As I keep mentioning, we’re in the process of updating the Metropolitan Transportation Plan, Horizon 2040. Horizon 2040 is a long-term plan for the entire transportation system of Spokane County. Every kind and aspect of transportation is considered in it, including land use. One thing we’ve been talking about a lot lately is transit-oriented development and other kinds of development that are planned around amenities such as transit lines, parks, nearby shopping, etc. instead of plunking a neighborhood down in the middle of what used to be a farm field in a rural area a 30 minute drive from anything.
Infill is also a big topic lately, when it comes to land use. Developers are being encouraged to build houses and housing developments on empty parcels in already-existing neighborhoods, instead of heading to the outskirts of town to build a sprawling complex.
That’s not just the case in Spokane of course. In Portland, they’re taking the concept of infill to the extreme, by building apartment buildings that don’t have parking for cars. This saves on the cost of building a complex, which in turn brings the price of rent down for the tenants. This also allows apartment buildings on smaller lots where they wouldn’t fit if a large parking lot had to be included in the project.
So how’s that working out? StreetsBlog has the story.