Effects of transit oriented development in Denver, Colorado, USA

This chapter chronicles Denver’s efforts to reintroduce rail transit and change its urban development trajectory from low-density automobile-oriented decentralized growth to higher-density transit oriented urban centres. Since the mid-1990s, there has been a considerable amount of transit oriented development (TOD) activity in Denver, especially in the downtown area, but the overall effect of TOD on urban form has been slow to emerge. Recent studies have shown increased shares of commercial and multifamily residential land use in urban centres and along transit corridors in comparison to the rest of the metro area. Yet, as of 2014, only 10 per cent of housing and 36 per cent of employment were located in an urban centre, while transit mode share for commuting in the region has remained low (4 per cent) and driving alone increased to 76 per cent. Transit mode share for commuting to downtown Denver, however, is much higher (41 per cent) and exceeds that for driving alone (38 per cent).