Latino Immigrant Communities and Equity in Transit Oriented Development

This comparative case study research will compare and contrast development and the community and equity impacts of three large transit oriented development (TOD) projects in low-income Latino immigrant communities. TOD in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles centered around a new subway station, while Fruitvale Transit Village in Oakland and the station in Hillsboro, Oregon, involved revitalization around existing light rail stations. Each project aimed to encourage economic development and revitalization of the immigrant low-income Latino communities. MacArthur Park and Fruitvale, initially top down TOD projects, were ultimately transformed by the Latino immigrant community into community led, culturally sensitive, bottom-up projects…

This comparative case study research will compare and contrast development and the community and equity impacts of three large transit oriented development (TOD) projects in low-income Latino immigrant communities. TOD in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles centered around a new subway station, while Fruitvale Transit Village in Oakland and the station in Hillsboro, Oregon, involved revitalization around existing light rail stations.  Each project aimed to encourage economic development and revitalization of the immigrant low-income Latino communities.  MacArthur Park and Fruitvale, initially top down TOD projects, were ultimately transformed by the Latino immigrant community into community led, culturally sensitive, bottom-up projects that helped develop higher density land use patterns with minimum displacement in the community.

TOD debates focus on impacts of transportation infrastructure projects and associated land use changes expected to encourage local walkability, use of public transportation, housing, and economic/business development. An emerging debate considers TOD and low-income minority communities. This comparative research aims to shed light on how, under what circumstances, and through what mechanisms TOD impacts revitalization and economic development of low-income Latino immigrant communities, with a special focus on equity, community involvement and agency.

This comparative three-case study has two main foci. (1) Semi-structured interviews, with multi-method triangulation, will explore how and to what extent the low-income Latino immigrant communities were able to make large scale TOD/redevelopment projects benefit their communities.  (2) Interviews and analyses of reported data will be used in assessing the actual outcomes and impacts of TOD in terms of impacts in communities, including changes in equity and opportunities at community level. Throughout the research project, a particular emphasis will be on decision-making processes and how various stakeholders (especially from the community and the transit agencies) interacted in developing and implementing the projects.  Expected products include at least two peer reviewed articles, plus case-based teaching materials to be developed later.