Living in a green home means more than just what you live in; where you live affects the eco-friendliness of your home as well.  Homes that are located in places that allow for easy walking, biking and mass transit commutes can cut down considerably on carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles.  Design that allows for easy commutes is called transit oriented development or TOD.  Transit Oriented Development is the creation of compact, walkable communities centered around high quality train systems. This makes it possible to live a higher quality life without complete dependence on a car for mobility and survival.

COMPONENTS OF TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
-Walkable design with pedestrian as the highest priority
-Train station as prominent feature of town center
-A regional node containing a mixture of uses in close proximity including office, residential, retail, and civic uses
-High density, high-quality development within 10-minute walk circle surrounding train station
-Collector support transit systems including trolleys, streetcars, light rail, and buses, etc
-Designed to include the easy use of bicycles, scooters, and rollerblades as daily support transportation systems
-Reduced and managed parking inside 10-minute walk circle around town center / train station

TOD is in opposition to urban sprawl which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density, auto-dependent development on rural land, with associated design features that encourage car dependency.  Not only does urban sprawl mean increased carbon dioxide emissions from autos, but it means the use of more resources and land.

Transit oriented development provides the opportunity for a wider range of housing types; from small-lot, single-family and two-family homes, to townhouses, to low-rise and high-rise apartments.  These housing options appeal to a large range of demographic groups. In addition to the variety of moderate and higher density housing options, a complementary mix of uses, activities, and services located in close proximity makes it easier for TOD residents to commute to work, run errands, socialize and meet basic needs without always needing a car.  As residential densities are increased, ridership increases. Notably, researchers have found that there are sharp increases, a tripling, in ridership as average residential densities approach 30 units per acre.

There are many cities throughout the world that are or have been using transit oriented development, like the Bay Area of California, Toronto, Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia and Denver, Colorado.  So the next time you move, keep in mind the location of your next home, if there are businesses in walking distance, and if there are transportation hubs nearby.