The Owners' Manual | Issue 13 | Summer 2018

T ransit Oriented Development (also known as TOD) is an exciting and fast-growing trend creating vibrant, walkable, and pedestrian- oriented communities centered around high-quality transit systems. The main goal of a TOD district is to create a dense, mixed-use community filled with commercial, residential, office and entertainment facilities centered around or located near a transit station. Successful TOD communities provide easy access to the central transit station through multiple modes of transportation including walking, driving, biking or switching from one mass transit to another. Ease of commuting within the TOD district and to other destinations becomes a major reason for communities to quickly develop and creates demand for new mixed-use project opportunities. The visioning and planning of these new potential TOD districts often starts with upfront efforts and the establishment of TOD districts by the municipality. Federal and state funding is available for municipalities to develop TOD strategies, guidelines and master plans for these districts. With these strategies in place, a long- term transit-oriented vision can be accomplished through the continual focus of developing mixed-use parcels appropriate for the TOD district.

Private development and public funding within these TOD districts help to create a vibrant and energized community that is sustainable. BL Companies has been involved in TOD planning projects including one example in Milford, Connecticut. This TOD planning project was funded by the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Planning Grant Program from the State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management (OPM). The City of Milford was one of eleven projects throughout the state to receive funding for this study. The OPM Planning Grant Program allows municipalities to work with planning consultants to further develop actionable strategies for the development of TOD districts. BL was awarded the role of planning consultant for the project. The scope of this TOD study included interpreting the existing and proposed physical conditions of the TOD district, researching and understanding market and demographic forces, and artfully creating a workable concept for the development of a key land parcel north of the Milford Train Station. The TOD district not only includes the train stwation and immediate area surrounding it, but also much of the Milford Downtown Core.

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