vancouver is actually doing a really good job with this. when the new rapid transit line from downtown to richmond opened land near the rail stations was immediately filled with medium and high density mixed retail/residential. prior to that it was a suburban wasteland. the corridor from new westminster to commercial/broadway went from run down and undesirable to filled with condos and townhouses. the cambie corridor is undergoing a similar transformation. even central surrey and brentwood are somewhat liveable now. neighborhoods i never would have considered living in 10 years ago are suddenly desirable.

i think the key is that outside of a couple of key stations in industrial areas (bridgeport, scott road and a few of the north burnaby stations) there is almost no street parking. the rail stations aren't sited and designed as collection points to funnel people downtown or to the airport. they were placed to encourage development of neighborhoods