What’s the value of a great downtown? Joe Minicozzi can tell you exactly, in dollars and cents.

minicozzi-joe-300x225One of the main reasons Smart Growth America advocates for compact, walkable urban development is because this approach can greatly benefit the finances of municipalities. Smart growth strategies can reduce infrastructure costs and ongoing expenses for cities while also boosting tax revenues. Smart Growth America’s own work has shown that, and we know this to be true too because of the outstanding work of others in the field like Joe Minicozzi, AICP and the principal at Urban3, LLC, a consultancy based out of Asheville, NC. We’re fans of their work and and cite it often as yet another illustration of how good smart growth can be for city finances. We want to take this opportunity to highlight some of the evidence Minicozzi has amassed over the years demonstrating smart growth’s fiscal benefits.

Urban3 has been hired by cities and towns across the United States and Canada to analyze the financial implications of their development strategies. Most city planners and elected officials understand that a city brings in more tax revenue when people shop and eat out, Minicozzi explained in 2012, but they often underestimate just how much more valuable this economic activity is when it happens downtown rather than on a city’s outskirts.

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"Foot Traffic Ahead 2016" comes out on June 14. Which metros will be on top?

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Across the country, demand is growing for walkable neighborhoods. Which cities are well-positioned to meet that demand, and which will miss the boat?

We asked these questions two years ago in Foot Traffic Ahead: Ranking Walkable Urbanism in America’s Largest Metros. That report, released in conjunction with the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis at the George Washington University School of Business, outlined which of the country’s metro areas are the most walkable today and which have the most potential to be walkable in the future.

Next month we’re going to revisit these questions and provide updated analysis in Foot Traffic Ahead 2016. Coming out on June 14, this brand new research will provide unparalleled insights into current and future smart growth development, including the latest rankings of the top 30 walkable urban places (or “WalkUPs”) in the nation’s largest metro areas based on their current and future commercial real estate metrics. Sign up to get your copy when the report comes out next month:

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LOCUS

City of Somerville, MA and LOCUS release results and next steps of program to balance economic growth and social equity in Union Square

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Today, the City of Somerville, MA, and LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors publicly released the results of the progress made to date, as well as the next steps, in the Union Square Strategic Planning and Community Benefits process, a public-private partnership between LOCUS and the City.

The recommendations report identifies a series of priorities for ensuring that social equity goals are interwoven with development goals as the city’s Union Square neighborhood undergoes redevelopment centered around the planned MBTA Green Line light rail extension. Shared priorities including displacement prevention, affordable and attainable housing, jobs and workforce development, sustainability, open space, small businesses supports and more, are identified.

LOCUS

House subcommittee examines the successes of and potential improvements to EPA Brownfields program

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Brownfields program helps communities clean up and redevelop contaminated land and put it back into productive use. EPA Brownfield grants and assistance have helped turn former industrial sites into new parks, office buildings, performing arts centers, and more in communities across the country.

Although the program gets funding from Congress each year, it is not an official part of the federal budget. On April 21, 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy held a hearing about the program, including what about it currently works well, what could be improved, and how the program helps communities handle issues like environmental liability concerns, financial barriers, cleanup considerations, and reuse planning.

LOCUS

Announcing the full speaker lineup for the 2016 LOCUS National Leadership Summit

The 2016 LOCUS National Leadership Summit, taking place June 13-15, 2016 in Boston, will bring together responsible real estate developers and investors from across the country to meet, connect with, and learn from one another. Some of the nation’s leading experts in walkable urban real estate development will be leading the conversations, and now, LOCUS is excited to introduce the full lineup of speakers who will be featured at this year’s Summit.

LOCUS

Recorded webinar: "The Best Complete Streets Policies of 2015"

In 2015, more than 80 communities passed Complete Streets policies and this week the National Complete Streets Coalition released a closer look at all of them with The Best Complete Streets Policies of 2015, our annual ranking of Complete Streets policies from the last year, including the 16 policies that were the nation’s best.

To kick off the report we hosted an online panel discussion to recognize all last year’s policies as well as the growing movement for safer streets nationwide. Representatives from top-scoring communities shared insight into how they passed the best policies, and ideas for how other communities can create a great policy of their own.

For those who weren’t able to join us on Tuesday, a recording of the webinar is now available.

Complete Streets

Smart Growth America welcomes Lynn Peterson as new senior transportation policy advisor

lynn-peterson2Smart Growth America is pleased to announce today the hiring of Lynn Peterson, former chief executive officer of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), as senior transportation policy advisor.

During her tenure at WSDOT, Peterson oversaw an agency responsible for 18,600 lane miles of highway, 3,700 bridges, airports, passenger- and freight-rail programs, and the Washington State Ferry system (the nation’s largest). She brought a renewed focus on agency efficiencies, accountability, and investments to the multimodal system, and supported the agency’s partnerships with cities, counties, businesses, transit agencies, and non-motorized transportation groups to cost-effectively build safe and healthy communities everywhere in Washington state.

Peterson is also a nationally recognized transportation and land-use integration expert having worked both as a transportation consultant and as a strategic planning manager for TriMet, Portland, OR’s regional transportation agency.

Complete Streets DOT Innovation

Announcing the best Complete Streets policies of 2015

A call to action on the United States’ obesity epidemic, a challenge on safety from a federal cabinet secretary, new standards for transportation in Congress, and the first-ever perfect-scoring policy all made 2015 a banner year for the national movement for Complete Streets.

Local policies were a huge part of this momentum. In 2015, communities passed a total of 82 Complete Streets policies, and they are some of the strongest ever passed. In fact, in 2015 the city of Reading, PA adopted the first policy to ever score a perfect 100 in our analysis. 

The Best Complete Streets Policies of 2015, out today, highlights Complete Streets policies from across the country last year, including the 16 policies that were the nation’s best. Those communities were:

Complete Streets

Newly awarded technical assistance will help nine communities make the most of their transit projects

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Oklahoma City, OK – and its project restoring the historic Santa Fe depot, above — is one of nine communities selected to receive technical assistance from the Federal Transit Administration and Smart Growth America.

Nine communities working to support development around planned or existing transit projects will get a big boost this year thanks to newly awarded technical assistance from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), in partnership with Smart Growth America.

The National Public Transportation/Transit-Oriented Development Technical Assistance Initiative, which officially launched in December, is a four-year project of FTA in partnership with Smart Growth America to help communities across the country build compact, mixed-use, equitable development around transit stations, with a focus on development in disadvantaged areas.

Technical assistance

The "Best Complete Streets Policies of 2015" comes out April 12

best-cs-policies-2015-blog-bannerGuadalupe Street in Austin, TX. Austin had one of the highest-scoring policies of 2014. Which communities will be on the 2015 list? Photo courtesy of the City of Austin.

More than 60 communities passed Complete Streets policies in 2015, and these policies are some of the strongest and most effective ever passed. Which policies stood out as the best? Find out on next month when Smart Growth America’s National Complete Streets Coalition unveils our annual ranking of the best Complete Streets policies in the nation.

Notably this year, one community has scored a perfect 100 on their Complete Streets policy. In the near decade that we have been tracking policies, this is the first time a community has achieved a perfect score. Which community passed the perfect policy? Join us for the launch of this year’s rankings to find out.

Complete Streets