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Even the best-planned cities have a few hidden alleys.

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Best CS Policies Report 2025_Cover

Signature Report

Best Complete Streets Policies Report 2025

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San Antonio’s Complete Streets Policy is the result of a year of deep collaboration among partners, including a coalition of dedicated Complete Streets champions. By working closely together to build consensus among community members and partners, the city updated its previous policy to better address the community’s needs with the necessary structure that can lead to improvements in how streets are built and maintained. The shared purpose of improving safety and comfort for all helped to maintain the momentum this robust team needed to pass a strong policy that scored very high according to our framework.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;] This story is one of three features pulled from the Best Complete Streets Policies Report 2025. Profiling three communities with some of the strongest policies, each story goes into detail about how that specific policy was developed, why it scored so highly, and how everyone involved navigated the barriers on the way to adoption. 
[button type=&#8221;info&#8221; block=&#8221;true&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/signature-reports/best-complete-streets/&#8221;]Read the full report here. [/button] 
[/alert]
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/San-Antonios-CS-Policy-Score_2025-1.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-104069" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/San-Antonios-CS-Policy-Score_2025-1.png" alt="" width="800" height="575" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/San-Antonios-CS-Policy-Score_2025-1.png 1700w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/San-Antonios-CS-Policy-Score_2025-1-300x216.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /></a>
<h2>Part 1: Background</h2>
San Antonio first passed a Complete Streets policy in 2011, but there was frustration that the policy did not easily or consistently lead to the outcomes it promised, especially as pedestrian and cyclist crashes and fatalities increased (<a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/signature-reports/dangerous-by-design/rankings/">San Antonio is the 25th most dangerous metro area for pedestrians</a>).
Inspired by peer cities like <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/el-paso-from-good-intentions-to-great-policy/">El Paso</a> and <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/tucson-complete-streets-is-about-more-than-pavement/">Tucson</a> that had recently passed high-scoring policies, San Antonio decided to revise its Complete Streets policy. The revised policy included an updated system for <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/complete-streets-element-9/">prioritizing proposed infrastructure projects</a>, which now assigns points (or priority) to proposed projects that increase safety for all road users and multimodal transportation options.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]Since San Antonio’s 2011 policy, new standards have been developed, including the National Complete Streets Coalition’s updated Policy Framework and CityHealth Complete Streets Policy Framework. The San Antonio Complete Streets Coalition pointed to these new standards as a reason for the city to upgrade its policy and the frameworks helped guide the city in its update.[/alert]
“It was too long since we had first adopted our Complete Streets policy, and all of us were hungry for some clear direction on how we’re creating safer, healthier, more equitable, resilient streets in our city,” said Joey Pawlik, Executive Director of ActivateSA. “There’s unprotected, disconnected bike lanes, and San Antonio is heating up, it’s extremely hot in the summers. We need a clear direction on how we’re remaking our largest public spaces in our city.” &#8211; Joey Pawlik, Executive Director of ActivateSA
<h2>Part 2: Road to adoption</h2>
In 2023, <a href="https://activatesa.org/">ActivateSA</a>, a local tactical planning initiative and think-tank, assembled the San Antonio Complete Streets Coalition: a group of local, regional, and national champions whose missions would all be advanced by the city improving its policy. This multi-sector coalition included representation from disability rights groups, active transportation organizations, public health agencies, and environmental organizations, as well as support from the American Heart Association staff who had previously supported the creation of <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/el-paso-from-good-intentions-to-great-policy/">El Paso’s Complete Streets policy</a>. ActivateSA, leading the San Antonio Complete Streets Coalition, approached the city about updating the policy. The city was already working on its <a href="https://sabikenetwork.com/">Bike Network Plan</a> and <a href="https://www.sa.gov/Directory/Departments/Transportation/Initiatives/Vision-Zero/News/Revolutionizing-Road-Safety">Vision Zero updates</a>, and with the spark from the coalition, began to update the Complete Streets policy as well.
In early 2024, the city transportation department rewrote the policy based on current best practices and lessons learned from peer cities. Throughout this process, the city transportation team convened a recurring partner group that included the San Antonio Complete Streets Coalition and fourteen city departments. The partner group’s detailed review of the updated policy (at times discussing the draft line by line) ensured the policy met the needs of all road users, including those at greatest risk for injury or death. Partners also worked to ensure that the city departments responsible for construction and maintenance of the new infrastructure, such as the City Attorney’s office and Public Works, were involved in the policy revision process. The partner group worked to build support for the updated policy, including hosting town halls to spread awareness on the policy updates to the public, and coalition leaders meeting individually with community groups to address any concerns. The coalition educated city council members on the updated policy before the policy came to their desks for their signature, allowing them to highlight the benefits of the updated policy to decision makers.
<h2>Part 3: What makes this policy great</h2>
One of the strengths of San Antonio’s Complete Streets policy is the commitment to serving all San Antonians, including those who have been historically excluded from transportation discussions in the past. This is apparent <a href="https://www.saspeakup.com/Customer/File/Full/9920bf4d-e27d-45eb-bc2e-0dec179654f5">throughout the policy</a>. However, San Antonio’s policy goes beyond a mere vision statement by using localized community data to prioritize projects based on road user data. The policy also calls for the creation of a Technical Review Task Force, which is responsible for reviewing future policy changes, policy updates, and determining if the city is meeting its stated performance measures.
As part of its commitment to ensure meaningful improvements and outcomes, the city’s policy also includes actions to mitigate the potential unintended effects of Complete Streets infrastructure on rising living costs. The policy calls on departments from across the city to work together to “thoroughly consider measures to preserve housing affordability and increase new affordable housing options,” tying land use and transportation planning together.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]Safety is a central part of Complete Streets, but to really support people walking, biking, and using transit, the streets need to be comfortable as well. San Antonio’s policy goes above and beyond by also including comfort, particularly in a subtropical climate, as a central goal of the policy which reads: “To meet Complete Streets goals, the city must make different modes of transportation possible and safe in multiple types of weather including the extreme heatwaves, flash floods and torrential downpours, and hailstorms that occur throughout the year. While striving to make all modes of travel safe and comfortable, the city strives to address the ways the natural and built environment can coexist and serve San Antonians.”[/alert]
<h2>Part 4: Putting the policy into practice</h2>
Early signs suggest that the city is already translating the policy into action. In May 2025, the San Antonio City Council approved the creation of a <a href="https://www.sa.gov/Directory/News-Releases/City-Council-Approves-Creation-of-Multimodal-Transportation-Commission-to-Support-Safer-Streets">multimodal transportation commission</a> as required by the Complete Streets policy. The city is currently updating its Design Guide Manual to set standards for designing Complete Streets based on current best practices. The city is currently updating its Design Guide Manual to set standards for designing Complete Streets based on current best practices. The city is also developing a project prioritization tool, integrating existing community-based data. New projects will also include performance measures to track progress, including tracking any changes in the number and rate of road injuries or fatalities, improvements in comfort for all road users, and the number of infrastructure improvements constructed as a result of this policy.
<h2>Part 5: Lessons learned</h2>
Build a multi-sector, robust, engaged coalition, including decision makers and elected officials who will implement the policy as well as the broader community. The strength of this policy comes from people and groups with varying perspectives and needs working together to ensure the policy meets everyone’s goals. By including community stakeholders as well as representatives from relevant government departments, the policy has broad support and can be more easily and effectively implemented.
Get to a large consensus through small conversations. Building and maintaining a coalition is not easy, and including everyone’s input in a policy update takes a lot of work. In addition to monthly meetings, ActivateSA and other coalition organizers made sure to have smaller, more personal conversations with partners and coalition members to understand the why behind different perspectives. Reaching out to individuals who may not have been able to speak up in larger meetings made sure their voices were not just heard but that they were included.
Use existing momentum, pointing to peers and standards along the way. This policy update started with the coalition pushing the city to revisit their old work. With peer cities such as El Paso passing Complete Streets policies and getting recognition (<a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/resources/the-best-complete-streets-policies-2023/">including in the 2023 Best Complete Streets Policies Report</a>), San Antonio was sparked to meet and even exceed their progress. With the support of the San Antonio Complete Streets Coalition, dedicated city transportation staff, and American Heart Association support, they had the tools to do so.
<hr />
Thank you to Zan Marshall and Isaac Levy, Senior Transportation Planners at the City of San Antonio and Joey Pawlik, Executive Director of ActivateSA, for their time and expertise in producing this case study.

