Westchester/In the Region - Trackside Developments Catch On Dover Knolls Development Company II A rendering of the Knolls of Dover, a development planned for the campus of the former Harlem Valley Psychiatric Hospital in Wingdale. MORE than a century ago, before the term "transit-oriented development" entered the urban-planning glossary, plenty of it was being built in Westchester: clusters of housing, shops and sometimes industrial buildings close to railroad stations. Now, after decades in which proximity to a train station was the last thing on most developers" priority lists, it has gained tremendously in importance. And Westchester and counties farther north are starting to emulate parts of Long Island and the New Jersey suburbs in reconfiguring downtown areas with more, and more densely built, places to live. The real estate arm of Metro-North, in concert with three municipalities, is planning transit-oriented communities for Mount Vernon and Harrison, as well as a third for Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County. Similarly, two private companies are planning far larger transit-oriented developments, one on Route 22 in Dutchess and the other at the Harriman Metro-North station in Orange County. In Harrison, Metro-North has received a number of responses to its request for development proposals, said Linda Corcoran, who oversees the railroad's transit-oriented development program. The plan involves 3.3 acres with a parking garage, high-density residential development and retail stores. "It's premature to estimate costs for the project," Ms. Corcoran said, "but we're dealing with a cooperative town board, and that's a plus." Mount Vernon, envisioning a community close to the Mount Vernon East station, has availed itself of a $35,000 state Smart Growth Plan, completing a proposal and rezoning for a transit-oriented development. In Poughkeepsie, Metro-North and the city have formally agreed to work together on a plan for three acres of housing and business clustered around the railroad depot. Like the others, the project will be partially financed with state and federal grants. The first of the privately planned developments, a mixed-use project called Dover Knolls, is being built across Route 22 from the Harlem Valley-Wingdale train station on the 850-acre site of the former Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center by the Benjamin Companies, which redeveloped the former Long Island Developmental Center in Melville and the former Central Islip Psychiatric Center. The firm is awaiting state Department of Environmental Conservation approval. The other, also a mixed-use community, is planned for a 130-acre site adjacent to the Harriman station. Its originator, Woodbury Development, has not set a construction timetable, said Alan Schuman, a project directorfor Woodbury Development who was involved in the development of the large transit-oriented development in a formerly run-down section of New Rochelle. Getting such projects off the ground presents major challenges, said Mark Strauss, a senior partner of Fxfowle, a Manhattan architectural firm that works on transit-oriented projects for private developers and public agencies like Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road. "The idea is to densify areas around mass transit and get people out of their cars," Mr. Strauss said. "But in Westchester and other places, the mindset of many residents is that they moved to the suburbs to get away from an urban environment, and they want their towns to remain as much as possible like life was on the TV show "Leave It to Beaver." " All of which puts planners like Mr. Strauss on the spot; they must navigate many levels of government approval, while at the same time seeking to marshal the support of an often-hesitant suburban public. Success is not exactly guaranteed. For instance, local resistance in Beacon, in Dutchess County, has at least temporarily derailed a transit-oriented plan. The case to be made for more walkable communities is clear, advocates say: less dependence on automobiles and fossil fuels; cleaner air; and fewer acres paved over for parking lots. But for entities like Metro-North, there are more tangible, immediate benefits: clustering development closer to mass transit means ridership and revenues go up. According to Robert Paley, the director of transit-oriented developments for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, ridership rose 24 percent in New Rochelle after a transit hub and surrounding apartment complexes were built there in the late 1990s. In Yonkers, ridership has risen 40 percent since Metro-North revamped its aging Getty Square station and the city encouraged new residential and commercial development within walking distance of the train. "There's a saying that redevelopment takes a long time to happen suddenly," Mr. Strauss said. It's like lighting a fire. You have arrange the wood and put down the kindling and then wait for a spark to catch. It often takes a lot of work and maneuvering to finally get it going.