Transit-oriented development and the suburbs

From the Contra Costa Times:

Three years after its completion, most of the storefronts remain vacant in Avalon Walnut Creek, the mixed-use development at the Pleasant Hill-Contra Costa Centre BART station. With a restaurant and a pet business scheduled to open soon, the leasing agent believes the transit village finally has turned the corner. But one local real estate expert says projects that combine housing with retail space are a poor fit for the suburbs.

The Anti-Planner's comment:

San Francisco Bay Area planners are counting on mixed-use developments to solve the region’s housing and transportation problems over the next 30 years. Plan Bay Area calls for putting close to 80 percent of all new housing and 60 percent of all new jobs in such developments. Unfortunately, one thing planners are very good at is not learning the lessons from previous planning failures.

See also Richard Hall on transit-oriented development and Marin's SMART train. Hall has a blog about these issues.