Quote:
Originally Posted by aaron38
I find that hard to believe and what I've observed, with all the TOD around Metra stations that wasn't there in 1980. At stations like Palatine, Arlington Heights, I see tons of people getting off the trains in the evenings and they go fanning out all over walking home, not just heading for the parking deck.
Maybe the number of commuters has held constant, but there is definitely more housing in walking distance than there was.
|
It's deceptive, I think; many of those towns
always had a stream of commuters fanning off the train in the evenings, even when it was all single-family houses. I looked up the numbers for Arlington Heights specifically a few years ago, and amazingly the ridership there is
essentially flat over the past 30 years despite them densifying their downtown. If you look at that website, the clear trend is that the only stations with growing ridership are the ones who are expanding their parking lots.
You're correct about the housing growth, but that's limited to only certain towns, and usually the pro-growth towns are also building tons of additional downtown parking in multi-story garages. Lots of towns are not seeing that growth, though, even now - Mt Prospect still hasn't completed any TOD development in their downtown, although one is underway. Go to Barrington, or Riverside, or Hinsdale, and their downtowns are essentially frozen in amber except for minor development projects that are basically just beautification. It's not that there's no demand, its that these towns are still enthralled with the suburban model of development and hate the idea of big, new buildings in their quaint, little downtowns.
Lastly, I think it's a mistake to assume that housing in suburban downtowns will automatically get filled with Metra commuters. We live in a big metropolitan area, and for folks who want an walkable lifestyle
and work in downtown Chicago, the default choice will usually be to live in the city itself. Many of those suburban apartments are probably occupied by seniors or middle-aged people who want still convenient access to amenities, shopping and dining, but don't necessarily work in downtown Chicago or have a reason to ride Metra every day.