Town Hall Meeting Tonight Will Focus on TOD

Illustration accompanying TOD article in today's Honolulu Advertiser

Honolulu’s anticipated economic benefits from transit oriented development (TOD) along the City’s rail transit route will be highlighted in a panel discussion this evening at Farrington High School.

The City has long extolled the value rail projects have for their communities. In addition to being a traffic-free method of commuting through congested urban areas, rail can spur renewal in the neighborhoods through which they travel.

Experts from around the country will describe how rail systems have positively impacted housing, business and employment. San Diego, Portland and Washington, D.C. are among the cities frequently mentioned as having enjoyed billions of dollars of positive investment, some of it stimulated by tax credits for developers who build affordable housing near rail transit stations.

Tonight’s workshop will begin at 6 o’clock in the Farrington High School auditorium. The TOD story in today's Honolulu Advertiser by Alan Yonan Jr. is the first rail-specific article we recall seeing written by the paper's assistant business editor. Perhaps it signals a change in rail reporting assignments at the paper; the most recent story by the paper's regular rail reporter was noteworthy for having buried its lead some 650 words into the article.