Best Complete Streets Policies

Best Complete Streets Policies of 2025

San Antonio, Texas: A coalition that leads to change (Best Complete Streets Policies 2025)

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Earlier this month, Smart Growth America convened its <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/meet-the-2025-culture-and-community-network/">Culture and Community Network</a> in Seattle, bringing together teams from metropolitan planning organizations across the country. These teams are part of a seven-month, cohort-based learning program, funded through the generous commitment of the Kresge Foundation. This program supports regional governments exploring arts, culture, and creativity for deeper engagement and improved community outcomes.
The Seattle gathering, held in conjunction with the National Association of Regional Councils’ Annual Conference, was a key milestone in the cohort’s journey. Over two days of immersive learning and exchange, participants built relationships, explored creativity and culture as a means of connection, and examined what is possible when planning processes are designed with intention and imagination.
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/group-photo-3-1-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-104091" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/group-photo-3-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/group-photo-3-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/group-photo-3-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/group-photo-3-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/group-photo-3-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/group-photo-3-1-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
<h2>Grounding in community resilience</h2>
The convening opened with a site visit to Seattle’s Chinatown–International District, where arts and culture have long served as tools of resistance, resilience, and organizing. Through community-led storytelling, public art, and cultural preservation, residents have influenced development, pushed back against displacement, and built long-term vision and power.
This visit—led by artist and activist Scott Oshima and featuring An Huynh and Naomi Saito from the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDpda), Vivian Chan and Wren Wheeler from the Wing Luke Museum, and Tiernan Martin from the City of Seattle—highlighted how government agencies show up not just as decision-makers, but as collaborators. In response to community frustration over past top-down planning efforts—particularly around Sound Transit’s proposed light rail expansion—the city has taken steps toward a more collaborative, trust-building approach. This shift includes elevating community-rooted leadership within city government, such as a former SCIDpda board member now working in a city role, and prioritizing long-standing community visions over new planning processes.
<h2>Embodiment, risk, and reflection</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-104090 alignright" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/applied-theatre-2-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="378" height="252" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/applied-theatre-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/applied-theatre-2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/applied-theatre-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/applied-theatre-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/applied-theatre-2-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 378px) 100vw, 378px" />In one session, participants were introduced to embodied techniques—creative, movement-based practices that use the body as a tool for reflection and expression. Marc Weinblatt of the Mandala Center for Change introduced methods including applied sociometry, image theatre (sculptor/clay exercises), and forum theatre, which help participants visualize power dynamics, practice empathy, and explore multiple perspectives in real time. These techniques aimed to illuminate how to bring a more human-centered approach to planning and engagement work, allowing participants to process complex challenges not just intellectually, but physically and emotionally—building trust, insight, and connection in ways traditional processes often overlook.
<h2> </h2>
<h2>Cultivating leadership commitment</h2>
In small teams, participants began designing experiments and proposals—scalable actions and ideas to test back home in their agencies. These ranged from developing external partnerships to communications strategies, all grounded in creativity and cultural responsiveness. Teams received direct feedback from Lizzi Weyant and Samyukth Shenbaga, leaders at Boston’s Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the Atlanta Regional Commission, respectively, both of which have been advancing innovative, equity-driven arts and culture strategies in their regions for around a decade.
<h2>Building leadership and capacity for risk</h2>
The second day began with a session, led by Roshani Thakore of the Atlanta Regional Commission, focused on developing internal relationships and champions through transparency, trust, and a shared vision. Participants identified professional risks that each has taken, from incremental changes to bold actions, an exercise that spurred self-reflection around individual and institutional capacity for experimentation and change.  They also engaged in a group exercise of “making the impossible possible,” challenging standard processes while reinforcing the mindset that innovation and problem-solving often begin with seemingly impossible ideas and is built through iteration.
<h2>Creativity beyond the visual</h2>
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/oregon-metro-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-104093" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/oregon-metro-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/oregon-metro-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/oregon-metro-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/oregon-metro-768x512.jpg 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/oregon-metro-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/oregon-metro-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>The convening’s closing session was led by Gülgün Kayim, Director of Arts &amp; Culture for the City of Seattle, a theater artist, and a long-time leader in integrating artists into public sector work. Kayim challenged the group to move beyond viewing art as “decoration or entertainment,” and to instead embrace it as a means of shifting institutional culture—through deep listening, trust-building, and care-centered engagement.
She emphasized that creative strategies are not superficial add-ons to planning—they are essential tools for cultivating belonging, shifting power, and developing new avenues for repairing relationships between government and communities. Her message was clear: “If you’re going to do the work, do it properly—or not at all.”
<h2>Moving forward: Transforming planning through creativity</h2>
Across the country, regional planning agencies are beginning to explore new ways of working. Visual storytelling, participatory installations, artist residencies, and culturally relevant engagement strategies are making complex planning concepts more accessible and inviting new voices to the table.
Yet, without deeper structural change, such efforts risk remaining surface-level or symbolic. Integrating arts and culture into planning is not about isolated projects—it is about shifting practices, power, and priorities. It requires rethinking how success is defined: from outputs to relationships, from transactions to trust, from efficiency to empathy.
This convening was not just about new tools or strategies; it was about building the courage to imagine differently, the relationships that sustain transformation, and the care needed to make planning more human and just. As the Culture and Community Network continues, these seeds of creativity, trust, and shared purpose will flourish into more responsive and imaginative planning and engagement practices nationwide.

Creativity as strategy, trust as infrastructure: Reflections from the Culture and Community Network convening in Seattle

Arts and Culture

Transportation

capitol

Last week, the Senate released its version of a comprehensive tax package. In a potentially huge win for community development stakeholders, the bill proposes making several key federal community development tax incentives permanent. While this would be an important win, the bill does not provide new tools to further support key priorities like affordable housing and economic development in the areas that need it most.
Over the past several weeks, the Republican-controlled Congress has continued its work on drafting a sweeping set of changes to the tax code that will shape the future of development and impact smart growth efforts nationwide. The federal tax code serves as a critical vehicle for steering development through incentives such as the <a href="https://taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-low-income-housing-tax-credit-and-how-does-it-work">Low-Income Housing Tax Credit</a> (LIHTC), the <a href="https://taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-new-markets-tax-credit-and-how-does-it-work">New Markets Tax Credit</a> (NMTC), and the <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/opportunity-zones-for-impact-tell-congress-to-pass-reforms-to-the-federal-opportunity-zone-tax-incentive/">Opportunity Zones program</a>. The near-term fate of these incentives is tied to the passage or failure of the package.
In contrast to the <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/red-light-green-light-what-smart-growth-provisions-are-passing-go-in-the-pending-house-tax-legislation/">previously released House version</a>, the Senate bill makes significant strides for community development by making several successful long-standing programs, including LIHTC and NMTC, permanent. However, the bill stops short of expanding the community development toolbox to provide much-needed tools for revitalization and affordable housing development. The Senate draft is not the final product–the differences between the House and Senate versions must be resolved–but it appears unlikely that entirely new provisions will be added to the draft whole cloth. While refinements to the Senate text are likely to continue, it offers the most up-to-date glimpse at what tools will be on the table to finance local development projects, from affordable housing to brownfields remediation, and what types of projects the Republican majority is prioritizing.
[button type=&#8221;info&#8221; block=&#8221;true&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/red-light-green-light-what-smart-growth-provisions-are-passing-go-in-the-pending-house-tax-legislation/&#8221;]Need a refresher on the House tax bill? Check out our previous blog. [/button]
<h1>Key credits made permanent</h1>
In the Senate tax bill, the popular and bipartisan LIHTC and NMTC are made permanent, rather than extended for a set number of years. The House bill, by contrast, would have only expanded LIHTC for a few years and did not include any extension of the NMTC. Each of these incentives attracts capital to lower-income communities, either by providing a tax credit to investors who provide funding for the construction of affordable housing or providing a tax credit to investors who make equity investments in community-based development entities, which in turn provide loans and investments to local businesses. Permanence is a major win for the community development community because it provides stability and makes the continued existence of both programs the status quo by eliminating looming sunset dates. Both bills also <a href="https://www.bondbuyer.com/news/senate-finance-bill-shields-tax-exempt-bonds-leaves-salt-debate-for-later">protect tax exemptions for municipal bonds</a>, which are a critical tool <a href="https://www.cdfa.net/cdfa/cdfaweb.nsf/48fc5ad035ef5f7b882578e7005f7d66/cc45420ef12f69798825793d005e79bc/$FILE/CDFA-Built-by-Bonds.pdf">communities use to finance essential infrastructure</a> like schools, libraries, hospitals, bridges, water management systems, and certain housing projects.
<h1>Mixed bag on Opportunity Zones</h1>
Both the Senate and the House bills doubled down on the Trump-era policy of Opportunity Zones, a tax incentive for certain investments in specific distressed census tracts, by extending the period of time the incentive can be utilized into the future. However, while the House bill provided a short-term extension, the Senate bill seeks to make the program permanent with a cyclical refreshing of the eligible zones for investment. Both bills allow the universe of census tracts designated as Opportunity Zones to be refreshed through a redesignation process, provide enhanced support for OZ investment in rural areas, and add reporting requirements, a longstanding issue many in the OZ and community development space have been eager to see resolved. A House bill provision that would have expanded the OZ incentive to ordinary income up to $10,000 per taxpayer was not included in the Senate version.
While reporting requirements and an extension of the program are compelling, neither bill includes any further incentives for the development of affordable homes through the OZ program, nor includes a LOCUS-proposed provision that would provide a targeted incentive for Opportunity Zone projects located in downtowns in urban and suburban areas or rural mainstreets. While the Senate bill makes critically needed adjustments to rules around the amount of money that must be invested in rehabilitation projects that have previously limited the tool’s use for rehabilitation projects, it only does so for projects in rural places, a significant loss for projects in urban or suburban geographies where the OZ tool’s use for rehab projects will remain limited. By failing to make these adjustments, Congress is missing the opportunity to facilitate more OZ projects that are location-efficient, mixed-income, or primarily rehabilitation.
Smart Growth America believes affordability provisions may still be under discussion. That’s why it’s essential that you <a href="https://smartgrowthamerica.salsalabs.org/ozs/index.html">take this action</a> and tell Congress to include affordability provisions and ensure reporting requirements remain in the final bill.
<h1>Missed opportunities</h1>
Like the House version of the text, the Senate bill also failed to include language creating the new homebuilding incentive proposed by the <a href="https://www.neighborhoodhomesinvestmentact.org">Neighborhood Homes Investment Act</a> and a slew of tax provisions that would incentivize, either implicitly or explicitly, growth in downtowns, main streets, or growth in areas well-connected to essential destinations. Among the provisions left on the cutting room floor was the brownfields tax deduction, which would allow taxpayers to fully deduct the cleanup costs of contaminated property in the year the costs were incurred, and a tax incentive for converting existing vacant and underutilized commercial properties into new housing proposed in the <a href="https://gomez.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3346">Revitalizing Downtowns and Main Streets Act of 2025</a>.
<h1>What’s shaping the rest of the process, and where do things go now?</h1>
The passage of the recently released bill is not guaranteed in the Senate, let alone in the narrowly Republican-controlled House. Senators Hawley, Johnson, and Paul are all early obstacles for Republican Majority Leader Thune, who can only lose 3 Republicans on the Senate vote. That narrow margin empowers other members of the Republican caucus in the Senate, who may demand changes that the House Republicans find unacceptable. In addition, Senate Republican leadership is pursuing an unusual accounting mechanism to determine the total cost of the bill that individuals on both sides of the aisle view as a budget gimmick. For now, Republican leaders remain committed to making serious advancements on the bill before July 4th.
As the process continues, there is limited opportunity for entirely new provisions not included in either bill to be added to the text, but there is significant risk of provisions falling out, as well as continued opportunity to engage in pushing for refinements in the text. Ensuring the inclusion of LIHTC expansion and permanence, NMTC permanence, and advocating for adjustments within the OZ program to add an affordability mechanism are all important advocacy points for smart growth champions in the coming weeks.
While the Senate bill does not fully take advantage of the opportunity to expand the community development toolbox and additional advocacy is required, the Senate tax bill would be a significant win for the smart growth community. If passed with the community development provisions as is, the legislation would make an enduring contribution to community development by making the New Markets Tax Credit, the expanded Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, and the Opportunity Zones tax incentive permanent.
<hr />
<h1>Take action</h1>
As the legislation continues to move forward, it will be critical for stakeholders to advocate for smart growth-aligned tax programs directly to their members, both to protect those already included and to advocate for the addition of programs left on the cutting room floor. Take action in support of the brownfields deduction <a href="https://smartgrowthamerica.salsalabs.org/brownfields-tax-incentive2025/index.html">by clicking here</a>, take action to support the inclusion of reporting requirements and an affordability mechanism in the <a href="https://smartgrowthamerica.salsalabs.org/ozs/index.html">OZ program here</a>, or find contact information for your Members of Congress and reach out to them to advocate directly for <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/the-developers-perspective-tax-priorities-for-smart-growth/">smart growth provisions</a> in the tax bill by using <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members">this link</a>.

