Video: Joe Minicozzi on the fiscal benefits of a revitalized Asheville, NC

Many communities are coming to realize smart growth provides substantial economic benefits in addition to creating great neighborhoods. Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council recently sat down with Joseph Minicozzi, the principal of Urban3, LLC, a private consulting firm specializing in land value economics, property tax analysis and community design, to discuss how some communities are using smart growth strategies to their economic benefit.

Local Leaders Council

Local Leaders convene to discuss supporting America’s cities and counties

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Members of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council in Washington last week.

Elected officials representing diverse communities around the nation gathered in Washington, DC on October 8th for a briefing on the progress and future plans of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, a nationwide, nonpartisan network of local decision makers with a passion for building great towns, cities, and communities using smart growth strategies.

During the meeting the Council’s Advisory Board reviewed the first-year accomplishments of the program: Over 80 elected and high-level appointed local officials have formally joined the network in the past year, numerous events have been coordinated through the speaker’s bureau, and a new Maryland State Chapter is under development.

Local Leaders Council

LOCUS Steering Committee gathers in Washington DC

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Los Angeles’ Union Station, one of several projects being worked on by LOCUS members. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Metro.

The Steering Committee of LOCUS, Smart Growth America’s coalition of responsible real estate developers and investors, gathered in Washington DC this week to discuss upcoming LOCUS projects and identify new issues facing smart growth development today.

Art Leahy, CEO of Los Angeles Metro, started the meeting on Tuesday with a presentation about the future of L.A.’s Union Station. As Leahy explained, Metro’s Master Plan for the station will celebrate the site’s history, improve passenger experience and make the Union Station neighborhood a great destination by considering combinations of public space enhancements, access and circulation improvements and new development. Leahy presented about the project to the Steering Committee, and received feedback from fellow Committee members.

LOCUS

Complete Streets News – August 2013

Policy Action

Concord, California has been awarded funds from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s One Bay Area Grant (OBAG) program to redesign Detroit Avenue. To be eligible for OBAG funds, communities in the San Francisco Bay region must show that the project follows a Complete Streets approach, in line with a locally-adopted policy or plan. (Concord Patch)

Sacramento, California’s Complete Streets Coalition brings together community non-profits and regional public agencies to ensure Complete Streets implementation in plans, projects, and processes. WALKSacramento gave an update on its work in a recent blog post. Read more >>

Los Angeles Departments of City Planning and Transportation are working together to develop a Mobility Element of the city’s General Plan that fully considers the needs of all users of the roadways and responds to citizens’ input. Streetsblog L.A. gives an update on their work so far and how community members can engage and share their ideas. Read more >>

Complete Streets

A Joint Announcement from Reconnecting America and Smart Growth America

Reconnecting America and Smart Growth America boards and staff have recently completed a joint strategic planning process to evaluate how to have the most impact in advancing shared goals related to federal transportation policy reform. To that end, the boards of each organization have agreed to the full transfer of the Transportation for America Campaign, which has been jointly hosted by Reconnecting America and Smart Growth America, to Smart Growth America with the goal of consolidating the transportation policy advocacy work into one organization.

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Reigniting America’s real estate and housing markets through reform

This op-ed originally appeared in The Hill.

Today, the real estate industry finds itself caught between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) are leading the charge for tax and housing reform. On the other, we in real estate are wary of policy changes and the potential impacts on the recovering real estate market. But there may be a way forward. In January 2013, Smart Growth America (the parent organization of LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors) released a study that surveyed 50 federal programs and found that between tax breaks, grants, loan guarantees and other programs the federal government spends or commits approximately $450 billion each year directly to the real estate market. The study found that much of that spending is uncoordinated and out of step with today’s market realities and demographic shifts.

As leaders in the real estate development community, we understand the positive impact federal involvement can have on the real estate market, and support a continued federal role in the sector. However, we also recognize the economy and real estate market have structurally changed, and policies and programs that spurred prosperity in previous generations can actually impede it today. We must ensure that every dollar invested in real estate is going to help the economic recovery – and that is why, we, LOCUS, a national coalition of real estate developers and investors in partnership with Smart Growth America developed a series of recommendations in a recent report, Federal Involvement in Real Estate: A Call for Action, proposing common sense reforms to existing programs.

LOCUS

Join us for a live event on federal involvement in real estate

Federal real estate programs could be doing more for families, communities and taxpayers alike. Later this month we’ll unveil new policy recommendations for how Congress can make that happen.

Smart Growth America and LOCUS, our coalition of responsible real estate developers and investors, have developed a set of policy recommendations for federal real estate programs. Join us for an online event about this new platform.

LOCUS

New workshop available, upcoming congressional briefing – Complete Streets News – June, 2013

Policy Adoption

On May 21, Hopkins, Minnesota adopted a Complete Streets policy. Hopkins, a densely populated town in the Minneapolis area, will be home to 3 light rail stations in the next few years, Creating safe walking and bicycling connections to those stations are paramount for the city team. The policy draws from national and state best practices, includes specific exemptions and next steps for implementation. Read more >>

The Albany, New York City Council passed Complete Streets legislation on June 3. After two auto-pedestrian accidents in the last year, one of them fatal, community stakeholders and councilmembers want to improve safety for all citizens. “This is about considering all users of the road,” noted Alderwoman Leah Golby, who proposed the law. “It’s time for our code to reflect the way people live today.” The ordinance applies to “all street construction, reconstruction, resurfacing or repaving projects that are undertaken by the City and not covered under the New York State Complete Streets Law.” Read more >>

The Common Council of White Plains, New York adopted a Complete Streets resolution on June 3. The resolution directs the City’s Department of Public Works to “consider all modes of travel within its projects” and includes specific exceptions. Read more >>

Complete Streets Local Leaders Council

Join us to celebrate DC's food entrepreneurs and the neighborhoods they call home

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Union Market in Washington, DC. Photo by Tom Bridge via Flickr.

Washington, DC is gaining attention for its new food scene, and the city’s great neighborhoods are helping making that possible.

Join us on Thursday, June 20, 2013 for Food in the City: Creating food centers and communities, a panel discussion and reception about the intersection of smart growth development and DC’s burgeoning food community. Weigh in about how small businesses are changing real estate, and how the city can support food industry entrepreneurs through better development.

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