Northwest Indiana Transit Development District Planning Lake, Porter, LaPorte, St. Joseph Counties, Indiana
Services Provided
Transportation/Mobility-Oriented Development
Community Planning
Equitable Development
Land Use Planning
Community Engagement
People Involved
Eric Lucas
Aaron Kowalski
Chris Hermann
Luis Calvo
Tori Luckenbach
Sean Hare
Emily Silvius
Kevin Miller
Feature Website Link
Award
2024 APA-IN Hoosier Planning Award for Outstanding Economic Development
2024 APA-IN Hoosier Planning Award for Outstanding Transportation Planning
2023 INASLA Merit Award
Transit Development District planning to catalyze equitable investment along Northwester Indiana’s rail corridor and lead the state in economic growth
Led by the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority (RDA), in collaboration with Northwest Indiana communities, the Northwest Indiana Transit Development District (TDD) planning project is an interdisciplinary collaboration of policy, economic development, and land planning firms, planning regional economic development along two commuter rail lines linking Northwest Indiana communities to Chicago.
Per the statute, the RDA is tasked with “incentivizing, guiding and promoting economic development around the stations along the South Shore commuter line and future West Lake Corridor line.” The TDD areas establish a unique mechanism to capture incremental property tax and local income tax revenue to support local economic development.
This project complements the expansion of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) South Shore Line and the new West Lake Line. This project will reach 14 communities in Northwest Indiana, resulting in over $1 billion in direct infrastructure investment. The State of Indiana projects $2.3 billion in private development investment, 6,000 new jobs, and an economic impact of over $3 billion along the corridor by 2046.
MKSK is leading the land use and development planning related to developing one-half mile area TDD development districts as enabled by the State of Indiana for 14 communities in Northwest Indiana. These districts enable the RDA to provide economic tools and strategies to support local communities to implement high-quality transit-oriented development. The first eight districts were established in 2022, with an additional six districts planned for 2023-2024. MKSK is also working with the RDA to provide technical assistance to the local communities to help implement TOD projects.
The TDDs are calibrated specifically for each community based on analysis, areas of opportunity, and the community’s goals and visions. Under a separate contract funded by the FTA Pilot Planning Grant, MKSK led a team of experts to engage with the RDA, NICTD, and the local communities to realize their economic development goals through TOD. This process included community workshops and analysis, recommended boundary areas, land use framework, development yield analysis, and public engagement for each of the communities along the NICTD South Shore Double Track and West Lake rail corridors.
Equitable Development Approach*
Eight elements or "building blocks" were identified as core components of an inclusive regional economy for Northwest Indiana. These building blocks as concepts translate into seven strategies that will be employed to facilitate equitable development and will serve as tools for communities to use when negotiating and managing future investments.
The implementation of these seven strategies towards the goal of equitable development will initiate strategic interventions that will help these cities align future development with their individual vision, ensure that the entire community reaps the benefits of economic development and growth, and ultimately, be positioned for equitable transportation-oriented development.
