Lots. As Global reporter Randene Neill reported last Wednesday, “a new study shows that public transit is shaping the future of development. … commuters are leaving the car at home – and developers are taking notice.”
.
.
Highlights:
- A company “whose main goal was to find a building as close as possible to transit.” Says their VP of People Jerry Gratton: “We are firmly in that 20-something demographic here … and, you know, they don’t drive cars. How can you afford to as a young person in Vancouver today? Over 50 percent of our staff are call centre, and almost 100 percent of them ride transit to get to the office. So it’s critical for us to be near transit.”
- Gavin Reynolds, Senior VP, Jones Lang Lasalle commercial realtors: “We have noticed that 90 percent of all new development in the office sector is actually going on in and around transit stations.
- In surrey, tenants are willing to pay $5 more per square foot to lease along SkyTrain. Vacancy rates are less than 1 percent; half a kilometre away, they are as high as 25 percent.
While I welcome the support for transit, I worry about myopic monorail-like cargo-cult focus on it.
For example, I wonder what the public realm is like around the office space 0.5km away from the skytrain.
If it was a pleasant little car-last village square with surrounding thin streets, active frontages, a range of places to live and to get lunch, and to have a beer after work, then I’d predict higher rents and occupancy. I don’t know Surrey intimately, but I’d be surprised if all those boxes are ticked.
I like that you bring up the public realm 0.5km+ from the skytrain. Take this for example: one block south from where they filmed the pleasant-looking pedestrian realm near Holdom station: http://goo.gl/fwBmiZ – And don’t mind the car dealership across the street.
This is the norm in North Burnaby. Few streets with business parks or industrial buildings have sidewalks, even a hundred metres from SkyTrain stations. People would have to walk in the road or in the ditch or on soggy grass to get to work, so they drive instead. Walking distance is much shorter than 500 m if the municipality makes walking difficult or dangerous.
My understanding is that Burnaby waits until a property is redeveloped before putting in sidewalks. This might make sense if redevelopment was desired or imminent, but I expect that Burnaby wants to keep its employment lands much as they are.
Love the quote: “.. they don’t drive cars. How can you afford to as a young person in Vancouver today? ”
When life hands you a declining standard of living, make lemonade!