The Truffles demographic is projected to account for up to 80% of the 250,000 residents expected in metro Denver's dense new developments that will spring up around its 50-plus new light rail stations to be built during the next 15 years or so along the $4.7-billion FasTracks approved by voters almost a year ago. The findings are part of a recent $20,000 report funded by a Denver-area company Peaks PR, a long-time community consulting firm headed by Ken Parks.

The report indicates accommodating Truffles will be a staggering task for some metro communities, while others are well on their way to making the changes necessary to accommodate the fast-moving, affluent, non-traditional families, which soon will be the metro norm. "By the time our light-rail stations open, the traditional family will account for significantly less than one-in-five households metro wide," Parks says.

FasTracks, Parks notes, is the largest transportation program of its kind ever approved by voters in the US. "This is the first time a feat of this magnitude has been attempted," Parks tells GlobeSt.com. But challenges lie ahead. According to the Federal Transit Administration, of 3,300 US transit stations, only 100 have been developed into successful TODs.

Findings of the report include:

• Metro Denver cities need to close the "community development gap." Metro Denver's most successful TODs will emerge from communities that recognize and plan for profound shifts in the make-up of populations, according to the report. Municipalities that lag in closing that gap will lose a powerful competitive advantage, which ultimately could be extremely costly, according to the report.
• TODs must be interconnected with surrounding neighborhoods. "Isolating a TOD from its nearby neighborhoods is akin to cutting off its blood supply," says Tom Boone, principal, Market InfoMania, who administered the study for Peak PR.
• Communities must think down the line when planning their TODs. Successful TODs increase ridership, but they also achieve regional, community and economic goals. "Each station must be considered in the context of the whole regional marketplace," Parks says. The study estimates up to $500,000 will need to be invested in the planning of each station--that's $25 million for the entire system.
• Above all, TODs must be POPs, or people-oriented places. "In the best TODs, rail is simply another component of success; it is not the driving force," Boone says.
• Build it and they will come. Conventional thinking says traditional market studies must prove demand before investment is made. The new study reveals investment in TODs actually stimulates demand. Nearly every person interviewed for the study said TODs were not welcome in their metro areas until the first successful TODs were built. "Communities who blink may come up short," Parks tells GlobeSt.com. "The potential downside to municipalities is quite extensive."