As co-chair of the Transportation for America campaign, Smart Growth America is proud to help launch the nation’s leading civil rights, community development, racial justice, economic justice, faith-based, health, housing, labor, environmental justice, tribal, and transportation organizations to create the Equity Caucus at Transportation for America. Transportation is a crucial part of the path to … Continued
Smart Growth America is looking for a highly qualified individual to fill the position of Director of the Governors’ Institute on Community Design. This position offers a tremendous opportunity to work at the cutting edge of state and local smart growth policy with top level officials and experts, developing innovative policy options and disseminating best … Continued
rock bottom rollback, originally uploaded by sssteve.o. Doug Simpson shares one education company’s exciting efforts — presented last Friday at the Louisiana Smart Growth Summit — to breathe new life into abandoned big box retailers. AUGUST 20, 2010 – An Alabama-based adult education company seeks out vacant “big box” retail sites and shopping malls to … Continued
Capitol Grocery, originally uploaded by de*. Doug Simpson provides us the following update from the 2010 Louisiana Smart Growth Summit, underway now in Baton Rouge: AUGUST 19, 2010 – The federal government is expected to continue providing funding for cities to expand passenger rail service because public transport can drive down travel costs for residents, … Continued
This post by SGA board member Kaid Benfield, originally appeared on his blog at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). We thank him for allowing us to reprint his post in full here, encourage you to read his blog daily, and join him in recognizing and thanking Richard Moe for his years of service preserving, building and advocating for American communities at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. As Kaid said to me, Smart Growth America might not exist without him. – Stephen Davis, SGA Communications Associate.
Climate Bill Timing is Uncertain
OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE POSTPONED
Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) have been working on bi-partisan climate legislation behind the scenes for months. The scheduled April 26 release of the bill language came and went last week, and has now been postponed until further notice. The climate bill negotiations fell apart last month when Senator Graham indicated that he was going to pull out due to shifting legislative priorities within the Administration and congressional leadership. Graham wrote in a letter on April 24th that he was compelled to withdraw from the climate effort following reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid might bring an immigration package to the Senate floor ahead of the climate bill….
Smart Growth America today announced that Roger M. Millar, Jr., AICP, PE, FASCE, is joining SGA as Director of Land Use and Transportation Policy. Roger Millar is a planner and an engineer with an international reputation for innovative approaches to planning and design. His career has been dedicated to improving communities as diverse as New York City and McCall, Idaho. Projects in which Roger played a leadership role are seen as national models for livability. Likewise, Roger has been instrumental in the successful evolution of sustainable practices within rural and gateway communities throughout the American West.
Through the end of 2009, investments by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in public transportation have created almost twice as many jobs per dollar as investments in highways – and the advantage is growing. The most recent data from states shows that every billion dollars spent on public transportation produced 19,299 job-months, compared to 10,493 job-months for every billion spent on highway infrastructure. Public transportation projects create more jobs than road projects because they spend less money on land and more on labor, and because projects are often more complex, whether laying track or manufacturing vehicles.
In today’s announcement of $1.5 billion in TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) awards, the US Department of Transportation (US DOT) showed the kinds of transportation projects that move people and freight in a way that makes places stronger, cleaner, and safer. DOT received 1,380 applications for the $1.5 billion pot, for a grand total of $56.5 billion in funds requested. The 51 projects announced under TIGER, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), include…
For those of you brave enough to dig into the numbers, the latest edition of the Washington Update from Smart Growth America details the President’s budget for smart-growth related programs in HUD, EPA, and DOT. If you want to know more about the details of policy and would like to receive the Washington Update newsletter … Continued