Communities across the country are making roads safer and more accessible for everyone who uses them, and more communities are using these strategies now than ever before.
The Best Complete Streets Policies of 2012, released today, examines all the Complete Streets policies passed in the last year and highlights some of the best. The analysis also revealed that the Complete Streets movement grew in 2012, continuing a national trend since 2005.
In 2012, 125 communities adopted Complete Streets policies. These laws, resolutions, executive orders, policies and planning and design documents encourage and provide safe access to destinations for everyone, regardless of age, ability, income, ethnicity or how they travel.
In total, 488 Complete Streets policies are now in place nationwide, at all levels of government. Statewide policies are in place in 27 states as well as the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Forty-two regional planning organizations, 38 counties and 379 municipalities in 48 states also have policies that allow everyone to safely use America’s roads. The policies passed in 2012 comprise more than one quarter of all policies in place today.
Ten cities have led the way in crafting comprehensive policy language. Our ranking of top Complete Streets policies is intended to celebrate the communities that have done exceptional work in the past year. They are:
| 1 | Indianapolis, IN | 6 | Portland, ME |
| 2 | Hermosa Beach, CA | 7 | Oak Park, IL |
| 2 | Huntington Park, CA | 8 | Trenton, NJ |
| 4 | Ocean Shores, WA | 9 | Clayton, MO |
| 5 | Northfield, MN | 10 | Rancho Cucamonga, CA |
“The policies passed in 2012 are some of the strongest we’ve seen,” said Stefanie Seskin, Deputy Director of the National Complete Streets Coalition. “The communities included in this year’s analysis have done a stellar job drafting strong, comprehensive policies to create streets that work for everyone.”
Today’s report highlights exemplary policy language, and provides leaders at all levels of government with ideas for how to create strong Complete Streets policies. Information about additional resources for local leaders is also included.
Download the report
| The Best Complete Streets Policies of 2012 Download the full report, including the list of top 10 Complete Streets policies from 2012 as well as a full explanation of our policy evaluation. |
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| The Best Complete Streets Policies of 2012: Executive Summary Download the list of top 10 Complete Streets policies from 2012 as well as an an overview of our policy evaluation. |
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The National Complete Streets Coalition supports communities as they develop, adopt and implement Complete Streets policies, and we are proud to have worked with and supported many of the communities discussed in this analysis. By highlighting the top Complete Streets policies of the past year we aim to celebrate exemplary policy work and to give other communities an example to follow in writing their own Complete Streets policies.