State and local actions can be decisive in shaping the way an area's economy adjusts to the competitive world economy. This course will present a comprehensive overview of state and local economic and community development as it relates to transportation planning and the processes involved in developing a broadly conceived strategies. The topic for the Spring 2016 capstone workshop will be "Effective Transportation Planning to Enhance Community and Economic Development." Teams of Humphrey School graduate students will work with community clients in the Twin Cities to investigate a variety of issues dealing with transportation and land use. The focus will be on breaking down planning silos and increase opportunities for economic and community development. There are two clients identified for this course: Metro Transit's TOD Office and Ramsey County's Economic Development Department. Descriptions of both projects are below:
mso-bidi-">Client: Metro Transit TOD Office
The project will include collection, categorization, and visualization of existing land dedicated to people, buildings, and cars along high frequency transit corridors and within their respective communities. Using this people/buildings/cars metric, students will be asked to create original research on the value of TOD and financial benefits of prioritizing land for people and buildings over cars. Finally, the project will include the opportunity to apply the metric and evaluation standards to one or more economic development centers within Ramsey County. This site analysis will include assessment of the site's potential for growth, change, and TOD through modifications in parking supply and urban design in the area. Students will have the opportunity to define the study area and methodology in partnership with Metro Transit and Ramsey County in the beginning stages of the project.
mso-bidi-">Client: Ramsey County Community and Economic Development
The early work of ARC reinforced that the growth and prosperity of the County will come from urban and suburban centers. Substantial investments have been made in urban corridors, such as the Green Line LRT and A-Line BRT. ARC identified centers predominately in suburban Ramsey County. Some are located along major transit corridors, however several of them are not.
This project sets out to better understand these important locations including the defining characteristics that have made these sites a center for the community. Students are invited to develop future scenarios for these centers and test their performance through existing and/or student-developed metrics. Students will explore implementation of the development alternatives including the actors and the actions (public and private sector) that are needed to achieve optimal outcomes.