Community Design & Smart Growth:The LCI Experience

Tom WeyandtAtlanta Regional Commission

ARC BoardPublic Members (23) Chair of the Board of County Commissioners from each of the 10

counties Mayor from each of the 10 counties except Fulton Mayor from northern half of Fulton Mayor from southern half of Fulton Mayor, City of Atlanta Member of Atlanta City Council

Members at Large (15) - Resident from each of 15 districts created by the legislative delegation from the Area, elected by public members of the Commission

Non-voting Member appointed by DCA (1)

RDCs

EPA Non-Attainment Areas

Population Growth

*Atlanta MSA was 12th in population in 1990; 11th in 2000; 9th in 2003; 4th in population increase, 1990-2000, and 1st in population increase between 2000 and 2006.

2000 - 2006 2006 2000MSA # Rank* # Rank # RankAtlanta 890,242 1 5,138,223 9 4,247,981 11Dallas 842,423 2 6,003,967 4 5,161,544 5Houston 824,542 3 5,539,949 6 4,715,407 8Los Angeles 584,502 6 12,950,129 2 12,365,627 2New York 495,534 7 18,818,536 1 18,323,002 1Washington DC 494,217 8 5,290,400 8 4,796,183 7Miami 456,293 9 5,463,857 7 5,007,564 6Chicago 407,432 10 9,505,748 3 9,098,316 3Philadelphia 139,595 26 5,826,742 5 5,687,147 4Detroit 16,409 149 4,468,966 10 4,452,557 9

MSA: Metropolitian Statistical Area (28-County Area)Source: U.S. Census

Regional Growth

Source: U.S. Census; ARC

10-County Population in 2006: 3,925,400

That is greater

than the

population of

24 states

Source: ARC population estimates

Regional Growth

Atlanta Urbanized Area 1950 - 2000How We Have Grown (To Where)

2000

1990

1970

1950

Regional Growth

Source: U.S. Census

Growth Going Everywhere

Future

HISTORICAL FUTURE

Forecasting

Implications?

Transportation:More Growth = More Congestion = More Money?

Water:More Growth = More Water Demand = Greater Water Conservation?

Land Development:More Growth = More Land Development = More Compact Development?

Regional Issues

Livable Centers Initiative

Encourages local governments to plan and implement strategies in small areas that link transportation improvements with development strategies

Planning grants provided to develop transportation efficient land use studies

Program links implementation actions to transportation project funding

Takes advantage of existing infrastructure to promote more dense mixed use development

LCI Program Overview

Town centers and major activity centers provide:

Significant existing transportation infrastructure

Many centers ripe for more development

Centers already contain some mix of uses and community facilities

Can support multiple transportation modes

Significant job and economic concentrations

Increasingly buyers seeking to locate in centers

Importance of Centers & Corridors

Provides need & justification for land use changes

Identifies specific infrastructure needs & costs

Provides details to prepare ordinances

Provides more certainty for developers

Establishes public support for plan and acceptance of new developments

More informed and supportive elected officials

Benefits of a Plan

$10 million over 10 years for studies

$500 million for transportation funding

86 Studies - 74 funded by ARC - 12 grandfathered

33 supplemental studies

$7.1 million in study funding

$1.5 million in supplemental funding

$132 million in transportation funding

$140.6 million in total funding

Study Funding

Atlanta 14

Cherokee 4

Clayton 5

Cobb 11

DeKalb 15

Douglas 2

Fayette - 2

Fulton 14

Gwinnett 11

Henry 2

Rockdale 1

Outside 5

Total 86

Completed LCI Studies

The LCI developments result in: Over 62,000 residential units 9,492 hotel units Over 12 million sq ft of commercial retail space Over 40.2 million sq ft of office space

Development Numbers

LCI communities reported 722 developments: 363 are complete 176 are planned 150 under construction

City Center

City Center

Georgia State Student Housing

City Center

Twelve Centennial

City Center

Georgia Aquarium

Perimeter Place Retail

Perimeter Place Retail

Perimeter Place Retail

Woodstock

Woodstock

Woodstock

Woodstock

Duluth Town Green

Duluth Town Green

Duluth Town Green

Chamblee Townhomes on MARTA Parking Lot

FY03 first year transportation funds available

$132 million programmed between FY 2003-2011 for design, right-of-way and construction projects

Funds distributed to 83 projects in 50 LCI communities

28 projects are under construction or have been constructed to date

31 projects are nearing construction having submitted 90% construction plans & approved ROW

LCI Transportation Funding

Pedestrian Facilities 58%

Multi-Use Trail 6%

Bike/Ped Facility 14%

Roadway Operations 9%

Roadway Capacity 3%

Transit Facilities 9%

LCI Transportation Funding

Chamblee Pedestrian Crossings

Midtown Peachtree Pedestrian Improvements

PROJECT STATUS REPORT

Sandy Springs Pedestrian Improvements

Decatur MARTA Plaza Redevelopment

92% of communities have made (or in process of making) amendments to the local comprehensive plan

49% of communities have prepared (or in process of preparing) a unique zoning district

58% of communities have adopted (or in process of adopting) other development regulation changes/amendments

