A model for reconnecting Long Island to its railroad

Wyandanch, a part of the Town of Babylon, New York, is a prime example of what went wrong in some older suburbs on Long Island. This area with 10,000 people includes dozens of former industrial properties, has suffered economic decline and poverty, and has a blighted public realm. On the other hand, Wyandanch has a prime asset — a railroad station — that is a symbol of its past and the seed of its renewal.

“Long Island is a region that was built around automobiles, but before that it was built around Long Island Railroad (LIRR),” says Jeff Speck, an architect and planner who headed the National Endowment of the Arts’ design program from 2003 to 2007. “Its future lies in recentering nodes of higher density around its LIRR stops. The Town of Babylon is unmatched in its commitment to build its future around transit.”

Babylon in February allocated $750,000 to hire Torti Gallas and Partners to lead the planning for a $500 million, 134-acre redevelopment centered on the train station. Speck, coauthor with Andres Duany and Mike Lydon of The Smart Growth Manual, created a plan in late 2009 that will serve as a starting point for Torti Gallas. (See the plan and an aerial view below.) Speck will continue to represent the town with respect to the project’s design.

Improving the grid
The site has no public water and sewer, which limits density. It does, however, have a fairly well-connected street grid, a legacy of its railroad-suburb roots. Some blocks near the station will have to be divided by new streets, but a high number of intersections is key to transportation efficiency, and Wyandanch is ahead of most suburbs in this respect. “It’s largely parking lots and empty lots right now,” Speck says.

The town purchased $20 million in properties in the area, a sum that officials hope to recover when private developers get involved. Water and sewer pipes are being installed at a cost of $15 million — from town coffers, with the help a $2 million grant and low-interest capital from New York State. The town considers Wyandanch an investment that will pay off in higher tax revenues someday, according to Steve Bellone, town supervisor.

The county is offering free sewer hookups to properties in Wyandanch and other transit-oriented developments (TODs). The Federal Transit Administration is helping to fund, in combination with town money, a 2,000-car parking garage.

Bellone, who is LEED-accredited but not an architect, came to his job in 2002 with a commitment to revitalize Wyandanch, which has been called the most economically distressed area of Long Island. “We focused on the train station as a great community asset that is totally underutilized. We hadn’t heard of transit-oriented development, but we knew it was only 50 minutes into Manhattan. We then asked how we could build a community around that asset. We thought it better to focus on building things that are attractive and sustainable.”

That focus led town officials to take an interest in architecture and urban design, which led to the hiring of Speck and Torti Gallas. “The architecture, art, parks, plazas — we want to make sure all of the public portions are really inspiring,” Bellone says. “If we don’t design it well, it will not be successful at end of the day.”

The project has benefited from public support at all levels of government — a result of being named one of three models of brownfield redevelopment in New York State.

Wyandanch achieved model brownfield status partly because “we were ahead of the pack in terms of implementing this kind of development,” Bellone says. The town had completed a visioning effort and some market analysis. The third step, specific planning with detailed market analysis, will be taken on by Torti Gallas and subcontractors.

“To the greatest degree possible, they [town officials] want to determine the design of the site prior to reaching out to development partners,” says Speck. “They want it to be great. The plan will be designed to receive a variety of building types. A SmartCode will be in place to allow uses to change as markets change.”

This approach has been tried successfully in a number of locations, including the Mueller Airport redevelopment in Austin, Speck notes. In about a year, Babylon expects to reach out to developers, who will have the opportunity to implement a plan that is detailed but flexible, he says.

The area around the station is envisioned as mixed-use buildings up to five stories tall, with lower density to the south. The train station is about a block and a half from the proposed site for the parking garage, and that separation is part of a strategy to enliven the center. Commuters will be compensated for their walk by experiencing high-quality urban fabric, Speck says.

In addition to the moderate- to high-density mixed-use buildings near the station, the plan also calls for densification through infill development and new public gathering places in the forms of plazas, squares, and greens. A civic focal point of the TOD is a triangular green.

The plan calls for up to 200,000 square feet of retail, 2,000 apartments and condominiums, 125 rowhouses, 30,000 square feet of office, 30,000 square feet of civic and institutional space, and 70,000 square feet of artist live-work lofts adjacent to the rail line.

A primary thoroughfare, a five-lane suburban arterial called Straight Path that runs through Wyandanch, will be converted into a three-lane boulevard. Because the public sewer and water lines will have to be laid on this road, the town plans to cover the road reconstruction cost through the water and sewer investment, says Bellone. The change in road design will take place at the same time the pipes are laid.

A mile down the LIRR towards the city, Babylon has plans for a second TOD. A 1.8 million square foot development could take place when LIRR decides to reopen a closed station called Republic, Bellone says. The town would like to create a bus rapid transit line along State Route 110, which intersects with the LIRR at this station.