Month: June 2012

June news from the National Brownfields Coalition

By ·

With the Republican Convention just over two months away, where does the party’s presumptive nominee, Mitt Romney, stand on brownfield issues? His time as Governor of Massachusetts provides some insights. The following is one of the ten Sustainable Development Principles outlined in Smart Growth Resources for Cities, and Towns written by Massachusetts’ Office of Commonwealth Development in 2006:

“REDEVELOP FIRST. Support the revitalization of community centers and neighborhoods. Encourage reuse and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure rather than the construction of new infrastructure in undeveloped areas. Give preference to redevelopment of brownfields, preservation and reuse of historic structures and rehabilitation of existing housing and schools.”

Announced at an October, 2003 Pittsfield, Massachusetts event, Mitt Romney’s economic development plan included “Doubling the Economic Opportunity Tax Credit from 5 to 10 percent for the redevelopment of a brownfields site.” Romney cited job creation and the potential to entice new companies to existing development as reasons to increase the credit. Read more >>

Is this kind of information useful to your business? If yes, join the Brownfields Coalition Leadership Circle.

Uncategorized

Partnership in the News: New TIGER grant will help complete Tampa Riverwalk

By ·

In the most recent round of TIGER grants announced last week, the City of Tampa, Florida will receive $11 million to finish its Riverwalk project. The Tampa Bay Times reports that the grant, awarded by U.S. DOT through the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, will help fix two gaps in the walkway in a section of downtown Tampa where crashes between cars, cyclists and pedestrians are common. The 2.6-mile walkway along the Hillsborough River will also be connected to a 1.7-mile multi-use trail, which will create pedestrian and bike connections to bus and streetcar lines.

Uncategorized

Using complete streets to fight obesity in Jefferson County, AL

By ·

In 2007, over 100 organizations in Jefferson County, Alabama formed the Health Action Partnership, a collective effort aimed at making local neighborhoods healthier places to live, work, learn and play.

Reducing obesity was the Partnership’s main objectives from the outset, as Alabama’s obesity rate is the second highest in the nation. Recognizing that lifestyle change is critical in achieving this goal, the Partnership wanted to increase activity levels in the everyday lives of Jefferson County residents.

The organizations soon realized one answer to reducing obesity had been right beneath their feet all along: Complete Streets.

Making improvements to streets, sidewalks and paths would promote physical activity by making it safe and convenient for residents to walk outside for recreation, and would also makes it easier for them to incorporate functional walking and biking into their day-to-day lives.

Jefferson County’s streets are not currently friendly to pedestrians: most of the county’s sidewalks haven’t been updated in the past 50 years, and many are torn up or unsafe. Birmingham, the state’s largest city, also is just beginning to get back on its feet after a series of destructive tornadoes in 2011, which caused more than a billion dollars of property damage. Street safety is no minor problem, either: Alabama ranks fifth in the country for pedestrian deaths.

Since the Partnership came together, it has sought to leverage funding from a variety of sources to address local issues of public health and safety. One of the largest funding sources thus far has been a $13 million Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded in 2010. A portion of this grant is dedicated to fighting obesity in Jefferson County’s 35 municipalities.

Complete Streets

TIGER 2012 Grants Announced

By ·

Today, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the recipients of the fourth round of the TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant program. Nearly $500 million will go to fund the 47 transportation projects in 34 states plus the District of Columbia. Many projects are not eligible for other kinds of federal funding or have difficulty finding funding due to their regional or multi-state nature.

Uncategorized

Partnership in the News: Ames Intermodal Facility creates transportation connections in Iowa

By ·

The Ames Intermodal Facility in Ames, Iowa, a transportation hub that will bring together parking, transit access, public and private transportation providers, and the Iowa State University and Ames communities, opened its doors last week. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff and U.S. Senator Tom Harkin as well as the mayor of Ames and the president of Iowa State.

Uncategorized

Kim Billimoria on preserving business and beauty in Yellowstone

By ·

The greater Yellowstone region stretches across Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, encompassing dozens of counties and mile after mile of unparalleled natural resources. Its stunning beauty attracts thousands of visitors every year and is the primary basis for economic development in the area. As a result, residents and tourists alike see significant value in preserving the environment and ensuring its existence for future generations.

