 and 2020, 47% of crash fatalities were speed-related. Reducing speeds can limit accidents and make streets safer for all.

TOD can be a key strategy for promoting equity as it can increase access to jobs and services, and lower household transportation costs by expanding access to transit and other mobility options. However, TOD can fall short of this expectation as it can be implemented in ways that are not accessible or affordable for all people. TOD investments can often be concentrated in affluent neighborhoods, thus keeping low-income and transit-dependent communities from experiencing the benefits of TOD. For example, an evaluation of TODs in Chicago from 2013 and 2019 revealed that 90% of developments receiving TOD incentives were concentrated in only three neighborhoods, and the neighborhoods left out from new development had 40% more residents of color and 23% more low-income residents. Alternatively, where TOD does get implemented, low-and-moderate income residents can be at risk of displacement as land values, sale prices, and rents may increase due to demand. Without specific consideration for equity, TOD can continue to reinforce existing disparities.

County Planning included equity as a consideration when selecting transit lines for this study and has looked to other regions for examples of how to incorporate equity in TOD planning.