Resources

Glossary of Terms

Affordable Housing

Housing units with or without public subsidy that can be rented at a below market rate and considered "affordable" if an individual or family spends no more than 30% of their income to live there.

Auto-Oriented Development

Development that prioritizes or is designed to ease the use of automobiles as the primary form of transportation. This typically includes dispersely located, separated land uses, wider and faster roads, and ample, free parking.

BIPOC

Black, Indigenous, People of Color

Bus Rapid Transit

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a term applied to a variety of bus service designs that provide for faster, more efficient and more reliable service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing street and traffic signal infrastructure.

Elements of BRT Systems:

• Bus-only lanes
• Traffic signals that prioritize public transit
• Limited stops

Benefits:

• Saves time, improves reliability
• Increases opportunities for economic development
• Meets high demand
• Connects with major destinations and existing transit network
• Improves neighborhood streetscape

Community Engagement

Opportunities for the residents of affected policies, plans or projects to meaningfully participate in decision making processes.

Equity

An equity strategy is one that addresses people’s needs based on their life and historical context. Equity is achieved when race can no longer be used to predict life outcomes and outcomes for all groups are improved.

Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (eTOD)

Equitable TOD is the building of vibrant, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods near transit stations so that all people, regardless of income, race, age, or ability have access to jobs, basic services, and amenities. The eTOD process prioritizes neighborhood voices to ensure new development meets the needs of the community, such as a mix of affordable housing types, environmental sustainability, and public space.

Graphic source: Chicago eTOD

Health Equity

A product and process that allows all people the opportunity to attain their highest level of health and differences in health outcomes between groups of people are eliminated.

Health Equity Assessment

A tool to determine the potential impacts of plans, policies, or investments against a set of predetermined health outcomes, with information disaggregated for different demographics and geographic groups to determine potential disparities in who is burdened and who benefits.

High-Capacity Transit

High-Capacity Transit is defined by the following characteristics:

• Dedicated right-of-way (bus only lanes) vs. mixed traffic
• Central alignment vs. curbside alignment
• On-board fare collection vs. off-board fare collection
• Intersection treatments like prohibited left turns and transit signal priority or not
• Platform level boarding vs. sidewalk/curb level boarding
• Queue jumps (essentially bypass lanes that give transit vehicles a head start at a light)
• Printed schedule vs. real-time arrival information at station and/or on-board

Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)

Tax incentives meant to encourage individual and corporate investors to invest in the development of affordable housing. It subsidizes the acquisition, construction, and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing for low- and moderate-income tenants.

Market Rate Housing

Privately owned housing where rent and sales prices are governed by the market and not any specific regulatory requirements

Multi-family Loans

Supports construction or rehab of multifamily rental developments to provide affordable housing. Multifamily is considered 5 units or more.

Ordinance

A law passed by a municipal government. Many ordinances deal with maintaining public safety, health and general welfare.

Overlay Zone

A zoning district which is applied over one or more previously established zoning districts to establish additional or stricter standards and criteria for covered properties in addition to those of the underlying zoning district. Communities often use overlay zones to protect special features such as historic buildings, wetlands, steep slopes, and waterfronts.

Racial Equity Assessment

A systematic examination of how different racial and ethnic groups will likely be affected by proposed plans, policies, investments or budgetary actions.

Shared Parking

Parking spaces are shared by more than one user, which allows parking facilities to be used more efficiently; for instance an office worker may use the space during the day but it is available to restaurant patrons in the evening.

Small-scale Rental

Rental properties with 50 or less units.

Tenant Protections

Legal rights for tenants regulating the terms and requirements of leases, the conditions of their units, and their recourse in the case of violation.

Transit Oriented Development (TOD)

A mixed-use residential and commercial area designed to maximize access to public transport that incorporates features to encourage transit ridership.

Value Capture

A type of public financing that recovers some or all of the value that public infrastructure generates for private landowners.

Zoning

The regulation and categorization of land uses within the city typically into categories such as industrial, commercial, residential or other uses to preserve the best use of property and support public welfare.

City of Tucson Departments involved in eTOD

• DTM - Department of Transportation and Mobility
• Economic Initiatives - Division that leads Economic Development projects, programs, and policies
• HCD - Housing and Community Development
• PDSD - Planning and Development Services Division
• Transit Services - Transit Planning pertaining to SunTran, Sunlink, and SunVan
• DOH - Department of Housing
• DPH - Department of Public Health

Sources:

https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/equitable-transit-oriented-development/home.html

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