Housing and Development

The play for permanence: The fate of community development tax provisions in the Senate’s draft tax legislation

Advocacy

burlington

As extreme weather events like floods, wildfires, and rising temperatures continue to impact more and more Americans, climate havens—where there’s relatively lower climate risk—may see an influx of new residents. To help guide policymakers, advocates, and community members, our new report, <a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-Havens-Report_Final.pdf">Housing for Havens: Smart growth strategies for climate resilience</a>, provides a blueprint for inclusive and resilient growth.
<h1>About the report</h1>
Climate hazards, including extreme weather and changing conditions like sea level rise or drought, can cause long-lasting damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure, and communities as a whole. Ripple effects on regional economies, including on housing prices and insurance costs, can further destabilize communities. As these hazards become more frequent and more intense, many may choose or be forced to relocate.
Some communities have embraced reputations as climate havens to try to attract these climate-displaced people, highlighting their relatively lower climate risk. But nowhere is truly safe from climate hazards, and high housing costs and a lack of opportunities for social connections can present challenges for both existing residents and incoming climate-displaced people.
Our new report, Housing for Havens: Smart growth strategies for climate resilience, helps equip decision makers and community leaders with the tools they need to prepare for inclusive and resilient growth. The report includes three recommendations for planning for smarter growth and recognizing the vulnerabilities communities may face along the way:
<ol>
<li>Prioritize pro-housing initiatives that connect housing, transportation, and amenities</li>
<li>Strengthen social infrastructure to support new and long-time community members</li>
<li>Recognize &amp; prepare for climate hazards</li>
</ol>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-103740" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-havens-1024x707.png" alt="" width="1024" height="707" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-havens-1024x707.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-havens-300x207.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-havens-768x530.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-havens-1536x1060.png 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-havens.png 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
<h1>Read the report</h1>
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-Havens-Report_Final.pdf"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-103741 size-medium" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-17-at-10.07.57 AM-300x232.png" alt="" width="300" height="232" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-17-at-10.07.57 AM-300x232.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-17-at-10.07.57 AM-1024x791.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-17-at-10.07.57 AM-768x594.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-17-at-10.07.57 AM-1536x1187.png 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-17-at-10.07.57 AM.png 1796w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a>This report draws on real-world case studies and practical policy examples from around the U.S. to equip policymakers, advocates, and community members with the tools they need to create places where all residents can thrive in the face of climate change.
[button type=&#8221;info&#8221; block=&#8221;true&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Climate-Havens-Report_Final.pdf&#8221;]Download the report! [/button]

Climate Resilience

Housing for Havens: A new report on inclusive and resilient growth for climate havens

Climate Change

Land Use and Development

Housing for Havens report cover

Climate hazards, including extreme weather and changing conditions like sea level rise or drought, can cause long-lasting damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure, and communities as a whole. Ripple effects on regional economies, including on housing prices and insurance costs, can further destabilize communities. As these hazards become more frequent and more intense, many may choose or be forced to relocate.
Some communities have embraced reputations as climate havens to try to attract these climate-displaced people, highlighting their relatively lower climate risk. But nowhere is truly safe from climate hazards, and high housing costs and a lack of opportunities for social connections can present challenges for both existing residents and incoming climate-displaced people.
Our new report, Housing for Havens: Smart growth strategies for climate resilience, helps equip decision makers and community leaders with the tools they need to prepare for inclusive and resilient growth. The report includes three recommendations for planning for smarter growth and recognizing the vulnerabilities communities may face along the way:
<ol>
<li>Prioritize pro-housing initiatives that connect housing, transportation, and amenities</li>
<li>Strengthen social infrastructure to support new and long-time community members</li>
<li>Recognize &amp; prepare for climate hazards</li>
</ol>

Report

Housing for Havens: Smart growth strategies for climate resilience

Form-based codes (FBC) are a land development regulation that fosters predictable built results and a walkable public realm by using physical form—rather than separation of uses—as the primary basis and focus for the code and standards. Communities can apply form-based codes in different contexts and scales. Form-based codes are legally binding regulations, not optional guides, and offer municipalities an alternative to conventional zoning for shaping development. FBC primarily differs from Traditional Zoning in how uses and the form of the built environment are considered; traditional zoning is defined by the separation of uses, which has led to auto-dependent development patterns, whereas FBC focuses on the form and shape of the built environment and focuses on creating mixed-use, people-oriented development patterns.
<h2>FBC Standards of Practice</h2>
<ol>
<li>A DETAILED PHYSICAL PLAN AND CLEAR VISION, which has been developed and adopted through an inclusive community engagement process.</li>
<li>A STATEMENT OF INTENT AND PURPOSE, which ties the code to the vision or plan and sets parameters for development of and a framework for waivers and exceptions.</li>
<li>BUILDING FORM STANDARDS with specific requirements for building placement and building frontages that will shape public spaces.</li>
<li>A REGULATING PLAN that establishes a specific set of standards for each zone shown on a regulating plan.</li>
<li>CLEAR AND OBJECTIVE STANDARDS with limited or no discretionary review.</li>
<li>PEDESTRIAN SCALE THOROUGHFARE STANDARDS that promote and/or conserve an interconnected street network and pedestrian-scaled blocks.</li>
<li>PREDICTABLE PHYSICAL OUTCOMES, which are determined by standards and parameters for physical form–build-to lines, frontage type requirements, and open space features–rather than standards with highly unpredictable physical outcomes–floor area ratio and density­­–which result in a high-quality urban form and public realm, while still allowing for variety in the size and shape of urban spaces and the design of buildings.</li>
<li>COMMON-USE LANGUAGE, GRAPHICS, AND DIAGRAMS, which are unambiguous, clearly labeled, and accurate in their presentation of spatial configurations and relationships.DIVERSITY OF USES AND HOUSING TYPES, incorporating standards that encourage this diversity</li>
</ol>
<h2>What is an exemplary form-based code?</h2>
Form-based codes offer a significant advantage over auto-oriented, use-based zoning by focusing on the quality of the space between the buildings; the scale, placement, and facades of the buildings; the public and private open spaces; and the streetscapes. If well written and implemented, form-based codes promote human-scaled places that encourage improved walkability, inclusivity, affordability, and livability for all. In reviewing codes submitted for the award, the jury considers the following criteria:
<ul>
<li>Will the code promote good urbanism (has it resulted in high-quality development activity)?</li>
<li>Will the code deliver a predictable street character (public and private open space)?</li>
<li>Is the code implementable and relatively easy to use?</li>
<li>Does the code have relevant and distinguishing features that advance the practice?</li>
</ul>
If you know of a code that meets these criteria, consider submitting an entry form to nominate your code to be recognized by CZS as an exemplary form-based code

