The City of Greenfield and the Town of Montague in Massachusetts’ Pioneer Valley sought technical assistance through the first-ever Massachusetts Opportunity Zones Academy to help determine future equitable development project feasibility in their three Opportunity Zones.
The proposed South Salem Commuter Rail Station has brought a lot of attention to an underutilized area of land in Salem, which also happens to be a designated Opportunity Zone. During the inaugural Massachusetts Opportunity Zones Academy, SGA provided the City with three different development scenarios to consider for the land use and zoning near the proposed station site.
The towns of Barnstable and Yarmouth on Cape Cod worked with SGA’s Form-Based Codes Institute during the first-ever Massachusetts Opportunity Zones Academy to gain insight on how to take advantage of their designated Opportunity Zones to create a better sense of place within the two towns.
During the first-ever Massachusetts Opportunity Zones Academy, the City of Fitchburg brought new attention to its long-standing economic and community development initiatives, as well as its shovel-ready Opportunity Zone projects to potential developers and investors.
Transportation for America believes in hands-on learning from experienced practitioners. And we put that belief into practice through programs like our Arts, Culture and Transportation (ACT) Fellowship, supported by the Kresge Foundation, where we have been able to take our fellows to different communities to experience first-hand the power of arts and culture to produce better transportation systems.
Down here on the Gulf Coast, we are on the precipice of creating the first new passenger rail service in the Deep South in more than half a century. This never would have happened without years of invaluable assistance from Smart Growth America and their Transportation for America program.
Raising children in the city could be considered somewhat novel in a country where the conventional wisdom dictates a move to the suburbs as a family grows. But one family in Washington, DC is glad they stayed in the city, which they believe offers benefits that suburbs often can’t replicate. The challenge is to ensure that more families can reap the same benefits from living and growing in a city.
The National Complete Streets Coalition is working with Washington-based partners to launch our first ever Complete Streets Leadership Academy. After a competitive application process, the cities of Wenatchee, Airway Heights, and Arlington have been selected to participate in this program to support safer, healthier streets.
This year, Smart Growth America continued to produce vital research and other content that is changing the conversation around critical issues. This resources fuel our advocacy across the country and in the nation’s capital, fighting for a future that is healthy, prosperous, and resilient.
Our wish list this year is ambitious, but necessary. But we’re working hard to help realize this vision for communities across the country.