JULY 2001
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Transit Station Communities Taking Shape in Central Puget Sound Region
Step out the door, walk to a drugstore to buy some toothpaste, drop off your dry cleaning, then hop a bus to work... Transit-oriented development is about creating communities where people can conveniently walk to services, use transit, and take care of everyday activities without jumping in a car.
A growing number of communities in the central Puget Sound region and across the country are encouraging this kind of transit-oriented development. Cities as diverse as Salt Lake City, Denver, Dallas, San Diego, Sacramento and Tampa are promoting transit-friendly projects around existing and planned transit stations to support smart growth, discourage sprawl, and give people alternatives to traffic congestion.
Creating transit-oriented developments is not always easy. The recipe for success generally includes a combination of good transit station design, effective community partnerships, strong market conditions, creative land use planning, and the right mix of incentives to overcome developer, community, and local government resistance.
In central Puget Sound, many examples of transit-oriented development are beginning to take shape. Transit-oriented developments are underway or being considered at bus transit centers, new commuter rail stations, expanded ferry terminals, and planned light rail stations. Throughout the four-county region, in small towns and big cities, in old downtowns and new suburbs, development projects are being planned that will improve the character of communities and change the way we travel.
Some of the transit-oriented development projects that are underway include:
Everett Multimodal Transportation Center -- This transit hub, scheduled to open in December, is located in a neglected light industrial area near downtown Everett. The center will accommodate Amtrak trains, Sound Transit commuter rail and express bus service, Community Transit and Everett Transit buses, as well as Greyhound, Trailways, airport shuttles, taxis and carpools. The four-story, 64,000-square-foot station will also feature a university-level education facility, an employment resource center, office space and retail shops. Everett officials expect the station to become the cornerstone for new commercial development in and around the Pacific Avenue site as well as spur development in the downtown core.
Village at Overlake Station -- King County Metro has been actively working on bus-related joint-development projects since 1998. The Overlake project in Redmond will include 308 mixed-income condominium units and a 4,500-square-foot daycare center over a park-and-ride lot serving an existing express bus station. The bus center, scheduled to open in April 2002, features shared parking and free bus passes. The condominiums will be available for occupancy in December 2001. The city of Redmond reduced parking requirements and waived development fees to make this project attractive to private developers. The project will improve access to Microsoft, Group Health and the surrounding community through public and private shuttles, vanpool/carpool services, bike racks and better pedestrian connections. Redmond and King County are encouraging additional development around the station.
Rainier Valley Stations in Seattle -- In anticipation of future light rail stations in the Rainier Valley, the city of Seattle has worked with neighborhoods to develop station area plans that address land use and zoning, setback and height requirements, and encourage pedestrian-friendly transit communities. Around the future McClellan light rail station, the city has worked with citizens to develop plans for a town center with housing, shops and other services. Sound Transit has approved a $50 million community development fund that will be used to foster development at all stations along Martin Luther King Way South. Planning efforts in the Rainier Valley neighborhoods are designed to help unify and strengthen the character and livability of these communities.
Renton's Metropolitan Place -- Metropolitan Place is one of a number of projects in development that will complement the new Renton Bus Center, scheduled to open this fall. Metropolitan Place is right next to the bus center, and will include 90 apartments, about 3,500 square feet of ground-level retail space, and a 240-stall parking garage. The first phase of apartments will be open in December 2001, and the entire project is scheduled to be done in June 2002.
Tacoma Dome District -- Tacoma has put in place a number of land use changes to attract new development around the Tacoma Dome Station and the five light rail stations that will connect Tacoma's downtown theater district to the Tacoma Dome. Once a neglected light industry/ manufacturing zone, the Tacoma Dome District is being transformed into an attractive mixed-use area with entertainment, retail and housing. The city has also adopted a Destination Downtown plan to encourage development around the light rail stations by changing floor area ratios and height and parking requirements. A number of new amenities, including the International Glass Museum, University of Washington Tacoma campus, LeMay Car Museum, and expanded exhibition hall, will help spur development.
These are just a few of the transit-oriented development projects that are currently underway. Projects are also being constructed or are planned in the cities of Bremerton, Auburn, Kent, Mill Creek, Tukwila, Sumner, and many other locations in the region.
The Puget Sound Regional Council is continuing to work with local communities throughout the region through its Transit Station Communities Project, which encourages land use changes to allow more people to walk or bike to transit stations. For more information, see the Transit Station Communities Web site, todcommunities.org, or call John Scandola at (206) 464-6180.
To encourage pedestrian-oriented development in the area, the city relocated existing car dealerships outside of the downtown area and simplified the permitting process for developers. The city encouraged mixed-use development by changing codes that dictated setback and lot coverage requirements, parking ratios and standards, design guidelines, and pedestrian connections. Special arrangements with developers, such as issuing free, two-zone transit passes for each unit, allowed the city to reduce the number of required parking spaces.
| Transit Ridership Up:
Nationally transit ridership increased by 3.5 percent last year to 9.4 billion rides -- the highest in more than 40 years. Meanwhile, car use relatively flattened out. It is the first time transit use grew at a rate faster than driving for three consecutive years. Over the last five years, transit use is up over 20 percent nationally while car use increased just 11 percent. This trend is mirrored in local transit patterns. In the four-county region, transit ridership increased approximately 21 percent from 1995 through 2000. This increase is estimated to continue and reflects the increased need for additional transit services.