What is a Form-based Code?

Brownfields-Webinar

The National Brownfields Coalition and the Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR) hosted a webinar last week on understanding federal brownfields policy, advocacy, and funding in 2025. Attendees heard from Kennedy O’Dell, Senior Manager of Advocacy at Smart Growth America, and Jean Hamerman, Executive Director of CCLR, who explained the history of the brownfields program and provided an insider’s perspective on what&#8217;s happening with federal funding, EPA programs, and brownfield legislation pending in Congress. Here are some of our key takeaways from the conversation.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Webinar: Understanding the federal environment for brownfields policy and advocacy in 2025" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_yBLlbmXRJE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
It’s a time of change and disruption in Washington, and in the midst of it all, Congress and the administration are actively considering the future of federal support for brownfields programs. Recognizing how difficult it is to track those changes in real time while still pursuing brownfields work, the National Brownfields Coalition convened a webinar to help brownfields practitioners build or expand their understanding of federal legislation and the work of the National Brownfields Coalition in advancing sustainable brownfield redevelopment. The webinar covered a wide range of issues, including brownfields tax deduction legislation, brownfields reauthorization legislation, FY26 appropriations, and other timely issues. Attendees learned about these major legislative opportunities, <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/key-priorities-for-the-federal-brownfields-program/">National Brownfield Coalition priorities</a> for each opportunity, and how they can support legislative efforts.
<h4>Here are the top takeaways from our conversation on federal brownfields policy:</h4>
1. Despite a turbulent and uncertain funding environment broadly, bipartisan support remains for federal brownfields programs in Congress. Positive signs for the program’s wellbeing continue, including bipartisan hearings on the program, continued EPA activity, the recent announcement of a new round of grant recipients, and the fact the National Brownfields Conference is still on for Chicago in August of this year.
2. There are three primary federal policy issues for brownfields work specifically: reauthorization of the EPA’s brownfields program, the potential inclusion of a federal brownfields tax incentive in pending tax legislation, and the yearly appropriations process. Each issue is an opportunity to advance brownfields work, either by pursuing funds or incentives that can support projects or by seeking legislative adjustments to improve the program overall.
3. Legislation reauthorizing the brownfields redevelopment tax incentive has been introduced by a bipartisan pair of legislators and the provision is up for consideration in the comprehensive tax package. H.R. 815, recently reintroduced by Rep. Sherrill (D-NJ) and Rep. Turner (R-OH), would allow taxpayers to fully deduct the cleanup costs of contaminated property in the year the costs were incurred. By allowing for the expensing of remediation costs, the deduction makes contaminated sites far more competitive to develop. The introduction of a bipartisan piece of legislation reauthorizing the incentive after it expired in 2012 is a positive step forward.
4. The process of reauthorizing EPA’s brownfields program is moving forward in a largely positive and bipartisan manner. Senator Capito and Senator Blunt Rochester introduced a bill to reauthorize EPA’s brownfields program, the Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2025 (S. 347), and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed it unanimously earlier this year. In the House, there have been <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/the-national-brownfields-coalition-testifies-a-second-time-on-importance-of-federal-brownfields-program/">multiple positive hearings</a> on the program. While additional steps remain before passage, the coalition applauds the forward progress and the consideration of their <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/key-priorities-for-the-federal-brownfields-program/">reauthorization priorities. </a>
<h4>Advocate for the brownfields redevelopment tax incentive</h4>
The National Brownfields Coalition needs your help to galvanize support for the <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/revitalizing-communities-support-the-brownfields-redevelopment-tax-incentive/">brownfields redevelopment tax incentive</a> (H.R. 815) and ensure Congress takes action in an upcoming tax package to restore this vital tool for spurring economic growth and improving community well-being. Whether you’re an individual, business, or organization, your advocacy is crucial.
You can take action today by contacting your representatives and <a href="https://smartgrowthamerica.salsalabs.org/brownfields-tax-incentive2025">urging them to support or cosponsor H.R. 815</a> and spreading the word by sharing this post and engaging your networks in this critical effort. For more information on the Brownfields Redevelopment Tax Incentive and how you can help, check out our <a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Brownfields-Fact-Sheet-2025-1.pdf">fact sheet</a> here.

National Brownfields Coalition

Webinars

Four takeaways from the National Brownfields Coalition’s federal policy webinar

KY-CSLA-3

As part of the Complete Streets Leadership Academy in Kentucky, Smart Growth America traveled to Winchester, KY to host an in-person workshop, bringing together local teams from Winchester, Morehead, and Bowling Green and partners from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). Participants learned more about implementing quick-build demonstration projects, conducted a walk audit of Winchester’s project site, and supported each other’s work by providing ideas and feedback. The teams are now ready to finalize their designs and implement their quick builds to improve safety conditions in their communities.
SGA’s <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/complete-streets-leadership-academies-report/">Complete Streets Leadership Academy</a> partners state departments of transportation with local jurisdictions to design, install, and measure the impact of <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/program/national-complete-streets-coalition/quick-build-demonstration-projects/">quick-build demonstration projects</a> on state-owned roads. Across the U.S., state-owned roads are some of the most dangerous for people walking and biking, which requires a deep partnership between the state and local teams to improve the safety conditions. This program brings those key partners together to test innovative methods and provide near-term safety improvements. By working with other partners like health departments, schools, and planning agencies, these temporary projects can improve connectivity, build local engagement, and support cross-sector collaboration.
The workshop brought Academy participants—from the <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/2025-complete-streets-leadership-academy-launches-in-kentucky-this-spring/">Kentucky</a> cities of Bowling Green, Morehead, and Winchester—together in person to learn about each other’s projects, get to know each other, and use these new partnerships to help each other overcome challenges in their projects. The teams had already attended a series of virtual trainings hosted by SGA that set a foundation for Complete Streets, quick builds, data collection, engagement, and related topics for their projects. This foundation gave participants a shared starting point to understand the active transportation challenges in each other’s communities.
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Ky-CSLA-1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-103571 size-large" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Ky-CSLA-1-1024x768.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Ky-CSLA-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Ky-CSLA-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Ky-CSLA-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Ky-CSLA-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Ky-CSLA-1.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Highlights of the workshop included project presentations from each team, a walk audit of the Winchester project site, and collaborative project design sessions. Each team presented their project site, local safety and access challenges, and the goals of their quick build to the whole group. Through questions and discussion, the teams learned from each other, including how to frame their projects within the context of a larger active transportation plan and strategies to measure how many people currently walk on the project sites.
The walk audit of Winchester’s Boone Ave/KY-627 corridor allowed Winchester city staff, residents, school officials, KYTC, and other regional partners to discuss specific issues on the site together. Challenges the team observed included trucks using the road as a cut-through, drivers speeding, and confusing crossings at intersections. The Morehead and Bowling Green teams used this walk audit to compare Winchester’s challenges to their own, such as the issue with trucks cutting through, and to offer shared strategies, including different approaches to sidewalk maintenance to keep walking paths navigable.
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/KY-CSLA-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-103572" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/KY-CSLA-2-1024x768.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/KY-CSLA-2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/KY-CSLA-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/KY-CSLA-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/KY-CSLA-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/KY-CSLA-2.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
The second day of the workshop was dedicated to project design, where each team built on their knowledge of their site’s challenges and came up with a proposed quick-build project to achieve their goals, drawing ideas on aerial maps. Participants then offered feedback to each other’s proposals, asking questions and making suggestions to strengthen each project. With ongoing support from SGA and Urbe Studios as technical experts, the teams are now ready to turn their drawings into concept designs, gather the necessary materials, and install their projects.
Once the projects are in place early this summer, the teams will engage the community to learn how people feel about the new street design and measure the safety impacts of the projects. SGA will conclude with recommendations for how KYTC can bring this quick-build process elsewhere to advance safety, access, and Complete Streets across the state. The relationships across cities and with the state that have been built and strengthened by this program will help Kentucky continue this work going forward.
<blockquote>
“This is another step toward making Kentucky’s transportation system safe and comfortable for all users.” &#8211;Keith Lovan, KYTC State Bicycle and Ped Coordinator
</blockquote>
This publication was made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Cooperative Agreement CDC-RFA-PW-24-0080). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC. These efforts are part of the CDC’s <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/active-people-healthy-nation/php/about/index.html">Active People, Healthy NationSM</a> Initiative that is working to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027.

