David Staples: Will Edmonton's massive bet on Transit Oriented Development pay off?

Edmonton is investing $3.2 billion in a new LRT line from Mill Woods to downtown, then out past West Edmonton Mall, but the bet only pays off if it spurs Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and a massive increase in people living along the line.
Part of the reason to build LRT is to densify the city so we don’t have to keep expanding out like a pancake, chewing up farm land to build unsustainable suburbs and road systems. 
We’ve had LRT for 39 years, but we don’t yet have o