Scores of cities are eager to build safer streets for all of their residents, but many also quickly discover the plethora of barriers that make it difficult to change years of practice. Our new Safe Streets Academy, announced today, is bringing together three jurisdictions in a collaborative environment to explore how to overcome those barriers and develop strategies for improving safety for all users of the street.
Are you interested in building transit-oriented development in Cleveland? Join LOCUS and the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency on Monday, August 14, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. EDT for a webinar on the remarkable development opportunities in and around Cleveland, OH.
Communities across the country are embracing a new recipe for economic development: creating amazing places where people want to live, work, and play. Our Amazing Place report demonstrates ways that cities are investing in vibrant, walkable neighborhoods to help attract new residents and jobs, support existing businesses, and benefit everyone’s quality of life. And starting today, we’re going to share stories about how five specific cities are embracing these new strategies.
Last month, a group of 24 transportation officials, engineers, planners, artists, policymakers, and advocates from around the country gathered together in Indianapolis to sweat and scheme about how to use arts and culture to build support for more equitable transportation infrastructure.
This month we closed out the first half of our monthly webinar series with “Greening the Streetscape: Complete Streets & Stormwater Management.” To learn more, view the recording of the webinar above, download the PDF of the presentation, or read the full recap below.
The 2017 Federal Financing Toolkit features 90 federal financing opportunities that are designed to help real estate developers and investors as well as local elected officials achieve their development goals.
Note: The 2017 Federal Financing is no longer for sale, but you can purchase a copy of the updated 2019 Federal Financing Toolkit here. As demand for smart growth development rises across the country, real estate developers and investors as well as local elected officials are looking for innovative approaches to finance these complex projects. … Continued
MACOG launches a new, unified approach to Complete Streets — We’re working alongside the Michiana Area Council of Governments to provide technical assistance to communities throughout the Michiana region. For the first time, we are helping an MPO run a competitive application process for Complete Streets workshops on policy development and implementation. To kick off this work, we traveled to North Central Indiana to meet with local leaders. Read more about our experiences and this new model for technical assistance.
On July 12, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a full committee hearing entitled, “The Use of TIFIA and Innovative Financing in Improving Infrastructure to Enhance Safety, Mobility, and Economic Opportunity.”
The hearing focused on the nation’s enormous need for infrastructure investment, and how Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans can help meet it. Christopher Coes, Vice President for Real Estate Policy and External Affairs, joined the hearing to testify.
If you think manufacturing still needs to be exiled to large, polluting, isolated factories, think again. Many of today’s manufacturing spaces are small, clean, shared among multiple firms, and integrated with other land uses. And communities across the country are creating space for these businesses in downtown neighborhoods, and making them part of a place-based approach to economic development.
Small-scale producers and manufacturers can boost local economies by creating new jobs for workers with a wide range of skill sets. When these companies are located in a downtown, however, their economic impact multiplies. These businesses can bring life to vacant industrial properties or storefronts and catalyze broader neighborhood investment. They can also help attract visitors by fostering a community of creative producers.