Complete Streets Leadership Academies

CSLA

Quick builds in Kentucky bring local and state teams together

Technical assistance

SGEquitySummit_20250326_115029-2037_SNH

Earlier this spring, our 2025 Equity Summit brought smart growth leaders, advocates, and practitioners together to explore how communities can work together to address their most pressing priorities for the built environment. From moving beyond housing scarcity to focusing on outcomes over process, the conversations we had over our two days together helped us gain confidence in our work&#8217;s future—and some practical tools to continue advancing healthy, prosperous, and resilient communities in 2025 and beyond.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Smart Growth America 2025 Equity Summit" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iXsLoiPQuzc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This year’s Summit featured candid discussions about the structural barriers that keep communities from building the places they envision and how adapting our approach can lead to tangible results. Speakers and attendees alike reinforced that progress isn’t just about policy—it’s about shifting mindsets, elevating the right voices, and embracing abundance rather than scarcity. Whether through zoning reform, community engagement, or messaging strategies, every conversation kept coming back to one essential question: How do we build forward?
Jerusalem Demsas’ <a href="https://youtu.be/aDaYFNQmJbw">keynote address</a> underscored the moment&#8217;s urgency, which was both energizing and a call for deeper reflection. She challenged us to rethink how we approach housing production, demand, and financing, highlighting how process-focused debates have slowed progress. Her insights set the stage for a Summit filled with perspectives from different backgrounds and ideologies, and challenging but necessary conversations about the future of smart growth.
<img decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-87698 size-large" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SGEquitySummit_20250326_130030-3219_SNH-1024x683.jpg" alt=" width=" height="683" />
Advancing equitable outcomes through smart growth is about working to find shared goals with partners, even with some that may seem unlikely, to ensure all communities have the necessary resources and opportunities they need to thrive. Here are three takeaways that emerged across sessions and conversations:
<h3>1. Building bridges across political divides</h3>
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this year’s Summit was the recognition that broad coalition-building is needed to make meaningful change. One of the most encouraging aspects that came out of the event was the willingness to engage in bipartisan conversations to achieve the results communities are looking for. The Summit brought a unique opportunity to hear from folks with different political perspectives, reinforcing that smart growth priorities like housing should not be partisan issues.
But these conversations don’t happen in a vacuum — they require trust, connection, and a sense of shared purpose. As one speaker from Oregon reflected, his biggest takeaway was the importance of having a “home base” — a space and a community to return to when navigating difficult conversations or shifting language. In this sense, community building became just as important as bridging political divides. Attendees emphasized how being a resource for one another, offering safe spaces, and fostering connections across differences are what will result in tangible progress.
<h3>2. Abundance is what&#8217;s next</h3>
A central theme throughout the event was the link between supply shortages in the built environment and inequity. As Jerusalem Demsas stated, “Equity is impossible under conditions of scarcity.” She pointed to studies that show that interregional mobility, once a path to economic opportunity, is declining. Cities that fail to produce enough housing exacerbate stark imbalances in housing affordability within our communities, allowing the wealthy to secure housing while lower-income residents struggle. Scarcity can pit even inclusive communities against newcomers, reinforcing exclusionary policies.
<h3>3. Outcomes over process</h3>
Too often, discussions about smart growth topics (like zoning) get lost in bureaucratic processes rather than focusing on tangible results. Speakers noted how misplaced priorities, such as overemphasizing permitting details or environmental review during attempts to advance infill development, can stall the production of much-needed housing. Instead, the goal should be to remove unnecessary roadblocks and create pathways for more housing, especially in high-demand areas.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkIS9ahfD8Q9zaj4JcaqVdJ3rIg_cfanN">Watch the recordings from other panels on reconnecting communities, advocacy, funding equity, and more &gt;&gt;</a> [/alert]
This year’s Summit helped remind us that building forward isn’t just about changing policies—it’s about shifting how we think, speak, and engage. By prioritizing outcomes, embracing abundance, and fostering long-term community connections, we can break down the barriers that stand in the way of progress. The connections we made and the ideas we explored at the Summit will continue to shape our movement in the months and years ahead. We’re more energized to keep the momentum going—together.

2025 Equity Summit

Equity Summit

Building forward: Three takeaways from the 2025 Equity Summit

Advancing Racial Equity

tulsa

To support Tulsa’s efforts to preserve and expand its housing supply across a range of housing types, Smart Growth America—in collaboration with Housing Forward and The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation—conducted a combination of quantitative and qualitative data analysis to assess the structural and systemic factors contributing to the current housing gap. Our recommendations, grounded in smart growth principles, aim to help Tulsa meet its housing goals and support a more prosperous, resilient future.
Tulsa, Oklahoma is currently facing a housing shortage, and analysts in the state indicate that the state would need to build 4,000 homes immediately and 12,900 homes over 10 years in order to meet growth and housing needs. This is exacerbated by not just the lack of homes but also the type of housing units available in the city. In the past ten years, the majority of building permits issued were for single-family residences in a city where ⅓ of Tulsans are cost-burdened, paying more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
[button type=&#8221;primary&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Tulsa-Next-Steps-Memo-FINAL-rev_compress.pdf&#8221;] To learn more about this analysis, check out our executive summary. [/button]
To better understand the barriers that prevent Tulsa from building more housing, we evaluated the zoning code, interviewed dozens of city, county, and local officials and community members, and carefully witnessed and reviewed the city’s permitting process. Our findings focus on three main areas that can help alleviate Tulsa’s housing shortage:
1. Removing various regulatory barriers in the zoning code toward enabling more housing types in more places. 
2. Streamlining portions of the development process to make permitting more predictable and reliable for developers. 
3. Incorporating public input through the process.
Critically, we find that the city should ensure to have long-term place-based housing goals that align infrastructure investments towards specific parts of the community in support of future growth. The place-based housing strategy is informed by the SGA team’s economic land use study. Based on our economic land use analysis, more density would not only resolve the housing demand issue but also result in cost savings ranging from approximately $80 million to over $200 million. The only hurdle is the current bureaucratic regulations, such as zoning and overall social views on density/diverse housing typologies in a designated area.
We summarize our findings into six major areas of improvement:
1. Simplify and align the existing zoning code to the comprehensive plan (Planittulsa). 
2. Eliminate unnecessary regulatory barriers and expedite discretionary review. 
3. Streamline the permitting process and ensure procedural consistency for faster and more predictable results. 
4. Foster strong partnerships and communication among stakeholders (developers, city departments, and community members). 
5. Develop a structured, city-managed community engagement framework with clear objectives and dedicated staff. 
6. Implement targeted place-based housing strategies to steer public infrastructure investment and incentives to specific geographic areas.
Our recommendations for the City of Tulsa go beyond building more housing. By adopting smart growth principles—emphasizing community input and needs as well as focusing on zoning and permitting revisions—the city can effectively construct various housing typologies that have historically been blocked to create more prosperous communities.
See our recommendations in the full <a href="https://www.housingforwardok.org/smart-growth-report">report</a>.

Housing

Housing Crisis

SGA research

New analysis: Breaking down barriers to housing in Tulsa

Economic development

Uncategorized

Zoning

Other Resources

Nuclear Closure Assistance

General

The Equity Summit is a virtual gathering of thought leaders and practitioners who come together to discuss insights and strategies to ensure that racial equity is a key priority in any smart growth approach. The Equity Summit took place virtually, February 7-9, 2023.