43% of communities have prepared (or in process of preparing) regulations/programs focused on senior housing, workforce housing, or other special housing issues

80% of communities have adopted (or in process of adopting) policies controlling architectural standards to ensure a livable, walkable environment

Development Regulation Changes

Livability Survey

LCI Livability Survey 2006

Strongly Agree Agree

Neither Agree or Disagree

Disagree Strongly Disagree

Not Applicable/ Unknown

16% 36% 7.8% 2.0%

15% 42% 1.3% 0.0%

4% 25% 14.5% 5.0%

11% 46% 9.7% 0.0%

24% 39% 12% 0.0219% 5%

Livability

Bike/Ped

Transit

Housing/ EmploymentRegulations/

Policies 62% 14%

29% 11%

28% 14%

29% 24%

18% 14%

29% 19.0%

58% 9.5%

51% 9.5%

57% 1.3%

Survey questions asked local planners to identify their level of agreement that improvements have been achieved since the LCI plan was completed. Questions focused on the 5 themes below.

INDEX Modeling

Computer modeling to measure impact of land use changes identified in LCI plans

Measures existing development vs. LCI plan build-out

INDEX software used with indicators focusing on 4 Ds:

Density = percent change in pop/emp per sq mile

Diversity = how diverse the study area is compared to the region

Design = how complete the sidewalks and density of the street network

Destinations = how accessible the study area is to the region

Lessons Learned

Hapeville LCI Plan

Hapeville Build-Out Modeling

INDICATOR Base LCI

Population 3,099 9,579

Employment 4,010 4,179

Population Density 3.73 11.52

Employment Density 15.34 14.22

Street Route Directness 1.35 1.47

Use Mix 0.12 0.32

Use Balance 0.79 0.86

Jobs to Housing Balance 2.96 0.93

Single Family Share 83.2 40.9

Multi Family Share 16.8 59.1

Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions 3,559 3,256

Home Based Vehicle Miles Traveled 4.8 4.3

Brookhaven LCI Plan

Brookhaven Build-Out Modeling

INDICATOR Base LCI

Population 9,327 13,817

Employment 2,615 2,493

Population Density 5.89 8.73

Employment Density 13.95 12.73

Street Route Directness 1.78 2.01

Use Mix 0.11 0.2

Use Balance 0.65 0.64

Jobs to Housing Balance 0.65 0.4

Single Family Share 87.4 58.2

Multi Family Share 12.6 41.8

Transit Oriented Residential Density 3.88 29.9

Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions 4,066 4,021

Home Based Vehicle Miles Traveled 6.1 6.1

Hwy 78 LCI Plan

Hwy 78 Build-Out Modeling

INDICATOR Base LCI

Population 4,172 11,384

Employment 4,940 4,652

Population Density 2.83 7.72

Employment Density 11.55 12.81

Street Route Directness 1.29 1.59

Use Mix 0.11 0.26

Use Balance 0.75 0.82

Jobs to Housing Balance 2.97 0.88

Single Family Share 77.6 27.3

Multi Family Share 22.4 72.7

Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions 5,868 5,241

Home Based Vehicle Miles Traveled 11.1 9.9

Cumberland LCI Plan

Cumberland Build-Out Modeling

INDICATOR Base LCI

Population 578 15,104

Employment 12,087 14,254

Population Density 0.57 14.97

Employment Density 46.69 31.22

Street Route Directness 2.4 1.08

Use Mix 0.03 0.61

Use Balance 0.8 0.78

Jobs to Housing Balance 41.2 1.89

Single Family Share 0 0

Multi Family Share 100 100

Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions 3,409 2,045

Home Based Vehicle Miles Traveled 4.3 2.6

MacFarland LCI Plan

MacFarland Build-Out Modeling

INDICATOR Base LCI

Population 635 21,261

Employment 2,822 6,096

Population Density 0.3 9.91

Employment Density 6.48 11.02

Street Route Directness 1.77 2.64

Use Mix 0.02 0.41

Use Balance 0.68 0.69

Jobs to Housing Balance 10.78 0.66

Single Family Share 100 33.1

Multi Family Share 0 66.9

Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions 4,739 3,146

Home Based Vehicle Miles Traveled 8.1 5.4

Federal transportation funds offer flexibility to create LCI type programs

LCI has allowed ARC to engage local governments in detailed planning

Incentive to implement Regional Development Plan policies

Smart Growth concepts have applicability in every place

Change takes time

Lessons Learned

Atlanta Regional Commission40 Courtland Street, NEAtlanta, Georgia 30303

www.atlantaregional.com/lci(includes a copy of this presentation)

Tom Weyandttweyandt@atlantaregional.com

404.463.3250

For More Information

ARC BoardPopulation Growth How We Have Grown (To Where)Growth Going EverywhereImplications?Importance of Centers & CorridorsBenefits of a PlanStudy FundingDevelopment NumbersDevelopment Regulation ChangesLivability SurveyINDEX ModelingLessons LearnedHapeville Build-Out ModelingBrookhaven Build-Out ModelingHwy 78 Build-Out ModelingCumberland Build-Out ModelingMacFarland Build-Out ModelingLessons Learned