Usually FasTracks, RTD’s mega rapid transit train project, is synonymous with bad news—budgets, environmental problems, angry neighbors. But we’re starting to hear some progress. Westminster and Thornton recently passed or worked on plans for transit-oriented developments, or TODs. The acronym represents planning that reduces suburban sprawl. One proposal features a station that would revitalize Eastlake, a former rail road outpost in Thornton. Since Thornton doesn’t have a downtown, this could be key in giving the city an identity.

What’s Next: We loathe acronyms but hope to see TODs over and over in newspaper headlines.

May 2008