Video Series

Equity Summit 2023

after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog

The state DOTs in California and North Carolina have found innovative ways to manage and maintain Complete Streets projects.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]From November 2022 to May 2023, Smart Growth America worked with the State Smart Transportation Initiative to host a series of four virtual workshops for staff at state departments of transportation (DOTs) to discuss challenges and strategies for implementing Complete Streets on state-owned rural roads. This work was completed in partnership with CDC’s Active People, Healthy Nation℠ Initiative. <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/?page_id=85474&amp;preview=true">Learn more here.</a>[/alert]
<figure id="attachment_85531" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85531" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85531 size-large" src="https://oldv2.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog-1024x768.jpeg" alt="A cyclist travels down fresh, black asphalt, nearing a short crosswalk with a ped crossing sign." width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85531" class="wp-caption-text"><a href="https://frcog.org/project/complete-streets-funding-program-assistance-to-towns/">(Franklin Regional Council of Governments)</a></figcaption></figure>
<h4>California</h4>
California’s <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1">Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017</a> (SB 1), required all SHOPP projects to incorporate Complete Streets elements, wherever feasible. That meant creating an inventory base with consistent data collection to effectively track and incorporate these elements. In 2018, Caltrans began data collection through a survey of existing Complete Streets assets including sidewalks, bikeways, and crosswalks. The push to survey existing assets acted as a starting point for the agency to track and develop targets for existing and future assets. The initial survey exposed additional features that will later be incorporated, like bus shelters, pedestrian lighting, street trees, and shade structures.
In 2020, a one-time funding reservation of $100 million was set aside for the SHOPP to construct and maintain Complete Streets facilities based on the existing inventory. One year later, the agency created targets for each district to track both the new and existing Complete Streets assets as part of <a href="https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/esta/documents/dp-37-complete-streets-a11y.pdf">Director’s Policy 37</a>, which created a new program for highway maintenance projects.
Complete Streets tracking forms were developed in 2022 so that performance targets could be effectively implemented and measured. The forms require coordination between engineers and Complete Streets coordinators to guide highway maintenance projects, train new roles and scopes, and to inform future updates.
Now, Caltrans offers several different maintenance options. For maintenance agreements in general, some local agencies pay and maintain with vested interest while others sign delegated maintenance agreements where Caltrans pays for the project and local agencies maintain. Regardless of the type of maintenance agreement, Caltrans emphasizes the need for local partners and community members to be involved early and often in the maintenance agreement process in order for the agreement to be strong and effective.
Caltrans is currently creating working groups to pull knowledge and skills for guidance material, focusing on strategies to increase funding for CS features. Updated maintenance manuals need to be revised to incorporate Complete Streets elements in official guidance. For example, CS is already incorporated as part of bridge projects where the scope is feasible. Caltrans continues to work towards an asset inventory approach while increasing staff capacity, materials, and equipment with updated guidance.
<h4>North Carolina</h4>
The North Carolina DOT convenes interdisciplinary working groups to address asset management and maintenance challenges. The workgroups play an important role within the Complete Streets review process to address main barriers and strategies to incorporate the maintenance of Complete Streets facilities throughout the project planning, design, and implementation process.
A main challenge the workgroups identified was inconsistent coordination between scheduled maintenance activities and local plans. To improve communication, NCDOT developed draft guidance to identify Complete Streets opportunities throughout the highway maintenance improvement process. The goal of the guidance is to better facilitate conversation and convening between different divisions and sectors on these issues to create sustainable impact. This also improves the chances for successful funding of Complete Streets facilities if they are flagged early in the project planning process. The guidance and communication between the flagged maintenance opportunities includes costs, alternatives, and options with required documentation and reporting through to project completion.
The NCDOT also aimed to address maintenance issues related to Complete Streets elements in unincorporated areas. An analysis with <a href="https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4d99643ea1354c0e9e8ad27243983bc4">their latent demand tool</a> determined the effects of the state taking over unincorporated areas&#8217; maintenance responsibilities. The tool, <a href="https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4d99643ea1354c0e9e8ad27243983bc4">the Complete Streets Activity Estimation Tool</a>, was used to analyze pedestrian and bicycle network infrastructure data to evaluate and estimate the latent demand in areas categorized as low, medium, or high activity areas. The analysis was in accordance with planned and existing multimodal facilities for the next ten-year funding cycle. This resulted in internal policy discussions to make changes to the municipal code, discussions on maintenance agreements for earlier planning and to address funding issues, and working with local municipalities to enter agreements for facilities in unincorporated areas that they expect will later be in their jurisdiction as populations grow.
<hr />
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided support for this project under cooperative agreement OT18-1802 supporting the Active People, Healthy NationSM Initiative, a national initiative led by the CDC to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027. Learn more: <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1718998511475000&amp;usg=AOvVaw16N_4_FDEPaQ4ERM0oCoAz">https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html</a>. The findings and conclusions in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

California

Highways

North Carolina

Rural

State DOTs

Completing Rural Highways: Maintaining assets in California and North Carolina

Rural Development

SGA-VideoHub-PlaylistThumbnail-Image (1)

Equitable Transit-Oriented Development 2

Equitable Transit-Oriented Development

More About Complete Streets

The Complete Streets movement looks to put people, regardless of their mode of choice, back at the center of transportation planning and design.

Conventional approaches to transportation have aimed to move cars quickly, even (and often) at the expense of safety for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, and car drivers alike. The term Complete Streets, popularized by the National Complete Streets Coalition at Smart Growth America in the early 2000s, is used to describe policies that enable safe access to streets for users of all ages and abilities

Memphis is the deadliest city for pedestrians. According to our new report, <a href="/signature-reports/dangerous-by-design/">Dangerous by Design 2024</a>, Memphis holds the #1 spot, with a rate of 5.14 per 100,000 pedestrians who are hit and killed by cars while walking—nearly triple their rate from 2009. But why is walking in Memphis so dangerous?
Our new video shares on-the-ground perspectives and birds-eye views to demonstrate why Memphis’s streets are so dangerous. In the video, we interview local residents who deal with these perilous streets on a daily basis. Behind the alarming fatality numbers are countless human faces and stories of people trying to move around their communities in a safe and dignified way.

Testimonial

Dangerous by Design

Walking in Memphis: These streets are Dangerous by Design

An Active Roadmap: Best Practices in Rural Mobility

Rural communities in America vary across many dimensions, including population and demographic trends, economic and health indicators, and others. Some communities have continued to thrive with improving quality of life and stable or growing economies, while others have experienced a long and slow decline. What is clear is that there are many strategies, including improving rural transportation options, that can help improve quality of life by allowing better access to daily needs. In this report, we explore the different ways that rural communities can adapt to thrive in a changing America, with a primary focus on active and multimodal modes of transportation as a tool. Today, few people in rural communities would choose to drive farther than they did a decade ago for the same basic trips; however, development patterns are making it a necessity in much of the country. Land use and trip distance act as barriers to jobs and economic opportunities, and also impact access to crucial services such as health care, education, and broadband.
As such, there is an urgent need to invest in active and multimodal transportation systems for rural communities and small town centers. The goal of this report is to assess multimodal and land use conditions in rural America and recommend strategies that promote growth and help rural communities across the country reach their potential. 
The report is organized into four distinct parts:
Part 1: What is rural? Defining rural typologies. 
Part 2: What are the unique needs and challenges of rural communities? Debunking myths about rural America. 
Part 3: How can active and multimodal transportation be encouraged in rural America? Strategies for success + case studies. 
Part 4: How can your rural community improve? The roadmap and takeaways.

Economic Development

An Active Roadmap: Best Practices in Rural Mobility (PDF)

The Best Complete Streets Policies 2023

Since the beginning of the Complete Streets movement in the early 2000s, more than 1,700 Complete Streets policies have been adopted in jurisdictions of all sizes and contexts across the United States. Adopting Complete Streets policies is a crucial first step to reducing traffic violence, improving health equity, responding to the climate crisis, and rectifying a long history of inequitable transportation practices. This Best Complete Streets Policies report spotlights the communities that have taken that first step and outlines how they made it happen.
But every Complete Streets policy is not created equally. To celebrate the strongest policies in the country and lift them up as worthy models for other communities to emulate, the National Complete Streets Coalition regularly evaluates and scores policies on a 100-point scale using a standardized set of ten elements. Based on that evaluation, the Coalition is proud to unveil this list of the 11 strongest Complete Streets policies passed between 2019 and 2022: [efn_note]157 policies adopted between 2019-2022 were evaluated for this report. We also evaluated 48 additional policies adopted in 2018 that were not scored/included in the last (2018) edition of this report for various reasons. Those 48 policies are also included in the table in the “policy scores” tab.[/efn_note]
<h4>This year&#8217;s strongest policies</h4>
Thanks to some ties in scoring, what’s typically a top ten list this year includes 11 communities. Each numbered score in the table refers to the corresponding element in our policy framework found <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/10-elements-of-complete-streets/">here</a>:
[table id=41 /]
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Download the report for the complete list of grades, Complete Streets policy trends, profiles of four leading communities, and why far more progress is urgently needed.

