Identifying and testing land use opportunities took several steps.
- A market reconnaissance was conducted by corridor to assess the development climate
- Large undeveloped tracts in the corridors were rated based on their size, visibility and accessibility.
- The sites were visited and evaluated in terms of their context for employment versus moderate density housing and proximity to transit.
- Existing master plans were consulted and stakeholders were interviewed.
- Appropriate densities were assigned to sites for either residential or employment or mixed uses at candidate station locations.
- Various scenarios (described shortly) were the basis for iterative allocations of growth to balance station numbers and corridor growth.
- Ridership models were run.
For each scenario, at least two representative alignments were developed, one for lanes dedicated solely to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and one for Light Rail Transit (LRT). The scenarios referred to above totaLED three in number: the first one was a trends or business-as-usual scenario, the second focused jobs in the corridors at station locations, and the third focused on both jobs and housing at these locations. The trends baseline scenario assumed a continuation of the land use patterns apparent in their early stages in Charlotte, but endemic throughout more mature metropolitan areas, namely: continued low-density development in the region, out-migration of jobs and residents from the core, declining attractiveness of the CBD partly because of congestion, declining land values in the inner suburbs, and a loss of overall economic vitality as the surrounding first-tier suburbs mature and edge cities take hold, parti
