What is Transit Oriented Development?

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is characterized by compact, walkable communities centered around high quality transportation systems and typically includes a mixture of land uses in close proximity including office, residential, retail, and civic uses.

In many large metropolitan cities throughout the United States, TOD is becoming a key strategy for older cities seeking to revitalize downtown areas and sprawling cities dealing with explosive population and employment growth. By integrating land use and public transportation, TOD is becoming an important part of how people view where they will live, work and play. This is particularly true in light of the increased traffic congestion, rising fuel prices, and need to protect the environment and enhance our quality of life. One of the great benefits of TOD is that it applies a multi-modal strategy (roads, sidewalks, bicycle facilities, and transit) to provide more travel choices and helps to reduce single occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips.

The Tide has already played a major part in some of the new developments in downtown Norfolk. Two of the more notable TODs are The Belmont at Freemason and Wachovia Center. With the introduction of light rail, the City of Norfolk is exploring other areas where TOD may be integrated along the alignment

To learn more about developments in downtown Norfolk, visit: www.norfolkdevelopment.com

To learn more about Transit Oriented Development, visit: www.transitorienteddevelopment.org