Fort Lauderdale is about to change the way people move around its urban core. 10 years ago, a downtown transit and pedestrian mobility study suggested that there was a need to invest in transit and pedestrian improvements. This study completed by the Downtown Development Authority of Fort Lauderdale (DDA), the city of Fort Lauderdale, the Community Redevelopment Agency, FDOT, Broward County, among other participants, realized a mobility issue existed since Downtown's important venues such as the Courthouse, the Bus Depot, the Main Library, all educational centers, Las Olas, or even Broward Health Medical Center were not effectively connected with each other generating unnecessary traffic congestion and parking issues in our downtown streets.
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After a long debate, the option of a streetcar, a rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate right-of-ways, was selected as well as its future route. A 2.7-mile system with 10 stations was proposed serving as a downtown circulator, where people will be able to move around without having to use their cars. But it was the urban renewal happening in Portland's Pearl District that gave the idea to developers and planners here at home. This Oregon neighborhood underwent through a tremendous transformation becoming a mixed-use area full of art galleries, cafes, and shops located at high-rise condominiums and warehouse-to-loft conversions; pretty much what planners hope Fort Lauderdale could become one day. In 2001, the Portland Streetcar opened becoming the first street car system in the United States since World War II to use modern vehicles thanks to a major urban redevelopment that started in the mid-1980's. But this system success really occurred mainly due to the fact that planners pushed for transit oriented developments (TOD).
This fast growing trend in creating vibrant, walkable, and livable communities is the creation of compact centers around high quality train systems; making it possible to live a higher quality of life without a complete dependence on a car for mobility and survival. The growing desire, especially among millenials, for urban lifestyle and the distaste for a suburban life that leads to mind-numbing traffic congestion nationwide are some of the factors that are driving this trend towards TODs. Therefore, our city planners envisioned a Downtown Fort Lauderdale with pedestrians as the highest priority and our city's Bus Depot, where All Aboard Florida's intercity service and Tri-Rail's commuter line will soon stop, becoming a prominent feature of a town center as well as a major transit hub. This regional nod containing a mixture of uses in close proximity including office, residential, retail, and civic activities requires high-density, high-quality development within a 10-minute walk radius with a collector support transit system such as the Wave Streetcar; which is enhanced by including the use of bicycles or a bike sharing system such as Broward B-cycle as well as by reducing and/or managing parking in the area more efficiently.
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| Render of what the Wave Streetcar would look like |
For some Floridians in our metropolitan area, who are used to (and like) suburbia, this idea seemed unnecessary; calling the proposal a waste of money that could be used for something else. However, they did not realize that our city was falling behind in comparison with other regions in our country and all over the World. Luckily, our leaders foresaw the potential of this project, and a coalition of supporters that included the South Florida Regional Transit Authority made possible in 2012 to receive a green light from the Federal Transit Administration for the design and construction of the tram system, which was later ratified on July 9, 2013 by our city commissioners when approving a special tax assessment zone to fund the proposed line. With design almost completed, and as mentioned by the Transport Politic, with construction supposed to start this year, seeing our city listed as where major transit investments are happening this year in North America is something very uncommon; however, one can only hope this is just the beginning of an era of transformation that will not only help us catch up with the trend and progress but also make us more competitive as a city in the long run. With approximately 4,000 new residential units proposed to be built (approximately 1,600 currently under construction) in our urban core in addition to all the retail space these developments will bring along, these are good times indeed to be part of the change that will make Fort Lauderdale a World-class city for all to enjoy.