Case Study

#bestcompletestreetspolicy

#completestreets

Complete Streets Case Studies

Fiscal-Ordinance-Cover

Leaders of every community—big metropolis and small town alike—strive to foster economic growth and prosperity.
Leaders of every community—big metropolis and small town alike—strive to foster economic growth and prosperity. Regardless of party or ideology, every elected official prefers the choice of lowering taxes or increasing services compared to the reverse. A growing economy and tax base make that easier to achieve, and so most local policies are intended to encourage new development—but where the new development happens matters as much or more than having new development at all. Smart Growth America commissioned Arthur C. Nelson, James C. Nicholas, and Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer to build the rationale for fiscal impact analysis and to create a guide that can show municipalities the vital connections between land use and the cost of government services and tax revenues from new development. 
From an economic and fiscal perspective, new development projects are generally seen as desirable: bringing new jobs, residents, and incomes into the community, and enhancing the tax base. This perspective often leads to the view that any development is good, anywhere. It may incline local officials to approve, and indeed incentivize, any development proposal that comes along. This new development—shops, offices, homes—are connected to public utility infrastructure (think water, sewer, storm drains, police, fire, school buses, and trash collection whose spatial distribution drives costs), often at taxpayer expense.
Often, local officials are prone to pursue annexation of land surrounding the city, on the assumption that more land = more people = larger tax base = improved long-term fiscal health of their city. But that assumption is wrong. It turns out that where and how growth occurs matters in terms of “net fiscal impact”: the difference between the tax revenues generated by new development and the government’s costs of providing the infrastructure and services that it will demand. There is a vital connection between how land is used and the cost of government services, as well as the tax revenues that are generated. Whether a community reaps the benefits from a positive net fiscal impact (tax revenues remaining higher than infrastructure costs) from new development can depend significantly on the development pattern that results from the land use decisions made by local governments.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]From the report: “An aspect of smart growth is assuring that plans are based on assessments of market needs and that permitting of development occurs only when it is in accordance with a plan. This can help assure that all development that is needed for an efficiently functioning market occurs while preventing over-development that can undermine the fiscal well-being of the community.” [/alert]
However, the land use decisions—things like zoning ordinances, tax policies, capital budget practices, and one-off exceptions—often don’t consider how they will impact development patterns, and ultimately how those development patterns will affect government finances like the net fiscal impact mentioned before. The new <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/resources/rationale-model-fiscal-ordinance/">Rationale for Smart Growth Fiscal Impact Analysis and Model Fiscal Impact Assessment Ordinance</a> guide is intended to help explain how to incorporate these conversations into government and development planning.
<h3>Okay, so why does this matter?</h3>
Providing infrastructure to low-density, sprawling development costs more than for compact, denser developments. Building in the latter can reduce taxpayer burdens, allowing them to save money that can be reinvested in ways that can improve the local economy. There are obviously many factors that affect local revenues and the cost of government services. Often these are out of the hands of local officials:  recessions, natural disasters, international markets, state legislatures, and on and on.
Land use decisions, however, are key policy levers for local governments—it&#8217;s something they control, and allows them to guide the policy process to encourage sound fiscal decisions in new development. Even with that special autonomy, the fiscal impact of those decisions is not routinely considered as part of the process. By recognizing the relationship between the nature and location of development and government revenues and costs, and adopting an appropriate fiscal analysis policy, local officials can improve their community’s long-term fiscal sustainability.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;] What is a fiscal impact analysis?
Broadly, a fiscal impact analysis policy is a policy adopted by a unit of government that requires that new development be analyzed to calculate its near- and long-term impacts on local government costs and revenues. Smart Growth America&#8217;s fiscal modeling technique helps governments understand the varying financial performance of alternative development patterns, and to inform the strategies they can use to generate better net returns in the future.
[button type=&#8221;primary&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/smart-growth-fiscal-impact-analysis-short-paper&#8221;]Read a more detailed, wonkier description of fiscal impact analysis here[/button] [/alert]
<h3>But how does it all work?</h3>
The impact of a community’s development pattern on local fiscal systems varies with the number of taxpayers among whom costs can be spread—a block with a row of townhouses, say 40 units, does not require 10 times the infrastructure as the same block with 4 houses on large lots. On the other hand, revenue generated per acre is significantly higher on a denser block. These impacts can be divided into the effects on revenue generation and on costs:
1. Areas that are denser, mixed-use, and walkable produce substantially higher tax dollars per acre than those that are dispersed, single-use, and car-dependent. Revenue generation is very uneven in spatial terms.
2. The cost of providing infrastructure and municipal services to areas that are denser, mixed-use, and walkable is significantly lower than that of areas that are single-use and car-dependent.
These impacts have been understood by economists and planners for decades, but are not generally incorporated into government policy at any level. By evaluating the use of land and new development based on its impact to municipal budgets, local leaders can improve their community’s bottom line and make sound fiscal decisions about how to grow.
[button type=&#8221;primary&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/resources/rationale-model-fiscal-ordinance/&#8221;]Read the full guide[/button]
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economic and fiscal health

Fiscal benefits

Fiscal Impact Analysis

Using smart growth to make fiscally healthy places

Rationale for Smart Growth Fiscal Impact Analysis and Model Fiscal Impact Assessment Ordinance

Fiscal impact analysis is a tool that is already in the playbook for many planners, politicians, and developers. It arises out of the straightforward need to understand how much new development will cost. A typical fiscal analysis uses the average cost method, which assumes that each new resident or employee associated with new development generates an increase in municipal operating costs equal to the average cost per resident or employee. The problem? That isn’t the case! Different types of development have different costs associated—with denser, more connected development generating much more revenue for a municipality compared to other patterns of development. This guide, produced by  Arthur C. Nelson, James C. Nicholas, and Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer for  Smart Growth America, makes the case for a more nuanced, smarter fiscal analysis practice.
<hr />
The purpose of this Guide is to provide the best information reasonable to show the kinds of fiscal impacts that may be associated with Smart Growth.
An aspect of smart growth is assuring that plans are based on assessments of market needs and that permitting of development occurs only when it is in accordance with a plan. This can help assure that all development that is needed for an efficiently functioning market occurs while preventing over-development that can undermine the fiscal well-being of the community.
This Guide to Smart Growth Fiscal Impact Analysis is comprised of four chapters:
Chapter 1 – Fiscal Impact Findings presents considerable evidence showing that smart growth development patterns reduce the fiscal costs of growth and improves the overall economic performance of communities.
Chapter 2 – Planning Foundations for Fiscal Impact Analysis outlines the role of planning to support fiscal impact analysis.
Chapter 3 – Implementing Fiscal Impact Analysis provides a framework for implementing fiscal impact analysis to address smart growth principles.
Chapter 4 – Model Fiscal Impact Analysis Ordinance for Smart Growth presents a framework for crafting and adopting a fiscal impact analysis ordinance with special reference to advancing smart growth principles.

LOCUS &amp; Smart Growth America recently launched the National Opportunity Zones Marketplace, an online resource to help facilitate equitable development and information sharing. It&#8217;s the latest evolution of our work to ensure that new investment in Opportunity Zones benefit existing residents the community at-large instead of displacing the people the tax incentive was intended to help. Watch the recorded webinar about how to use the Marketplace.
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B-aFhRXDp0Q?start=17" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/program/national-opportunity-zones-academy/marketplace/">The National Opportunity Zones Marketplace</a> is a networking platform for developers, investors, community leaders, local governments, non-profit organizations and individuals who share a  common goal of utilizing Opportunity Zones to promote equitable development. Designed initially as a tool to help cities in our <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/program/national-opportunity-zones-academy/">Opportunity Zones Academy</a> make their planned projects a reality, the Marketplace has much broader appeal, allowing a variety of organizations and individuals to collaborate on Opportunity Zone projects. 
During the webinar, representatives from two cities in the National Opportunity Zone Academy—Pittsburgh and Norfolk, VA—joined LOCUS Director Christopher Coes who talked about the big picture: &#8220;Smart Growth America’s National Opportunity Zones Marketplace is really designed to be where capital gains become equitable, walkable places and where new business opportunities can actually lift off of.&#8220;
Presenters then delved into the various functions and features of the Marketplace, specifically: 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Featured National OZ Academy Project Opportunities: These Opportunity Zone projects are endorsed by Smart Growth America for encouraging triple-bottom-line and equitable development outcomes. Featured projects are elevated to the top of the Marketplace website and also circulated monthly to Smart Growth America’s developer, investor, and Opportunity Fund network. 
</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://oppsites.com/">Create your Oppsites profile</a> and then <a href="https://oppsites.com/organizations/smart-growth-america?follow=true">follow Smart Growth America</a> to stay up to date on the Marketplace’s featured Opportunity Zone projects.
<ul>
<li>Member Profiles: All participating cities in the National Opportunity Zones Academy and  LOCUS members have profiles on the Marketplace. These profiles include information about each city, organization, or individual, as well as future project opportunities, past project examples, and current Requests for Proposals and Requests for Information.</li>
<li>Place Networks: Network locally by joining your place network. Under the Places tab on OppSites, you can search for communities you want to stay up to date on regarding Opportunity Zone development—whether they&#8217;re in the Academy or not. Clicking Join Community will connect you to a feed of updates and discussions pertaining to Opportunity Zone development in that particular community, similar to joining a Facebook group.</li>
</ul>
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-69614 size-full" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Screen-Shot-2020-02-26-at-10.00.16-AM.png" alt=" width=" height="223" />
Representatives from Pittsburgh and Norfolk then explained how they will be using the Marketplace and the broader technical assistance to achieve their Opportunity Zone goals, including more inclusive economic growth and access to attainable housing.
But anyone—whether you live in one of the cities participating in the Academy or not—can stay up to date with the Marketplace and use it to connect to Opportunity Zones news in your area.
<ol>
<li> Go to <a href="https://oppsites.com/">https://oppsites.com</a>.</li>
<li> Click Join in the top right corner and create an account using your LinkedIn, Facebook, or email account.</li>
<li> Search for Smart Growth America in the top search bar under People &amp; Orgs.</li>
<li>Click Follow to get updates from the Marketplace.</li>
</ol>
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equitable development

