Spreading the Streetcar Love

Built incrementally at a current cost of $250 million and considered the model of “second generation” urban rail projects, the Portland Streetcar began producing dividends even before it entered service in 2001. A 2016 study by the Federal Transit Administration found that as of the 1997 decision to go forward with the project, $4.5 billion of market value had been developed along the Streetcar’s path, including 7.7 million sq. ft. of commercial space and 18,000 residential units. According to Dan Bower, executive director of Portland Streetcar, Inc., added market value within the Streetcar’s target area has since surged to $13.3 billion.

The Streetcar initially covered about seven miles. Since extended to 16 miles along parallel loops and dotted by 70 stations, it stitches together a series of downtown neighborhoods, several of which it is widely credited with helping to revitalize and re-imagine. Property owners along the path were incentivized to invest in the public-private project, says Bower, by the rezoning of target areas from industrial to mixed use, which boosted property values and set the stage for the development that has followed.

Read the full article from Site Selection here.