The Great Communities Toolkit is a free compendium of resources to help those advocating for sound transit station development. The toolkit was developed to help community groups shape Great Communities around transit, by helping them make sure these plans will result in neighborhoods of affordable homes, shops, accessible job centers, and community services. With this toolkit, you will have the tools influence your city’s plans for neighborhoods near transit.

The Tookit has the following:

• Stories of people whose lives improved by living or working near transit.
• Policy Fact Sheets with detailed information on compact development, displacement, and other key issues.
• Handout sheets to get your community informed about key aspects of station area plans such as parking, traffic, affordable housing, compact development, and community benefit agreements.
  

• Step-by-step instructions for creating a station plan campaign.
• Tips for working with the media to get out your message.
  
• Technical tools and references for getting more in-depth information.
  
• Background on why we need to get involved in station area planning processes, who the members of the Great Communities Collaborative are and what the overall Collaborative goals are.

Much of the information presented in the Toolkit is based on the TOD Best Practices Resource Guide, a collection of resources put together by TransForm.

Download the Complete Toolkit [13.4MB, .PDF] (last updated 10/09)

Table of Contents

Cover Page [4 MB, .PDF]

Letter to Advocates [140 KB, .PDF]

1. Introduction

• Why do we need a Great Communities Collaborative? [175 KB, .PDF]

• Transit Station Area Plans and TOD: Bay Area Opportunities and Hot Spots [204 KB, .PDF]

2. Handouts: What Makes a Great Community?

• What is Transit Oriented Development [2.1 MB, .PDF]

• Great Communities and Affordable Housing   [138 KB, .PDF]

• The Benefits of Compact Development [213 KB, .PDF]

• Traffic-Lite: Great Communities Have Less Traffic [166 KB, .PDF]

• Rational Parking [181 KB, .PDF]

• Preventing Displacement [119 KB, .PDF]

• Incorporating Community Benefits [161 KB, .PDF]

• Design for Walking and Biking [184 KB, .PDF]

• Creating Quality Public Spaces [191 KB, .PDF]

• Green Development [166 KB, .PDF]

• Vibrant Neighborhood Businesses and Great Communities [177 KB, .PDF]

• Great Communities Take Care of Children and Families [160 KB, .PDF]

• Planning for Safe and Convenient Senior Mobility [215 KB, .PDF] (NEW! 08/09)

• Great Communities Create Less Air Pollution [184 KB, .PDF]

• Policy Checklist [62 KB, .PDF]

3. Developing a Station Area Plan Campaign     [400 KB, .PDF]

• Advocating for a High Quality Transit Station Area Plan

• Typical City Process and Timeline for Developing a Transit Station Area Plan

• Designing a Campaign Plan

• Goals, Strategies and Tactics

• Developing a Platform

• Building a Coalition

• Event Planning

• Sample Letter to City Council

• How to Engage your Constituency: Focus Groups

4. Message and Media [150 KB, .PDF]

• Part 1: Securing Media Stories for your Station Area Plan Campaign

• Part 2: Getting Media Coverage—Moving your Advocacy Agenda

• Part 3: Media Campaign Checklist

• Press Advisories and Press Releases

• How to Hold a Press Conference

• Editorials, Opinion Editorials and Letters to the Editor

5. Appendices

Policy Fact Sheets:

• Planning Process 101 [130 KB, .PDF]

• Greenbelt Alliance Compact Development Guidelines [80 KB, .PDF]

• Compact Development  [300 KB, .PDF]

• Parking and Transportation Demand Management [1.1 MB, .PDF]

• Preventing Displacement [180 KB, .PDF]

• Complete Streets [300 KB, .PDF]

• Quality Public Parks and Open Spaces [250 KB, .PDF]

• Green Building in Transit-Oriented Neighborhoods [160 KB, .PDF]

• Great Communities Take Care of Senior Mobility Needs [248 KB, .PDF] (NEW! 08/09)

• TOD Stories [3 MB, .PDF]

• Urbemis: A New Era in Traffic Modeling [1.4MB, .PDF]