CapMetro Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Plan
Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority
HR&A co-led a multidisciplinary team developing an equitable transit-oriented development (ETOD) strategy for CapMetro’s Project Connect, spanning 100+ station areas. Working with Austin Transit Partnership and the City of Austin, we created a comprehensive policy toolkit that minimizes displacement while maximizing economic opportunities for local residents and businesses.Â
Confronting the challenge of gentrification and displacement in rapidly growing Austin, HR&A conducted extensive research into national ETOD best practices and analyzed local market conditions across diverse station areas. Our team assessed the specific needs of different communities along the corridor, identifying varied challenges from affordable housing preservation to small business retention. This nuanced understanding allowed us to develop tailored recommendations responsive to each area’s unique context and development pressure.Â
The resulting ETOD Policy Toolkit delivers 46 strategies across five critical domains: affordable housing, small business support, workforce development, mobility enhancement, and urban design. By creating a station area typology system matched to specific policy prescriptions, HR&A equipped CapMetro with an implementation framework adaptable to varied neighborhood conditions. Throughout the process, we supported robust community engagement that directly shaped our recommendations, ensuring the final strategy reflects community priorities while advancing the Project Connect vision for equitable, transit-oriented growth.Â
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 2024 Award of Excellence Winner: Equity, Diversity & Inclusion — Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat:
2024 Advancing Diversity and Social Change Award — American Planning Association Texas Chapter
- Downtown, Corridor, & Neighborhood Revitalization
- Housing Plans
- Housing Programs & Policies
- Transit-Oriented Development & Mobility
- Economic & Fiscal Impact Analysis
- Market & Financial Analysis
- Master Planning
- Policy Evaluation & Design
- Real Estate Analysis
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Transactions
- Public
- Texas
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Since 2022, HR&A has supported New York State's Empire State Development to design and implement a comprehensive workforce strategy for the newly established Office of Strategic Workforce Development. The office’s core focus is to establish strategic priorities for job training aligned with industry needs and to fund new programs – through a $150 million grant program – that connect un- and underemployed New Yorkers especially from historically marginalized communities to in-demand, high-quality jobs in priority industries. Ultimately, this internal and external-facing effort seeks to strengthen New York’s economic competitiveness and expand economic opportunity and mobility for all New Yorkers.
