University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 2010 Planning for Passenger Rail in Small Cities and Towns Alyssa R. Larose University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses Part of the Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons, and the Urban Studies and Planning Commons Larose, Alyssa R., "Planning for Passenger Rail in Small Cities and Towns" (2010). Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014. 520. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/520 This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PLANNING FOR PASSENGER RAIL IN SMALL CITIES AND TOWNS: POTENTIAL IMPACTS AND BEST PLANNING PRACTICES TO MAKE THE MOST OF TRANSIT INVESTMENTS A Thesis Presented by ALYSSA R. LAROSE Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF REGIONAL PLANNING September 2010 Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning © Copyright by Alyssa R. Larose 2010 All Rights Reserved PLANNING FOR PASSENGER RAIL IN SMALL CITIES AND TOWNS: POTENTIAL IMPACTS AND BEST PLANNING PRACTICES TO MAKE THE MOST OF TRANSIT INVESTMENTS A Thesis Presented by ALYSSA R. LAROSE Approved as to style and content by: ____________________________________________ Elisabeth Hamin, Chair ____________________________________________ Henry Renski, Member ____________________________________________ Michael DiPasquale, Member ________________________________________ Elizabeth Brabec, Department Head Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee for their guidance throughout this process. I am also grateful to the city staff members of Saco and Biddeford Maine who took the time to speak with me for this research. Thanks and good luck to my classmates, past and present, who have been supportive along the way. Finally I am especially grateful to Daniel and Finny for supporting and putting up with me these last two years. iv ABSTRACT PLANNING FOR PASSENGER RAIL IN SMALL CITIES AND TOWNS: POTENTIAL IMPACTS AND BEST PLANNING PRACTICES TO MAKE THE MOST OF TRANSIT INVESTMENTS SEPTEMBER 2010 ALYSSA R. LAROSE, B.A., JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY M.R.P., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by Professor Elisabeth Hamin Projects to expand the passenger rail network in the United States will connect major metropolitan areas over long distances, travelling through smaller communities along the way. Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a concept for planning around stations to support transit and allow the development of dense, mixed use, walkable places. TOD literature focuses largely on developing around transit in metropolitan areas. Guidance for small towns and cities in rural areas is lacking. This thesis compares best planning practices from TOD literature to the planning practices of small cities located in rural areas of New England where new passenger rail service or a new station has been developed in the last fifteen years. The research focuses on planning efforts in the area within a half mile of the station. Two indicators, property values and ridership, were also used to determine if the service has impacted the area surrounding the station. The goal of the research is to determine how planning for rural stations differs from planning for TOD in metropolitan areas. Findings show that many of the best planning practices from the literature were applied in the small cities, though there were a few important differences. The station was v included as part of broader development plans, rather than acting as a central focus of the plan. Additionally, it was found that stations should incorporate multiple uses to create activity throughout the day since train service is less frequent than in an urban setting. vi CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................iv ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ v LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................ix LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................ x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Background of Issues .............................................................................................................1 1.2. Need for this Research ...........................................................................................................2 1.3. Research Questions.................................................................................................................3 1.4. Assumptions ............................................................................................................................4 1.5. Goals of the Research .............................................................................................................5 1.6. Methods ....................................................................................................................................5 2. LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................... 7 2.1. The Connection between Transportation and Land Use in U.S. Development Patterns.............................................................................................................................................7 2.2. Impacts of Passenger Rail Stations on the Surrounding Area .....................................11 2.3. Transit-Oriented Development and the Transit District...............................................14 2.4. Conclusion..............................................................................................................................35 3. METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................... 36 3.1. Literature Review..................................................................................................................36 3.2. Development of Best Practices for Planning the Transit District................................37 3.3. Case Studies ...........................................................................................................................39 3.4. Indicators ................................................................................................................................45 4. BEST PRACTICES FOR PLANNING THE TRANSIT DISTRICT....................... 49 4.1. The Planning Process ...........................................................................................................49 4.2. Mix of Uses.............................................................................................................................53 4.3. Density ....................................................................................................................................54 4.4. Connectivity and Mobility..................................................................................................55 4.5. Place-Making and Urban Design.......................................................................................56 4.6. Station Location, Design, and Access................................................................................59 4.7. Parking ....................................................................................................................................61 4.8. Market Considerations.........................................................................................................63 4.9. Regional Planning and Policy Support.............................................................................64 4.10. Transit Service Quality ......................................................................................................65 5. CASE STUDIES............................................................................................................... 66 vii 5.1. Saco and Biddeford, Maine.................................................................................................67 5.2. Pittsfield, Massachusetts ...................................................................................................110 5.3. Rutland, Vermont................................................................................................................128 6. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS..................................................................................... 143 6.1. Analysis of the Application of Planning Best Practices ..............................................143 6.2. Findings ................................................................................................................................151 7. CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................. 155 APPENDICES A. BEST PLANNING PRACTICES SUMMARY MATRIX...................................... 157 B. BEST PLANNING PRACTICES ANALYSIS TABLE ..........................................