Ala Moana residents can help shape rail’s future in their area

The concept of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is to create more compact, livable, walkable communities where residents have greater access to services — walking, biking or taking a short ride on the rail.

Studies have shown that those living near transit will be able to reduce dependence on their cars and therefore reduce the portion of a family’s budget that pays for transportation.

Compact development can provide access to services unique to each neighborhood along the rail line, allowing residents, young and old, who are dependent on public transit, and those who choose not to own a car, a level of independence they may not currently have.

The city is set to begin the Ala Moana Transit-Oriented Development Plan for the one-half mile area surrounding the planned Ala Moana rail transit station.

This TOD plan will have lasting benefits for the community, paving the way for smartly managed growth, reshaping the neighborhood.

Ala Moana is a vibrant, thriving neighborhood, with several potential new projects on the horizon that could inject energy into the area and provide housing, employment and recreational opportunities for residents.

Ensuring that these changes are directed in such a way as to enhance and not detract from the neighborhood will require involvement of area residents, business and property owners.

As a community-based planning effort, the success of TOD plans rests on active participation by those who live and work in TOD neighborhoods.

Ala Moana is home to 15,000 residents and hundreds of businesses. All are invited to provide input on the Ala Moana Neighborhood Transit-Oriented Development Plan at a workshop hosted by city planners tomorrow, at 6 p.m. at McKinley High School’s cafeteria.

The workshop is the first of several community workshops to gather comments and feedback from area residents.

The city has been conducting similar TOD community workshops since 2007 for other communities in Kapolei, Waipahu, Pearl City/Aiea, Kalihi and Downtown. Hundreds of Oahu residents have attended these workshops to talk story with city planners, view designs and plans for development, and share their visions for their neighborhoods.

We hope Ala Moana area residents don’t miss this chance to help define the future of their neighborhood. They can look at attending tomorrow’s workshop, and the others that will follow, as a long-term investment in their future, their family’s future, and the future of our city.