Rockland came of age (with the TZ Bridge) when one-acre zoning was the holy grail for homeowners. Suburbs were the thing. Now, suburban sprawl is the bane of land-use wonks, who see it as an inefficient, isolating lifestyle that puts people in their cars for even the smallest errands.

One of the salves for the ills of sprawl is the “Transit Village” concept, or Transit-Oriented Development, TOD. The “transit village” idea is quite a trend among community planners. (Here’s another transit village look.)

The “transit village” idea (and its complementary buzzword “smart growth”) has been mentioned during the glut of meetings about the Tappan Zee Bridge/Interstate 287 Corridor Project.

We are expecting to hear this month (maybe) about the preferred alternative for phase 1 of the massive TZ/I-287 project. That announcement will give the transportation mode, and whether the Tappan Zee Bridge would be rehabbed or built anew, plans that would then undergo a thorough environmental review. As that study goes on, phase 2 will determine where any public transportation stations would connect to the corridor. That’s where the “transit village” buzzword is heard. These multi-use commercial-retail-residential areas that are expected to crop up around transit stations (either commuter rail or bus rapid transit in Rockland, or possibly both or maybe neither, depending on what the TZ/I-287 Project portends.)

I’ve heard and read several comments about the “reurbanization” trend lately, including this article today in this Wall Street Journal article.

Thoughts about living, working, shopping in such a transit village, or having it built in your hometown? What about other projects, like Riverspace Arts’ plans for downtown Nyack? How should public transportation fit there? Should Spring Valley’s downtown revitalization incorporate more of the transit village concept?