Orenco Station
Lets
take a closer look a how Portland has
combined
land planning and transportation
along with using the three D’s in the form of TOD
design to support light rail.
A good example of this is Orenco Station, located
just west of Portland, it is an excellent example of TOD that
has applied the 3 D’s of physical design, and has been able to
successfully support and maintain a light rail station.
|
||
|
|
||
http://www.orencostation.com/home.htm |
||
Below
is the plan view of the Orenco Station. The development is
compact
and it has a transit center for light rail
located in close proximity to all areas of the development.
|
||
|
|
||
http://www.orencostation.com/home.htm |
||
Station Design
|
||
|
The
station is well-built,
attractive, conveniently located, and provides protection from
the elements
when people are waiting for the LTR
(light rail) car. The
stop is near an attractive park, encouraging light rail use by
serving as a
destination
for even those who live outside Orenco, as well as a
pleasant place to wait for the light rail car.
|
||
|
|
These two pictures by
Nels Reese
|
|
The
land-use around the transit center is
diverse.
The town center has a
variety of mixed use buildings containing,
apartments, retail, and office space.
This would give, say a young person or someone
starting a new business the opportunity to live and work in the
same area, saving them time and money.
If they do need to travel they are in close proximity to a light
rail system that can take them anywhere in the region they want
to go to.
Streets have street furniture and are
attractively buffered with trees, creating a pedestrian friendly
environment that encourages walking to transit stops.
|
||
 |
||
Housing Diversity
|
||
Orenco Station also provides a variety of housing types and options. There are apartments, condos, and single family homes of multiple sizes all close to the transit stop. |
||
 This and following pictures from http://www.orencostation.com/home.htm |
||
| This diversity helps people of all ages and incomes to come together and form a strong community, along with providing a diversity of times and frequency of use needed to support the light rail system. | ||
 |
||
|
|
||
|
Commercial Center |
||
|
Orenco
station also has the added bonus of having a commercial center
adjacent to the site. Any products and
services that cannot be obtained in the
down town mixed-use area can be found in the near-by
commercial center.
Having a commercial center is
not only convenient, it adds to the
diversity of
the community, and attracts outside patronage and light rail users.
|
||
|
Success For Portland
|
||
 |
||
|
The combination of land planning in the from of a TOD
and light rail as a means of transit has been a huge success
for Orenco Station and Portland.
Orenco station was voted
the community of the year in 1998 and has been the most rewarded
community since then. By expanding a light rail system and
adopting the TOD method of growth, Portland has increased light rail
usage to over
70,000 a day.
During
one 10 month study they found that usage increased by 1000 a day (www.lightrailnow.org/progress/,
pg1-2). The TOD has proved successful in physically supporting light
rail, and in turn light rail has helped Portland ease congestion
caused by reliance on the automobile.
|
||
 |
||