LOCUS Webinar

national opportunity zones academy

Opportunity Zones

Webinar recap: the National Opportunity Zones Marketplace

About a decade ago, business and local government leaders in Indianapolis/Marion County acknowledged that the region&#8217;s network of highways and roads was great at moving freight but not so good at moving people. It was a very real threat to the future of the city and a task force was convened to explore solutions. The task force found that out of every transportation option—from HOV lanes to off-road trails—transit offered the highest return on investment. But unlike other options, transit had no dedicated source of funding. That needed to change.
In the intervening 10 years, the region fought for and won a change in state law that enabled local referendums to raise transit funds, approved a subsequent referendum, and is now beginning to see the fruits of its labor. The new funding has allowed the bus system—which was functionally a peak hour, 5-day a week service—to increase frequencies and extend operating hours for many lines. And three bus rapid transit lines are in the works, the first of which—the Red Line—is poised to open this year.
This month on <a href="https://soundcloud.com/todresources/episode-12-crossroads-of" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Building Better Communities with Transit</a> we are joined by Sean Northup, Deputy Director of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization. Sean chats about the Red Line and how it connects some of the densest parts of the region. He also discusses the long process for winning local, dedicated funding to support better transit service and how transit oriented development is being approached in the region after the completion of a TOD Strategic Plan.
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/633068358&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true" width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
<div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc; line-break: anywhere; word-break: normal; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-weight: 100;"><a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Building Better Communities with Transit" href="https://soundcloud.com/todresources" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Building Better Communities with Transit</a> · <a style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;" title="Episode 17: Writing a New TOD Zoning Code" href="https://soundcloud.com/todresources/episode-17-writing-a-new-tod" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Episode 17: Writing a New TOD Zoning Code</a></div>
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/todresources" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Building Better Communities with Transit</a> is intended to provide more support to communities and local leaders who are working to catalyze new development around transit, give more people access to public transportation, increase access to opportunity, and build robust local economies. You can find this episode—and all of our previous episodes—on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/building-better-communities-with-transit/id1342466871?mt=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">iTunes</a>, <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-overhead-wire/building-better-communities-with-transit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stitcher</a>, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Ballot measures

Bus rapid transit

Indianapolis IN

podcast

Red Line

TODresources.org

transit funding

&#8216;Crossroads of America&#8217; gets a bus lane

affordable housing

Community facilities

Toolkits

webinar

Webinar recording: Three toolkits for smart growth in rural places

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<td><a href="https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5184/t/1623/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=2046">Help SGA become a sponsor of American Makeover with a small donation</a>.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
The makers of a viral sensation from last year (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/1standMain#p/u/2/VGJt_YXIoJI">Built to Last</a>) are back with a new video series that takes a hard look at America&#8217;s collective frustration with sprawl and the smarter alternatives for growth and development happening in communities across the country.
<blockquote>Today, the average American spends about three hours per day driving — three hours stuck in traffic, emitting carbon, burning oil, wasting time. The harmful effects of sprawl are well chronicled in recent news stories, books, and documentaries. With ugly sprawl everywhere you look in America, it&#8217;s time for a national makeover. So what&#8217;s the alternative?</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.americanmakeover.tv/">American Makeover</a> is a new web-exclusive series that explores those alternatives in communities across America, looking at what can be done to help our communities grow in such a way that gives us the kind of neighborhoods and choices we&#8217;re increasingly looking for.
Episode One, which just launched last week, &#8220;sounds the alarm bell on Atlanta&#8217;s sprawl.&#8221; No one who has ever been to Atlanta will argue their status as poster child of sprawling growth, but it&#8217;s encouraging that the filmmakers spend most of the short episode taking a closer look at the alternatives. Or as they say, the &#8220;transformational possibilities of new urbanism and traditional neighborhood design&#8221; in Atlanta — focusing on those growing millions of people who are looking for places to live that are walkable and connected and don&#8217;t entail hour-long car commutes to work, school, or the local market.
In Atlanta, they focus on an intown new urbanist project called Glenwood Park, just a short distance east of downtown Atlanta, where Charles Brewer, a motivated and inspired developer, sought to break the cycle of the same old car-oriented development in Atlanta and build a coherent community rather than just a smattering of homes or businesses. It&#8217;s not perfect, and Brewer&#8217;s company faced an uphill battle all the way with outdated zoning codes and legal barriers that get in the way of exactly the kind of development that the city desperately needs, but Glenwood Park made a powerful statement in Atlanta about the pent-up demand for walkable neighborhoods and desire for real community.
Dr. Chris Elisara, producer of the series for First+Main Media, told me that the series was born out of the desire to see CNU and other advocates for smart growth or new urbanism reach the masses with this message they&#8217;re ready for — but aren&#8217;t regularly hearing in a compelling way or with language that makes sense to them.
&#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of content out there, but people need to see it; connect with it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They need to not only read the books and understand the theory, they need to see it in practice and hear about it from people living it.&#8221;
A chapter in a book with some facts about how our streets are unwalkable and unforgiving for pedestrians is good, but using video to illustrate the dangerous obstacles that a grandmother in Atlanta has to overcome just to get around her community hits our hearts on a whole different level.
&#8220;We saw it all firsthand. We were stuck in the traffic, stuck on those streets. Those pedestrians shots of people crossing those boulevards, it was terrible. That grandmother, Cookie, we filmed her on her walker walking across four lanes of traffic. There wasn&#8217;t a sidewalk so she&#8217;d walk into the street, then onto a grass berm, back into the street — all the way up to the light. Then she crossed at the light, and we interviewed her. That was sad.&#8221;
American Makeover is still very much in the works, with plans to visit 4-5 more cities in the coming months, but they&#8217;re looking for support from everyday folks and like-minded organizations to bring the project to fruition. Enter <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2055198976/american-makeover-an-online-series-about-new-urba">Kickstarter.com</a>.
&#8220;<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2055198976/american-makeover-an-online-series-about-new-urba">Kickstarter.com</a> is a funding platform to directly link creative people, great ideas and ambitious endeavors with the scores of potential supporters and followers who could &#8216;kickstart&#8217; such projects into reality. Kickstarter is powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method where projects must be fully-funded or no money changes hands,&#8221; reads the description on the American Makeover press release.
American Makeover is trying to raise $15,000 to complete the project, and they&#8217;re a little more than halfway to their goal. They only have a few days (until May 8, 2010) to hit their mark and the way that Kickstarter works, they need to hit their target or they don&#8217;t get any of the money. Financial backers get a stake in the project depending on how much they give, ranging from a thank you in the credits up to an organization&#8217;s logo in each video and DVD packaging.
<a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2055198976/american-makeover-an-online-series-about-new-urba">Will you consider helping them out with a donation to see this project through to the end</a>? Smart Growth America is happy to support their efforts and we&#8217;re looking forward to using the final products to help communicate our message far and wide.

Atlanta

Livability

Sprawl

Walkability

Forget home and plastic surgery makeovers, new online video series promotes an &quot;American Makeover&quot;

Screenshot_2

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<td height="60"><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=w6IQESO_VLw" target="_blank"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://blog.smartgrowthamerica.org/blogimages//donvideo.jpg" alt="Don Video" align="right" height="152" width="224" /></a></td>
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<td align="right" height="30">Click to watch the video &#8220;A New Economic Engine: Energy in the 21st Century&#8221; </td>
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Be sure to check out a recently-added video from the Center for American Progress, titled &#8220;Capturing the Energy Opportunity: Creating a Low-Carbon Economy,&#8221; including an appearance by SGA executive director Don Chen.
This video is part of a series by CAP on transforming our economy through embracing innovative clean technology — addressing climate change in such a way that invigorates our economy and creates opportunities. From their issue page on &#8220;Progressive Growth:&#8221;
<blockquote>At the center of this vision is a strategy to address the greatest moral and economic challenge of our time—climate change—and turn it into our greatest opportunity. Left unchecked, the economic disruption caused by climate change will sap our resources and dampen our growth. But with low-carbon technologies and clean, renewable energy, we can capture a new global market, drive American economic growth, and create green jobs for American workers, offering new skills and new earnings opportunities up and down the economic ladder.</blockquote>
Click Don&#8217;s picture to watch the excellent video on Youtube (video not embedded), and be sure to check out the series &#8220;<a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/11/progressive_growth.html" target="_blank">Transforming America’s Economy through Clean Energy, Innovation, and Opportunity</a>&#8221; on the CAP website.

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