Author: Craig Chester

What’s your favorite street in America? Our staff weighs in for new Facebook campaign

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If you had to choose your favorite street in the United States, what would it be? Could you explain why you love it? Those are the questions we posed to our entire Smart Growth America staff for a new Facebook campaign called ‘What’s Your Street?’, intended to showcase great places that embody smart growth principles across the country.

Whether it’s a bustling, skyscraper-lined downtown block, a charming historic main street or even a sleepy rural outpost, two new streets are uploaded to Facebook every week, each one personally chosen by a member of our staff. An accompanying quote sheds some light as to why the street was chosen and what makes it such a great place to be.

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Join us next week at the New Partners for Smart Growth conference

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Next week, the 12th annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference kicks off in America’s heartland—Kansas City, Missouri. The three-day conference will explore sensible strategies for helping communities arcoss the country create healthy, convenient, equitable and livable cities and towns for all. This year, the conference will include over 90 sessions and close to 400 total speakers across multiple disciplines including elected officials, state and federal agency leaders; professionals in planning and transportation; realtors, developers and many others committed to building sustainable communities nationwide.

Smart Growth America’s staff will among the many speakers talking about best practices in implementing smart growth strategies – covering everything from local policies to federal legislation about Complete Streets, public transportation, economic development, effective communications and more. Join us at one of our several sessions.

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Hawaii: Say “Aloha” To Transit-Oriented Development

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This article orginally appeared on Streetsblog DC.


Honolulu, one of the most congested cities in the country, could benefit from more transit-oriented development. Photo: ShowBus

Not all transportation in Honolulu, Hawaii is a walk on the beach.

Known for its breathtaking natural beauty and warm temperatures, Honolulu is also plagued by heavy traffic congestion and delays. High energy costs and a lack of transportation choices compound the challenges of getting around Hawaii’s state capital and most populous city.

To put it in perspective, Honolulu recently surpassed Los Angeles to become the city with the worst traffic in the nation. And on average, households in the City and County of Honolulu spent a whopping $13,598 each year on transportation alone, wasting an average of 58 hours in traffic during that time.

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The home Mortgage Interest Deduction – who benefits the most?

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Figure 2 from Federal Involvement in Real Estate.

The federal government spends billions each year in the real estate market through a web of costly programs with an uneven impact on homeowners, renters and communities. Smart Growth America’s recent report Federal Involvement in Real Estate surveyed 50 federal real estate programs to better understand where this money goes, who is benefiting (and who isn’t) and which programs are particularly in need of a closer look.

One of the costliest tax-expenditure programs for housing is the home Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID). Created in 1913, the federal government commits an average of $80 billion each year to this program intended to promote homeownership. Our recent report explains that while the MID does promote increased spending on housing , it does not necessarily increase rates of homeownership. Compounding this problem, the deduction in its current form may be skewing the real estate market in unintended ways.

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Partnership in the News: Officials Visit Indianapolis, IN

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On Friday, January 11th, officials from three federal agencies visited Indianapolis, IN for a first-hand perspective at how federal funding and provisions have benefited local environmental and redevelopment projects.

During the visit Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard was enthusiastic about several innovative development projects being done in the city, including brownfield remediation efforts and the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. The Cultural Trail is a multi-use path that connects neighborhoods, Cultural Districts and entertainment amenities and the Indianapolis ‘bike hub’ to help make bicycle commuting easier and more viable. The award-winning 8-mile path encircles downtown Indianapolis, passing through the city’s visitor and business district, its arts and cultural hubs, and several neighborhoods.

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