Herbert Hoover National Historic Site: This West Branch, Iowa site features the two-room cottage in which the 31st US president was born. Watch a film on Hoover’s life, visit his birthplace cottage, the reconstructed blacksmith shop where his father worked, and the restored Friends Meetinghouse where Hoover worshiped as a child.
Iowa Map Photo Gallery
Land consolidation can also provide financing for TODs through public-private partnerships, particularly in lower-income areas where the need for accessibility is greater. In India, Gujarat’s Town Planning Scheme acquired 13 kilometers of peripheral land from the 63-kilometer-long Ahmedabad Ring Road. This was achieved through land pooling via active community participation and with no money paid for the land. In theory, poorer fringe areas can be developed in this fashion. When the fringe landowners are wealthier business owners or politicians rather than poor farmers, the objective of the exercise can be deviated.
Yet another area that can be targeted for supporting TODs is the underutilized parking area within the inner city. At least one-third of the space in US cities is dedicated to parking. Besides encroaching on valuable real estate, each parking spot costs a city an average of US $1,000 in annual lost tax revenue.
Chicago’s sale of three city-owned parking lots for the purpose of TOD demonstrates the financial benefit provided to people and government. The City of Chicago indicated its intention to sell city-owned parking lots adjacent to a transit station. Selling such parcels was good for the budget, ‘bringing in $12.4 million from three separate buyers-far more than the $7 million appraisal’, according to Freemark, as well as increasing longterm tax revenues. Development on the parking lots had the potential to add US$358,000 in annual new property tax revenues.
