A STUDY OF HOUSING BUILT NEAR RAIL TRANSIT STATIONS: NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

This report addresses the following questions: Are there examples now of density housing near rail transit stations? Do Californians want to live in multi-family housing near rail stations? and Do persons who live near rail transit stations actually use rail transit for their commutes or recreation? To address these questions the Transit/Residential Access Center (TRAC), an applied research project of the University of California's Institute of Urban and Regional Development, identified major residential projects built or in the process of being built near the stations of three major rail transit systems in Northern California: the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART), CalTrain, and Santa Clara Light Rail. TRAC researchers limited the projects studied to those over 30 units in size and over 15 units per acre in density, and to projects that had been built in conjunction with the rail transit system -- either subsequent to the construction of the rail transit system or with the rail transit system in plan. Sixteen major projects were identified: eleven projects built in the past five years, and five projects in the process of construction. Surveys were sent to the developers and/or property managers of these projects regarding designs/densities, government incentives, financial viability, and transit ridership. The surveys were followed by site visits, resident surveys, and in-depth interviews with the developers/property managers. This report sets forth the TRAC findings.