How regional rail transit saved Denver - and created a economic development powerhouse - Politico

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

The 22.8-mile spur from the airport to downtown is the latest addition to a regional rail system that has transformed Denver and its suburbs. Using an unprecedented public-private partnership that combines private funding, local tax dollars and federal grants, Denver has done something no other major metro area has accomplished in the past decade, though a number of cities have tried. At a moment when aging mass transit systems in several major cities are capturing headlines for mismanagement, chronic delays and even deaths, Denver is unveiling a shiny new and widely praised network: 68 stations along 10 different spurs, covering 98 miles, with another 15 miles still to come. Even before the new lines opened, 77,000 people were riding light rail each day, making it the eighth-largest system in the country even though Denver is not in the top 20 cities for population. The effects on the region’s quality of life have been measurable and also surprising, even to the project’s most committed advocates. Originally intended to unclog congested highways and defeat a stubborn brown smog that was as unhealthy as it was ugly, the new rail system has proven that its greatest value is the remarkable changes in land use its stations have prompted, from revitalizing moribund neighborhoods, like the area around Union Station, to creating new communities where once there was only sprawl or buffalo grass.

“We are talking about a culture-transforming moment,” says Denver mayor Michael Hancock. “Light rail has really moved Denver into the 21st century.”

Link: 

How regional rail transit saved Denver - and created a economic development powerhouse - Politico

Two major themes emerge:

1. Regional cooperation--across city lines, county lines, across an entire metro area--is absolutely key to success.

2. Planner went into the project thinking the job of the system was to reduce traffic congestion. But as the system developed, they discovered it was doing something far more important and far more valuable: It was creating sustainable dense economic development in a way that is simply impossible for cities that rely solely on roads and highways for transportation.

Every station on the rail transit network has the potential to become a "village center"--a walkable neighborhood with housing, retail, jobs, and other amenities.

It's this development that has citizens and community leaders singing the praises of the rail system now that it is (mostly) in place.