In case any doubt remains, let me remove it. The fortunes of our country will rise and fall with the fates of our cities and metropolitan areas. For the first time in history, more people worldwide live in cities than anywhere else. In the United States, our largest 100 metropolitan areas house a staggering 65 percent of our population.
Across the country, older cities are struggling with outdated water-sewer systems that collect sanitary sewage and stormwater runoff in a single pipe system. When a big storm occurs, the system gets overloaded: sewage combines with stormwater and runs into lakes and streams, causing serious water pollution and health issues. Cities are beginning to turn instead to “green” infrastructure as a viable alternative to addressing combined sewer overflow. Green infrastructure uses plants and porous pavement among other tools as natural ways to filter water, increase infiltration, and reduce stormwater runoff into pipes.
David Crossley is a busy man. He’s on the board of Smart Growth America and serves on the National Committee of America 2050. His organization, Houston Tomorrow, a SGA coalition partner, works within the Houston region to promote livability, transit, efficient infrastructure, and planning decisions that would benefit the environment. Their ambitious motto: “To improve the quality of life in the Houston Gulf Coast region.” So what do they mean by “improving the quality of life” for Houstonians? Crossley was recently featured in a cover article in a local Houston magazine about his vision for the Houston of his grandchildren, and what will need to change:
Smart Growth America coalition member TransForm has developed a certification program called GreenTRIP to encourage building the kinds of places we need to reduce our carbon emissions. The certification program rewards developers and municipalities that reduce traffic and greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. It acts as a complement to the LEED for Neighborhood Development program (LEED-ND), one that focuses specifically on the place transportation occupies in sustainable land use.
A few weeks ago, we asked what you loved about your communities. As promised, we’re highlighting some of the best or most engaging answers – though not chosen through any rigorous process. There are plenty of really interesting comments about interesting places all over the country. If you haven’t done so, check out all the … Continued
Ten years ago, the Menomonee Valley in Milwaukee, Wisconsin was dead land. Today, after many years of clever ideas, careful planning, and hard work, people are fishing in the Menomonee River again — which runs right through the heart of Milwaukee. Commuters and recreational bicyclists are using the new bike paths. There’s a soccer field and even a canoe launch. The land hasn’t merely been cleaned of environmental hazards. It’s been transformed into a place where people want to spend their leisure time.
A fishing boat on the Chesapeake Bay. Photo from WikiCommons. The Chesapeake Bay is the country’s biggest estuary — and one of its biggest failures. Despite over 20 years of clean-up efforts, we have barely made a dent in the extreme levels of pollution from which the Bay suffers. In today’s Baltimore Sun, an op-ed … Continued
The public health field often looks at changing individual behavior to get better outcomes – we offer driver’s education to prevent accidents, or conduct public service announcements about the importance of exercise to lower obesity levels. New research on violent crime helps illustrate the fact that the choices people make are influenced by the places they live, and that what we choose to do with the physical space in our communities can play a critical role in our efforts to help keep people safer and healthier.
It’s been more than 10 years since former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening — president of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute here at Smart Growth America — enacted his historic smart growth initiatives and threw Maryland into the national spotlight. After a recent Washington Post article assessing the impact of the smart growth laws (with a … Continued
New Jersey has an awful lot of titles to its name, despite being small in size. It’s the most densely-populated state, as well as one of the wealthiest. It’s also one of the most-developed states in the nation. As such, residents of New Jersey have tried to tread carefully when it comes to development, with … Continued