The POD & The TOD of Reuse and Redevelopment

What is a POD?

The abbreviated answer...a walkable community...the more common term, Pedestrian Oriented Development (POD). The more complex answer refers to a community that engages in pedestrian access to restaurants, schools, cultural, commercial and residential; where public transportation is also in walking distance. POD's will require incorporating wider sidewalks, bicycle paths, lower speed limits with narrower streets, greater access to public transportation and proper landscape orientation. This is easier said than done. Our society drives everywhere, uses more fossil fuel than any other country in the world, and shows no signs of changing from this destructive lifestyle. POD's require a 180 degree shift in our current ways of living. As Reid Ewing, professor of land use and transportation at the University of Utah stated “The future belongs to walkable communities". He argued that POD's will work in small and mid-sized communities, where planning and building can be accomplished on a POD/TOD focus, with Mix-used development playing a key role. In addition, Ewing cited the importance of two other factors in a successful POD: shorter blocks and higher density....two to three times’ higher density.

What is a TOD?
The key to Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is a combined mixed-use community of residential, retail and commercial all working as a sustainable community, which is termed "Smart Growth". A study by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) shows that communities are growth-oriented due to close proximity and higher density and are designed where people can walk, bike and take transit and leave their automobiles parked at home. Modes of transportation include buses, railway, light rail and street cars. The same FTA study also defines a slightly different form of TOD called Joint Development. Joint Development is project specific development that takes place above, on or adjacent to transit stations and transit properties.

The Benefits of  POD & TOD
Shifting to new design criteria for mixed use developed POD's & TOD's carry many lasting benefits. The most important and the least sought after are the Environmental Health, Human Health and Social Health benefits. Our environment has suffered greatly at the hands of the automobile. Not so long ago, factories were also a contributor, but a large part of our industry has moved out of the United States. The more air pollution we spew, the more damage we do to our environment and to our health. What POD's & TOD's do is reduce automobile travel, thereby reducing harmful carbon monoxide gasses that affects our Ozone Layer. In addition, we become active by walking a distance that our doctor's would most likely recommend. Currently, 55% of all adults are considered obese. By walking and biking, you can reduce the risk of stroke and or heart attacks. Walking, biking and public transportation also provide opportunities for social interaction, which in turn,  promotes greater social health. Close knit communities generate economic growth and become keenly aware of their community environment.