Transit Oriented Development Comes to Pomona

The Downtown Pomona Train Station is the heart of the redevelopment plan. Photo courtesy of lorenabuena via Flickr.

Pomona, located 30 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles at the eastern edge of L.A. county, is poised for redevelopment of its downtown thanks to its proximity to Pomona’s Metrolink station. According to the Ontario newspaper the Daily Bulletin, the proposal by Watt Genton Associates to build 269 residential units above 47,000 square feet of ground-floor retail in two five-story buildings has the potential to break the city’s 25 year drought of private-sector economic development. This development would be just steps away from the Downtown Pomona Metrolink station (according to my Google Earth calculations), and if successful could completely reinvigorate the area creating a dense urban downtown with residents, businesses, and nightlife. Currently in the area there is a rock venue called The Glass House which has a collection of favorable reviews on Yelp.

A recent Metrolink trip to the city of Orange in the O.C. taught me how cool these transit accessible areas outside of Los Angeles proper can be (look for a report and pictures on this trip soon). Raymond Fong, deputy director of the Pomona Redevelopment Agency says of the planned development, “It’s not going to suddenly be Old Town Pasadena, but it will create a night life.” But if my trip to Orange is any indiction, it may end up feeling more authentic than Old Town Pasadena, if a bit sleepier (but that’s okay). According to one developer, the verticality of the proposed development is meant to be a statement of the direction Downtown Pomona development should be headed, although he says Dowtown Pomona “is more vertical than people give it credit for”. It’s great to hear that these outlying cities, often considered the suburbs or the exurbs, are building upwards and around transit.

Two Metrolink lines serve the Pomona area. The Downtown Pomona Station where the new development is proposed is on the Riverside Line and about a 45 minute train ride from Union Station in Los Angeles. The other station is about 3 miles north of Downtown Pomona and is located on the San Bernardino Line. Also a 45 minute ride, although the San Bernardino line seems to have more frequent service than the Riverside Line. In addition to Metrolink, Pomona is also served by Foothill Transit and the Pomona Valley Transportation Authority which both offer bus and dial-a-ride service to the region. The Downtown Pomona Station has far more connecting bus routes than the Pomona (North) Station, and they both share connections to Foothill Transit 291 which offers a 15 minute ride between both stations. From the Pomona (North) Station a ride on the Foothill Transit 190 can get you to the Fairplex (home of the Los Angeles County Fair) and Cal Poly Pomona.

With the right planning it looks like the Dowtown Pomona boosters could be justified in their excitement. Who knows, maybe the outlying ‘burbs could show L.A. a thing or two about transit oriented development. Only time will tell, but it will be interesting to see how this progresses.

Related Links:

• Daily Bulletin: Enthusiasm builds for downtown plan
• Daily Bulletin: For downtown Pomona, things are looking up