Increasingly popular Transit Oriented Developments have become an urban planner’s dream come true in various suburbs here, revitalizing once sleepy downtowns with a mix of young professionals and empty nesters.

Not as bureaucratic or unappealing as their name would indicate, such developments—known in the trade as TODs—draw singles and couples as well as empty nesters who have similar demographics in that they don’t yet or no longer need a huge home and yard.

Such developments, generally boasting town homes and condominiums as well as some retail space, also entice residents who want to walk to places in their community, including the train station. In the same vein, they have become attractive to conservation-minded people who realize that more TODs can mean less traffic on roads and expressways and the reduction of other related problems.

The proliferation of Metra rail lines to or near most all Chicago suburbs affords many opportunities for collar country residents to ride the rails rather than drive the expressways.

TODs have become a part of the land-use and economic development versions of transportation demand management philosophy, said Lane Allen of Allen + Pepa Architects, which has offices in Batavia and Elgin.

Some elements, which enhance TODs, are mixed-use buildings, non-motorized pathways and high-density buildings, according to Allen. Other benefits include a pedestrian-friendly environment, economic diversity and transit-related commerce.

TODs are included in the concept of New Urbanism, which Allen said comes out of the need to recreate the living and working environments because, he said, “we have become overloaded with transportation congestion, infinite layers of pollution, unsafe food and water and air that is diminishing in quality and safety.

“All this results in unprecedented levels of psychological stress, unusual forms of illness and the resurgence of old pathogens and the emergency of new ones.”

He said the term “New Urbanism” was coined in an attempt to re-order the way that people live and relate to each other and the environment.

TODs are usually located within a quarter mile (three or four blocks) of a train station, according to Tom Murtha, a senior planner for strategic initiatives for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP).

In these areas there should be what he called a good environment where there is a minimum exposure of pedestrians to risks such as higher speed vehicular traffic. Also, he noted that most people do not like to cross multiple lane roads.

In a few exceptions to the distance guideline, Murtha said the parameters can be stretched to about a half-mile (six or seven blocks).

However, in some Chicago suburban cities and villages, suitable parcels of land (either too costly or not a good size) for TODs are not available or the numbers of daily trains are lower than in other areas, according to Murtha.

But in some other instances, city and village officials are more cautious about this type of development. The CMAP executive declined to name specific places.

Nor is there one size that fits all for the TOD concept, said Allen. For instance, a smaller community could have one such development while a larger city could have several groups of residences, usually attached units, scattered along both sides of the railroad tracks.

The latter is exactly the case in Wheaton, where various developments are spread out along the railroad tracks. In recent years, condominiums have been built near the train station.

But down the tracks in an easterly direction is some of the latest construction which is located in and around the former DuPage County Courthouse building, which is 111 years old.

Co-developers Focus Development and Airhart Construction got off to a historic start when the builders were told by local researchers that a time capsule could be on the property and found it in the outside cornerstone.

The antique copper box, which was 12 inches long by 12 inches wide and 10 inches deep, included newspapers and a copy of government documents about the building of the courthouse. It also included a dime which said “Bryan Money” on one side and “Free Silver” on the other. William Jennings Bryan was a congressman and leader of a group seeking to keep silver as a monetary standard along with gold.

“We were extremely excited to have found the time capsule,” said Tim Anderson, president of Focus Development, which refurbished the courthouse and built six luxury condominiums inside. “We’re proud of that the fact that we have an opportunity to not only restore the historic courthouse building, but to preserve an important token of the past that was meant to be discovered and cherished.”

Mac Airhart, founder and chairman of Airhart Construction, has his firm keeping busy building 50 new Georgian style luxury town homes on the property’s east parcel.

“This is an exciting time for Wheaton, with the rebirth of its downtown, the renewing of its landmark courthouse building and the unearthing of a precious box of artifacts from more than a century ago,” he said.

On the property’s west parcel, Focus is building 182 condominium residences in three seven-story buildings.

The clock tower atop the 112-foot-high building made it one of the tallest and most instantly recognizable buildings in the county for more than a century. Focus and Airhart purchased the 6.1-acre courthouse campus from National-Louis University.

In contrast to the various developments in Wheaton is one development in Roselle. Norwood Builders has seven models with a total of 20 floor plans at Park Street Crossing, its community of 62 luxury condominiums in the downtown area near the train station.

These residential units are part of a three-block stretch of the central area which has been revamped with classic-style lamp posts, paver sidewalks and landscaping.

Further west from Roselle is the whole Fox Valley region of cities of all sizes along the Fox River, which Allen regards as an area rich with opportunities to create walkable areas in small communities like Batavia, where one of his offices is located.

“I love to go to the Panera Bread shop in downtown Batavia,” he said. “I would like to have a bowling alley downtown and other attractions including more restaurants. It is not easy to juggle the right mix of service businesses.”

On the opposite end of the size spectrum is the city of Aurora, the largest suburb and third largest city in the state. In the early 1900s that city had many residents living on the upper floors of buildings with retail space on the first floor, Allen explained.

A building owner told him recently that efforts were made in the 1950s and beyond for various reasons to get people to leave the downtown residences. Now, he said, efforts should be made to create spaces for people to live again in suburban downtown areas.