Over the past decade, the popularity of transit-orienteddevelopments has exploded as they've been viewed as a cure-all forlanguishing neighborhoods. These mixed-use residential andcommercial projects are designed to maximize access to publictransportation while providing live/work/play neighborhoods forresidents who can walk a short distance from their homes torestaurants, retail and leisure and entertainment venues.

TODs are also a plus for mass transit providers. Theleast-expensive way for these organizations to get customers is toattract people who live and work near transit stops, such as lightrail stations or trolley stops. In order for those potentialcustomers to live there, however, they want a neighborhood.

As recently as five or six years ago, many developers believedit was easy to create successful TODs, but that thinking haschanged. These developments are very complex projects— multiphase,multiyear and with multiple moving parts. If the development teamdoesn't get it right, the viability of the project will bequestionable.