The Geometry of Transit-Friendly Neighborhoods

"Transit-oriented development" sounds like a tidy solution to myriad urban ills. If cities enabled more people to live and work within strolling distance of a train or bus stop, families could save money on gas, residents without cars could more easily get to work, neighborhoods could cut down on congestion and pollution, and economic development might ensue. As a general theory, it simply makes sense for cities to invest in the nodes that connect us to each other and the places where we need to go.

That said, every rail stop isn’t equally primed for a new apartment complex and a Whole Foods. And it can be hard to finger why. There’s little sense, for instance, in pushing transit-oriented development in a community where every household already owns two cars. Nor does it make sense in the center of a neighborhood sliced by highways and mega blocks where residents are unlikely to walk to the train.