Month: December 2012

Small places with big goals win national awards for smart growth achievement

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Geoff Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America (left) with representatives from seven communities honored with the 2012 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement.

On Wednesday evening in a hearing room on Capitol Hill, the winners of this year’s National Award for Smart Growth Achievement gathered to discuss how their projects are helping their communities become better places to live and work.

The awards this year went to projects that have improved streets, redeveloped historic buildings, built new homes and stores in the heart of downtown, created better transportation choices and more. And though the projects are all very different from one another, none would have been possible without community support and collaboration.

“That’s the word of the day, partnerships,” said Kenneth Chandler, former City Manager of the City of Portsmouth, VA. Portsmouth’s comprehensive overhaul of the city’s development and land use regulations won it the Programs and Policies award. Portsmouth’s new codes are already creating a more livable and pedestrian-friendly city with opportunities for economic development and reinvestment.

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Smart Growth America's Top 12 of 2012: Creating new reports and resources

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Christopher Leinberger, President of LOCUS, presenting new research at George Washington University.

We’re doing a special blog series highlighting some of Smart Growth America’s favorite accomplishments from 2012. This is the third of twelve installments.

In the past year, Smart Growth America has conducted new research and created new resources for our allies in the field.

In March, we released From Vacancy to Vibrancy, a guide to redeveloping underground storage tank sites through area-wide planning. The guide provides an overview of the tools and strategies available to leaders who want to transform vacant properties with hazardous underground storage tanks into economic and community assets, setting the stage for redevelopment and revitalization of brownfields. This guide is a valuable tool for any town or city that is looking to redevelop their vacant brownfields and help their economies and communities thrive.

LOCUS

Business leaders tout new rail line as boost to Twin Cities' economic competitiveness at ULI, LOCUS MN event

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The Hiawatha light rail line in downtown Minneapolis, MN is already popular. Photo by Matt Johnson via Flickr.

Leaders in the Twin Cities know that rail transit will be a key component of the cities’ future economic competitiveness, and they’re eager to catch-up with their regional peers in creating a comprehensive transit network.

Since opening in 2004, the Twin Cities’ only light rail line, the Hiawatha Line, has far ridership exceeded expectations. Construction has already begun on the region’s second line, the Central Corridor Line, which will connect downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul and is expected to be completed in 2014. Now, attention is shifting to the Twin Cities’ southwest corridor, home to large corporate office parks and wide highways, where the planned Southwest Corridor Light Rail Transit line has the potential to not only change how people get around, but also the shape of the region’s future development.

LOCUS

Smart Growth America's Top 12 of 2012: Helping governors support state economies

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From left to right: Parris Glendening, President of Smart Growth America’s Leadership Institute and former governor of Maryland; Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey; James Lee Witt, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and Tom Ridge, former governor of Pennsylvania.

We’re doing a special blog series highlighting some of Smart Growth America’s favorite accomplishments from 2012. This is the second of twelve installments.

In July, the Governors’ Institute on Community Design kicked off a new partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The announcement marked the beginning of a new, collaborative effort between the three agencies and the Institute, which was established in 2005 and is administered by Smart Growth America.

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Smart Growth America's top 12 of 2012: Honoring leaders in the field

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From left to right: Managing Director of LOCUS, Christopher Coes; Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO); Senator Mark Warner (D-VA); President of LOCUS, Chris Leinberger; President and CEO of Smart Growth America, Geoff Anderson.

For the next two weeks, we’ll be doing a special blog series highlighting some of Smart Growth America’s favorite accomplishments from 2012. This is the first of twelve that we’ll be rolling out, so keep an eye out for a new one every day!

In February, we presented Smart Growth America’s 2012 Leadership Award to Darrell Steinberg. Steinberg, California State Senate President Pro Tem, received the award for his incredible efforts in championing and helping to pass SB 375, legislation that integrates greenhouse gas reduction goals into California’s existing regional transportation planning process, and encourages planners to locate homes near jobs and create more transportation options. The bill not only fights climate change but also gives towns across the state the power to make land use and transportation decisions that strengthen local economies, reduce sprawl, preserve farmland and spur business development, furthering the cause of smart growth in California and setting an example for states across the nation.

LOCUS

Spotlight on Sustainability: Tampa, FL uses new technologies to chart a new direction for the city

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A downtown Tampa streetcar. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Willamor Media.

Leaders in Tampa, Florida are working to reverse the sprawl that has left their downtown area sparsely populated and stifled economic development. A Community Challenge Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is aimed to help make it happen.

The city’s planning efforts, organized under the banner of InVision Tampa, aim to create a vision plan for a downtown core, a transit corridor plan to increase transportation choices in the region, and update the city’s building codes. Each of these are designed to stimulate downtown Tampa’s residential, business, and retail economy, and set the entire city on a course for a better future.

“We are hoping to change the entire face of our urban core. Our urban core is quite a bit like other aging cities. Suburbanization and forces over 50 years have pushed people out,” says Randy Goers, Urban Planning Coordinator and Project Manager for InVision Tampa. “Over the next 15 years, we want to remake the urban core and create a dense, diverse, populated area.”

While Tampa, like many cities, has always had a central business district that composed its downtown, it was not until the 1980s that any residential development was put in place. The city is seeking to jumpstart residential downtown activity, identifying spots along the river as opportunities for redevelopment.

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Upcoming Webinars: December 2012

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Tuesday, December 11, 2:00-4:00pm ET. EPA Webcast for Tribes: Learning from Peers – Tribal Approaches to Reduce GHG Emissions and Address the Changing Climate. Register here.

Wednesday, December 12, 3:00-4:30pm ET. The Innovative DOT. Register here.

Tuesday, December 11, 2:00-3:15pm ET. EPA’s Priorities for Petroleum Brownfields. Register here.

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Lessons learned in Louisville: a common vision for Complete Streets

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A page from the Louisville Metro Streetscape Design Manual.

The following is a guest post by National Complete Streets Coalition partners Jonathan D. Henney, AICP, ASLA and Mike Sewell, P.E., of Gresham, Smith and Partners.

In 2006, just as the Complete Streets movement was gaining momentum, Gresham Smith and Partners (GS&P) put together a Complete Streets Design Manual for the City of Louisville Metro Planning and Design Services Department. The manual offered practical guidelines for using Complete Streets principles within urban, suburban, rural, residential and commercial streetscapes.

At first, the Complete Streets Manual existed mostly as theory, providing universal language for unbuilt projects. Today, it exists as a living language across the city, visible in a diverse range of Complete Streets projects, each testifying to commonly held guidelines. That jump from theory to practice was far from automatic, and other cities can learn from Louisville’s trajectory.

Complete Streets