Moving within this moment: Strategies for overcoming structural barriers

Efforts to advance equity in today’s environment face major structural setbacks, including the recent Supreme Court decision overturning affirmative action and reduced corporate commitment to DEI. Panelists representing a range of fields, including transportation, housing, and the civic sector, will reflect on how they are continuing to center equity in the face of these challenges. … Continued

Advancing Racial Equity Events

Announcing our Dangerous by Design TA program cohort

Smart Growth America is excited to share the roster of passionate individuals joining our first-ever cohort for Dangerous by Design Technical Assistance (TA). These 15 individuals will build skills around data and storytelling to advance their efforts for safer streets. Read Dangerous by Design 2022 One of the greatest strengths of our cornerstone report Dangerous … Continued

Complete Streets Technical assistance

Call for ideas: Healing our Highways through creativity, community, and culture (applications open)

Smart Growth America, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Kresge Foundation, is requesting applications for our new grant program, Healing Our Highways. This initiative aims to generate creative ideas and activities that build knowledge, connections, and power within disadvantaged communities most harmed by transportation systems and climate change. The program … Continued

Climate Change Technical assistance Transportation

Leveraging the Nuclear Workforce to Develop Synergistic Industries

Methodology The SGA team analyzed national and regional jobs data and economic patterns in order to evaluate the economic impacts associated with nuclear plants. The analysis employs a comprehensive approach, combining quantitative data with qualitative assessments. It incorporates various economic indicators, including employment rates, income levels, and regional economic growth trends. The methodology is grounded … Continued

Economic development

Transportation Artists in Residence: A Landscape of an Emerging Field

In 2018 Smart Growth America launched the concept of artists-in-residence in state transportation agencies with leaders of the Minnesota and Washington State Departments of Transportation (MnDOT and WSDOT). The goal of this program was to use a creative approach to advance the agencies’ goals to reduce congestion, promote economic vitality, support multimodal transportation systems, and … Continued

Transportation

Request for proposals: Cultural organizing technical assistance consulting services

Through this Request for Proposals (RFP), Smart Growth America (SGA) is seeking proposals for consultant services to support the programming of its Arts & Culture team. Services include providing technical assistance in community and cultural organizing, power and movement building, and leadership and strategy development and implementation, by and within communities of color around issues … Continued

Technical assistance

Designation 2050: The case for updating Vermont’s Designation Program

Vermont’s Designation Programs guide development and state investment priorities for revitalization. In response to the Program’s evolving needs, Smart Growth America and Community Workshop collaborated on Designation 2050, a strategic report that evaluates the current Designation Programs, sharing insights and recommendations for reform. The report’s key findings aim to position a reformed Designation Program to … Continued

Land Use and Development Technical assistance

Designation 2050: Vermont State Designation Program Evaluation and Reform

Vermont’s Designation Programs guide development and state investment priorities for revitalization by offering benefits to municipalities and property owners like tax credits, grant funding, and easier permitting for housing in designated areas to municipalities and property owners. While the programs have been successful in leveraging hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for local development … Continued

Land Use and Development

Request for proposals: Complete Streets Metrics Report layout and design

Smart Growth America is seeking an experienced professional in layout and design to transform a draft report into a visually appealing and accessible final resource. Please submit proposals to Heidi Simon, Director of Thriving Communities ([email protected]) by Tuesday, January 23. Overview Smart Growth America has drafted a report exploring the practice of measuring successful implementation … Continued

Complete Streets

Press statement: Newly updated MUTCD doesn’t go far enough to protect pedestrians

Washington, D.C. (Dec. 20) — Yesterday, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released the 11th Edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), a document “that governs how traffic control devices communicate the design intent to the road user to safely and efficiently navigate the roadway system.” Smart Growth America and Transportation for America … Continued

Complete Streets Transportation