Conner Prairie Interactive History Park: In Fishers, Indiana, this history park’s two hundred tree- studded acres are divided into five historical areas. Play pioneer in Prairie Town, meet furry creatures in the Animal Encounters Barn, or throw tomahawks at the Lenape Indian Camp.
Los Angeles County, California, demonstrates the additional benefits of converting surplus parking lots to TODs. Serving 113 stations, the TOD consists of six rail lines, including two rapid transit subway lines and four light rail lines. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has facilitated TOD of 17 stations on Metro-owned land through a joint development program. Under this program, 2,077 new units of housing, 305 hotel rooms, 820,000 square feet of retail, and 650,000 square feet of office space have been developed. These developments promote equity by providing 35 percent of affordable housing with covenants.
Indiana Map Photo Gallery
As part of Metro’s TOD program, the Hollywood/Vine station became a primary target for rejuvenation. Around 4.7 acres of parking area owned by Metro and others have been developed for hotels, condominiums, apartments, and street retail space. The extra benefit that the community has gained from this project is the re-creation of place identity. This station is the most attractive and fun station in the entire Metro system. Features include a movie screen flanked by large curtains with reference to the movie industry. Pillars replicating palm trees and musical notes for a famous song beneath the handrails add to the excitement. Pedestrians follow the hand-painted art tiles and are reminded of the Yellow Brick Road from The Wizard of Oz. Los Angeles’s car culture is resonated through the carefully sculpted benches placed on the platform. The place picks on Hollywood symbols and is able to connect closely with passers-by.
Another challenge in the implementation of TODs, highlighted by Utter, is finding the right leadership for the vision of sustainable development. To be successful, these projects require visionaries such as Jaime Lerner, who placed Curitiba, Brazil, on the world Map as a model for TOD.
In the 1960s, Curitiba’s city authorities formulated a master plan to guide the city towards growth, order, and extra room for the automobile. To solve the problem of traffic congestion, the master plan envisaged replacing historic buildings in the downtown area with new traffic lanes. Lerner, a young architect at the time, argued against this vision and initiated an opposing movement from which sprang a vision of dense urban form along mass transit corridors. This meant a reining-in of sprawl, expansion of green spaces, and preservation of historic districts. Lerner’s approach was consistent with the core concepts of TOD. Over the next two decades, first as planner then as mayor, his vision transformed Curitiba through a plan that integrated land use, transport, living, leisure, and other elements of the city.