That concern for the Yellowstone ecosystem as a vital community asset is the underlying principle of the Yellowstone Business Partnership.

“The Yellowstone business partnership is a non-profit organization that works at an eco-system level,” says the organization’s communications specialist Kim Billimoria. “It was founded by a group of business people that recognized that if we’re going to preserve the greater Yellowstone ecosystem – which is one of the largest last intact ecosystems in the entire world – we have to harness the power of business.”

Local Leaders Council Uncategorized

Smart growth awards honor projects helping strengthen Long Island's downtowns

By ·


Downtown Huntington, Long Island. Photo by Smart Growth America.

This past Friday, several hundred people – including elected officials, developers, bankers, preachers, business executives – gathered in Melville, NY for Vision Long Island‘s annual smart growth awards luncheon. Vision Long Island, an ally of Smart Growth America, confers the awards to plans and projects using smart growth strategies to strengthen Long Island’s unique collection of downtowns.

Although Long Island grew quickly after World War II as an archetypal auto-oriented suburb, it still has dozens of small downtowns from the prewar era, each with a commuter rail station nearby. And while plenty areas on Long Island have prospered, many have struggled. For every Brooklyn neighborhood that has seen a spectacular revival, there’s a village in Nassau County that is struggling with population loss and a faltering downtown.

Uncategorized

CPEX forum highlights economic promise of transit, planning in Baton Rouge area

By ·

Stakeholders and key decision-makers from Baton Rouge and the Greater New Orleans area came together Tuesday on the LSU campus to discuss how the city and region could best harness transit and planning measures to enable economic development and the creation of great Louisiana neighborhoods. The engaging policy forum was hosted by the Connect coalition, … Continued

Local Leaders Council Uncategorized

Real estate developers gather in Washington for first LOCUS Leadership Summit

By ·

Members of LOCUS, Smart Growth America’s coalition of real estate developers and investors, gathered in Washington last week for the 2012 LOCUS Leadership Summit. The three-day event provided a unique opportunity to network, share best practices and rally around the common cause of advocating for Congress to pass a transportation reauthorization that supports the creation of walkable, transit-oriented communities.

The summit commenced with a keynote address from Janice Eberly, Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the US Department of Treasury, who spoke on the state of the U.S. economy and the nation’s real estate and housing markets. Members then explored the shift in market demand for walkable, urban developments through a panel with Patrick Phillips, President of the Urban Land Institute; Aaron Klein, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the US Department of Treasury; and Emerick Corsi of Forest City Enterprises.

In the afternoon, LOCUS members went on a walking tour of metro DC’s booming, mixed-use neighborhoods to see how the shift in market demand for walkable, urban developments is playing out in the nation’s capital. Members visited the Clarendon neighborhood in DC, where they heard from an executive at BF Saul about the firm’s Clarendon Center project, and Capitol Riverfront, where they heard from the director of that neighborhood’s business improvement district about the neighborhood’s incredible transformation in recent years.

On Day Two of the summit, LOCUS members embarked upon what many considered the highlight of the trip to Washington: Hill visits with members of Congress and Obama Administration officials. LOCUS members strongly encouraged these national leaders to pass legislation that would make it easier to build the kinds of transit-oriented, walkable projects in high demand across the country.

Specifically during their meetings with members of Congress and the Administration, LOCUS members encouraged senators to support transportation bill changes proposed by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Mark Warner (D-VA), which would create a credit enhancement for transit-oriented development (TOD) projects. This amendment is one of many being considered as both houses of Congress work to find common ground on a final version of the bill.

LOCUS

Taking the Silos Out of Transportation Safety

By ·

New research shows a relationship between strip-mall development and a higher likelihood of death or injury in traffic crashes for those 75 or older — building on previous research that streets safe for our most vulnerable users are better for everyone, regardless of who they are and how they travel. The complex variety of potential street users provides an opportunity for us to take a holistic approach to transportation and community planning, making our streets and towns safer and stronger.

Complete Streets