Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido spoke next on the development of this streetcar, which has an alignment route selected through local participation. He suggest that the area around the intersection of Raitt and Santa Ana Blvd., where the streetcar would go, and the Willowick golf course may be areas of opportunity for TOD. He also said he is hopeful that this project will spur further transit development and connections.

Greg Angelo, director of countywide planning/development, real estate, for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, outlined the transit projects under construction and spoke about the process for development of surplus property acquired for the alignment of fixed transit lines, always as joint development/TOD projects. The process involves community input first, he said.

The primary objectives for development of surplus property are to use transit for at least one trip and to include an affordable-housing component, Angelo said. The MTA always enters into long-term ground leases for development, and a 55-year term is used most often. He added that the agency is rather hands-off when it comes to entitlement—the developer is on his own, but the agency does try to work financial terms to accommodate the entitlement process.

Moderator Steve Gunnells of PlaceWorks reiterated the structural workforce problem presented in the Reality Check 2.0 study and asked what the public sector should do to help. Rick Cole, deputy mayor of the City of Los Angeles, recalled the history of Pasadena and the commitment the City made in the '90s to change a transit-oriented and pedestrian community. He added the Orange County has to make the same kind of commitment.

He also said that the public sector needs to help the general public not living in TOD areas understand how they will benefit from less traffic in their communities and that density will be more appropriate there as will if directed to a TOD area. The idea, he said, is to create intimate open spaces rather than large plazas that seldom work. He also said that TOD will be most successful it if is oriented for people. “Make great places, not just projects.”

Kacy Keys, SVP of J.H. Snyder Co., said for a successful TOD project, start with public-sector support and then get the community on board. Developers need CEQA reform to reduce processing time, and they need to have the public sector help with that. While Metro likes to use long-term ground leases, he said most developers swill shy away from them. And he added that parking is still an issue with TOD, but he expects that over time that will lessen.

Pam O'Connor, council member for the City of Santa Monica, expressed how Santa Monica, CA, is getting prepared for transit lines even before they are built by getting the planning n place first. The planning is not just for the quarter-mile radius from the transit stop, but for all multi-modal methods to get there, including bike paths, walkways, etc., she said. The parties involved need to sell the community on TOD by developing great places that would appeal to all the community, not just those living nearby, she added.

Finally, Neal Payton, a principal with Torti Gallas and Partners, said six things the public sector can do to help TOD are: have a parking strategy, have a specific plan with a programmatic EIR in place, give a density bonus for affordable housing, have a template for pedestrian-friendly and public realm (i.e., form-based zoning), have land assembly for catalytic projects and be an instrument of change and innovation. He added that fixed transit, as opposed to rubber-tire transit, provides more stability for development because the route won't change. To make mixed-use—TOD with retail—be more successful, he said, be careful to place parking at transit stops in such a way to force people through the retail.