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While greater Puget Sound still accounts for a majority (62 percent) of the state's population, new census numbers show that the rest of the state is growing at a faster rate.
Since 1990, population in the seven Puget Sound counties of King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, Skagit, Island and Thurston grew by nearly 20 percent. At the same time, the rest of the state grew by 21 percent, with much of that growth contributed by Bellingham (Whatcom County), Vancouver (Clark County) and the Tri-Cities (Benton and Franklin counties). These counties grew between 27 and 45 percent.
The numbers show that traditional population centers within the Puget Sound region have not grown as fast as outlying areas. King County's share of the region's population declined from 56.6 percent to 47.5 percent; Pierce County's share went from 21.3 percent to 19.2 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, Snohomish County's share nearly doubled from 8.6 percent to 16.6 percent.
For more information on Puget Sound population trends, check out the Puget Sound Trends Index.
For more information, contact Neil Kilgren at (206) 464-7964 or Carol Naito at (206) 464-7535.
The five largest cities in the region continue to be Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue, Everett and Federal Way. The cities of Lakewood, Shoreline, Sammamish, Burien and University Place, all of which incorporated during the last decade, have joined the list of the central Puget Sound region's 25 largest cities. Kent was the only city that moved upwards in ranking -- from ninth to sixth. The other cities remained at the same ranking or showed a decrease from 1990 to 2000.
This table shows cities with more than a 50 percent increase due to real growth or annexation activity. The City of DuPont showed a three-fold increase due to new residents during the past decade. The cities of Monroe, Bainbridge Island, South Prairie, Arlington and Granite Falls have all more than doubled in size since 1990 due to new residents.
Puget Sound Population Trends
Population of Greater Puget Sound Counties, 1950 - 2000 County 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 King 732,992 935,014 1,156,663 1,269,898 1,507,305 1,737,034 Kitsap 75,724 84,176 101,732 147,152 189,731 231,969 Pierce 275,876 321,590 411,027 485,667 586,203 700,820 Snohomish 111,580 172,199 265,236 337,720 465,628 606,024 Central Puget Sound 1,196,172 1,512,979 1,934,628 2,240,437 2,748,867 3,275,847 Island 11,079 19,638 27,011 44,048 60,195 71,558 Skagit 43,273 51,350 52,381 64,138 79,545 102,979 Thurston 44,884 55,049 76,894 124,264 161,238 207,355 Greater Puget Sound 1,295,408 1,639,016 2,090,914 2,472,887 3,049,845 3,657,739 Washington 2,378,963 2,853,214 3,409,410 4,132,353 4,866,663 5,894,121
Population Distribution by County, 1950 - 2000 
Twenty-Five Largest Cities in Central Puget Sound, 2000 Population
1990Rank
1990Population
2000Rank
2000Seattle 516,259 1 563,374 1 Tacoma 176,664 2 193,556 2 Bellevue 86,874 3 109,569 3 Everett 69,961 4 91,488 4 Federal Way 67,554 5 83,259 5 Kent 37,960 9 79,524 6 Lakewood -- -- 58,211 7 Shoreline -- -- 53,025 8 Renton 41,688 6 50,052 9 Redmond 35,800 10 45,256 10 Kirkland 40,052 7 45,054 11 Auburn 33,102 11 40,314 12 Edmonds 30,744 12 39,515 13 Bremerton 38,142 8 37,259 14 Sammamish -- -- 34,104 15 Lynnwood 28,695 13 33,847 16 Puyallup 23,875 14 33,011 17 Burien -- -- 31,881 18 Bothell 12,345 19 30,150 19 University Place -- -- 29,933 20 Des Moines 17,283 18 29,267 21 SeaTac 22,694 15 25,496 22 Marysville 10,328 21 25,315 23 Mercer Island 20,816 16 22,036 24 Mountlake Terrace 19,320 17 20,362 25 Source: 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census of Population and Housing
Cities With Greater Than 50% Increase in Population, 1990 - 2000
Bainbridge Island 559.1% DuPont 314.2% Lake Forest Park 226.0% Monroe 222.5% Arlington 190.1% Black Diamond 179.2% Mukilteo 157.2% Marysville 145.1% Bothell 144.2% Granite Falls 121.4% South Prairie 112.2% Kent 109.5% Stanwood 100.1% Gig Harbor 99.8% Lake Stevens 88.2% Gold Bar 86.8% North Bend 84.1% Orting 78.5% Des Moines 69.3% Duvall 66.6% Mill Creek 60.7% Port Orchard 54.4% Enumclaw 53.8% Carnation 52.3%
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