A Complete Streets policy is just part of what makes it possible for a community to create safer streets, but political leadership is key. To help prepare more of our elected officials to effectively advocate for and support Complete Streets, Smart Growth America has launched the Champions Institute. We are accepting applications from local officials through September 10, 2020.
A new report from CityHealth finds that 90 percent of the nation’s 40 most populous cities have medal-worthy Complete Streets policies on the books. The report makes a case for building safer streets to improve the overall health of cities, especially in the era of COVID-19.
American transportation is rife with inequality that makes it more difficult for low-income people, people of color, and people with disabilities to get where they need to go, and can put them at greater risk. Today’s inequalities reflect the racism and ableism of the era in which much of today’s network was built, but they also still pervade federal transportation policy. The INVEST Act—a transportation policy proposal in the U.S. House—offers a major first step towards a more equitable transportation system by breaking with many policies of the past.
Right now there is an ambitious proposal to rewrite the rules for transportation spending in America currently moving in the U.S. House. We have been writing extensively about this new proposal and here’s where you can find the information you’re searching for…or perhaps didn’t even know you needed!
Hartford, CT and Rancho Cucamonga, CA are the winners of the 2020 Richard H. Driehaus Form-Based Codes Award, presented by the Form-Based Codes Institute at Smart Growth America. Each year, the Driehaus Award recognizes communities that have adopted and implemented exemplary form-based zoning codes.
Some cities around the country are responding to COVID-19 by opening up more street space for people as traffic has dwindled and more space is needed for people to safely be outside. But could these temporary changes lead to more public space for people even after the immediate threat has subsided? Possibly, but only if cities start acting to realize that future now.
Our economy is at a virtual standstill because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs and healthcare. Businesses of all sizes are facing an existential threat. Local municipal budgets are being gutted. As we hope for light at the end of the tunnel we’ll need to craft a smart recovery. We leaned on our experience with the stimulus of 2009 and our long expertise in infrastructure and community development to produce a package of federal policy recommendations Congress should consider to build the foundation for a long-lasting recovery.
The economic collapse brought on by the spread of COVID-19 has necessitated urgent action to protect our economy, but we must invest wisely. Funds must go to investments that build lasting economic prosperity and ultimately help all Americans have the opportunity to live in a place that is healthy, prosperous, and resilient. While many sectors of our economy are in need of support, we encourage policy makers to provide support for infrastructure and community revitalization programs.
Senate republicans have unveiled their $1 trillion economic stimulus plan and not a single dollar is dedicated to supporting transit or Amtrak. This is unacceptable. Without action now some of the hardest-hit transit agencies won’t be able to recover, even if transit is included in a fourth stimulus package.
A Green New Deal for City and Suburban Transportation lays out federal policy recommendations for reducing emissions from the transportation sector in cities and suburbs while making communities healthier, more equitable, and prosperous.