General

Organizers: SunRail will stop at Health Village

Americans just love cars, and we’d never give them up for anything.

Or would we?

Although this sounds like a hypothetical, it is actually an issue that is being studied in fields as diverse as urban planning, public health and commercial real estate.

The reason is that cars take a lot of infrastructure (think highways, on- and off-ramps, and parking lots) and change the way we do everything from shop to socializing. When societies are dependent on personal vehicles, there is a pronounced ripple effect; lately, some communities have been deciding they are not comfortable with that.

What brings this all to mind is the recent news that SunRail, the light rail line that will ruin from DeBary to South Orlando starting next summer, will stop at Health Village.

Health Village, as readers may know, is Florida Hospital Orlando’s planned health-focused campus, which will feature an urban hospital, bioscience-company headquarters and mixed-use retail and residences.

In a statement, Health Village’s organizers said they want the 120-acre campus to be forward-thinking and befitting of a 21st century development.

In including public transportation in its future, Health Village is not the only commercial real estate development to decide that mass transit was key to its future. As our cities become more and more populated and aging and inadequate infrastructure leads to nigh-unbearable congestion, many people have decided they want to use manss transit as an option.

As we said earlier, we expect this shift to have some very noticeable changes in many areas, including commercial development.

Source: Orlando Sentinel, “SunRail will provide a gateway to Florida Hospital Health Village,” Marni Jameson, June 9, 2013

Fri Aug 24, 5:22pm