Author: Aidan O'Shea

Top 10 of 2013: Helping state DOTs innovate and excel

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TDOT

This month we’re looking back at some of Smart Growth America’s brightest moments and greatest accomplishments from 2013. Today’s highlight: Our work helping state departments of transportation innovate and excel.

States across the country are facing the same challenges. Revenues are falling and budgets are shrinking. Yet state transportation officials have ambitious goals: improve safety, enhance economic opportunity, improve reliability, preserve system assets, accelerate project delivery, and help to create healthier, more livable neighborhoods, just to name a few.

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Top 10 of 2013: Growing our coalition of smart growth real estate developers and investors

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EOYA-LOCUSimage

This month we’re looking back at some of Smart Growth America’s brightest moments and greatest accomplishments from 2013. Today’s highlight? The work of LOCUS, our coalition of responsible real estate developers and investors.

Thousands of people live and work in the walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods built by LOCUS developers. And since its inception, LOCUS has advocated for state and federal policies that support a diverse array of development strategies.

LOCUS

SeaTac, WA Deputy Mayor Mia Gregerson on placemaking through transit-oriented development

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Tukwila Station
SeaTac’s Tukwila International Boulevard Station, located at the center of SeaTac’s South 154th Street station area. Image by Sean Marshall via Flickr.

SeaTac, WA, is a new, exceptionally diverse city adjacent to both Seattle and Tacoma (as its name suggests) and home to the region’s international airport. So what’s it lacking? Transit-oriented development and neighborhoods that will lure new residents to take advantage of what SeaTac has to offer. Deputy Mayor and City Councilmember Mia Gregerson supports using smart growth strategies to achieve both.

Gregerson is a member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, a nonpartisan group of municipal officials who share a passion for building great towns, cities, and communities. Gregerson, who has served as a member of SeaTac’s City Council since 2008 and is also the city’s Deputy Mayor, says that that a main challenge for SeaTac is that its convenient location and new road infrastructure have not been enough to create a compelling sense of place in the young city.

Local Leaders Council

Top 10 of 2013: Building better budgets through new, original research

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This month, we’re looking back at some of Smart Growth America’s brightest moments and greatest accomplishments from 2013. Today’s highlight? Our July report that showed just how much smart growth strategies can benefit municipalities’ bottom lines.

Building Better Budgets: A National Examination of the Fiscal Benefits of Smart Growth Development set out to find how much cities and towns have saved, on average, by using smart growth strategies. The report collected 17 studies from cities across the country that compared two or more development scenarios. The majority of these studies found that a smart growth approach would improve the city’s finances, whether by saving money on upfront infrastructure, reducing the cost of ongoing services or by generating greater tax revenues in years to come.

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Virginia Beach, VA aims to attract new businesses and residents with more walkable neighborhoods

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Virginia Beach, VA’s Town Center. Photo by Barb Watson via Flickr.

Virginia Beach, VA is already a popular summertime destination. Now, city leaders are working to attract more year-round businesses and residents, and they’re using smart growth strategies to make it happen.

Virginia Beach is beginning to implement its comprehensive plan, beginning with the city’s Central Business District Core. The neighborhood is one of the city’s eight strategic growth areas, and Virginia Beach residents have said they want it to have “a mix of urban uses, great streets, mobility and transit alternatives.”

Complete Streets

More than a year from operation, Kansas City's Streetcar is already driving investment downtown

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Kansas City Streetcar
A rendering of Kansas City’s future streetcar. Image via PlanningKC.

In a sign of things to come for downtown Kansas City, MO, a site along the city’s forthcoming streetcar line is being transformed from a parking lot into a mixed-use development. The developer of Crossroads Apartments, who has never built in Kansas City before, told the Kansas City Star that “the streetcar is the big thing that drew us, absolutely.”

The Kansas City Downtown Streetcar Project is comprised of a streetcar loop that will mostly run along Main Street in downtown Kansas City, and will link the city’s main entertainment venues with transit centers and arts districts.

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Commissioner Annabelle Jaramillo on supporting cities and protecting open space in Benton County, OR

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The view from above Corvallis, Oregon. Photo via prw_silvan on Flickr.
The view from above Corvallis, OR. Photo by Paul Woods via Flickr.

Benton County, OR is a mix of great urban places and rural areas, and smart growth strategies are helping to protect both.

That’s according to Benton County Board of Commissioners Chair Annabelle Jaramillo, who has served on the board since 2000. Jaramillo is a member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, a nonpartisan group of municipal officials who share a passion for building great towns, cities, and communities.

Local Leaders Council

Join LOCUS next week for an event on the future of walkable urban development

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LOCUS President Christopher Leinberger speaking at a previous ULI event.
LOCUS President Christopher Leinberger speaking at last year’s event.

Real estate professionals, advocates and academics are invited to join LOCUS, the George Washington University Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis and ULI Washington for a day-long event exploring how to develop walkable urban projects and how to implement the strategies for place management in walkable urban places.

LOCUS

Mayor Jonathan LaBonté on building a stronger Auburn, ME

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Jonathan LaBonté
Mayor Jonathan LaBonté of Auburn, ME. Image via Facebook.

Mayor Jonathan LaBonté of Auburn, ME is working to help his small city compete economically and grow stronger financially, and he’s using smart growth strategies to achieve both these goals.

Auburn is a city of 23,000 people located 45 minutes north of Portland. LaBonté has served as mayor of the city since 2011, and he’s also a member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, a nonpartisan group of municipal officials who share a passion for building great towns, cities, and communities.

Local Leaders Council