Blog

New anti-displacement fact sheets for communities undergoing brownfields redevelopment

By ·

In partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization, Smart Growth America (SGA) created a set of fact sheets that highlight strategies communities can use to help mitigate displacement in the contexts of brownfields redevelopment. SGA conducted interviews with community groups and municipal leaders from across the country to learn more about strategies to minimize residential and business displacement as well as implementation practices.

Land Use and Development

From Policy to Practice: A Guide to Measuring Complete Streets Progress

By ·

How do you know if a community is benefiting from passing and implementing a Complete Streets policy? Our new guide offers strategies for effectively measuring the impact of Complete Streets. Download the full report (pdf) What happens after your community passes a Complete Streets policy? How do you know if you are achieving your community’s … Continued

Complete Streets

Safer Speeds are the Secret Sauce to the Safe System Approach

By ·

After a decade of increased pedestrian and bicyclist deaths and a historic spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) published its first-ever National Roadway Safety Strategy in 2022 – setting a goal of zero traffic deaths and adopting a Safe System Approach to achieve it. In explaining the Safe System … Continued

Complete Streets

How Do We Know if Complete Streets (or Any Streets) Are Meeting the Needs of Community Members?

By ·

As Smart Growth America releases its best practices to evaluate the success of Complete Streets efforts, we at Salud America! want to draw attention to how transportation needs and barriers have been conceptualized. This post was written by Amanda Merck from Salud America!  Across the fields of urban planning, public health, and health care, transportation … Continued

Complete Streets

Milwaukee, WI: Capacity challenges slow, but don’t stall Complete Streets work

By ·

When Wisconsin repealed its state Complete Streets policy in 2015, the City of Milwaukee jumped on the opportunity to adopt its own city-level policy, crafting a strong resolution in 2018. Despite strong annual reports designed to track progress, the city continues to face numerous staffing and capacity challenges, but city staff and local advocates remain committed to achieving the vision outlined in their policy.

Complete Streets

Baltimore, MD: Consistent reflection is crucial to inform binding next steps

By ·

In 2010, Baltimore passed a non-binding Complete Streets resolution. Recognizing that the resolution did not have the intended impact, Baltimore delivered a strong and binding Complete Streets ordinance in 2018, showing their commitment to implementing Complete Streets. The updated ordinance included important requirements such as the development of a new Complete Streets Manual, regular staff training to build internal capacity, and publicly available annual reports assessing transportation projects and investments through an equity lens.

Complete Streets

Supporting smart growth in Pittsfield and Somerville, MA

By ·

Last fall, SGA concluded a technical assistance partnership with two Massachusetts community organizations, CultureHouse in Somerville and Westside Legends in Pittsfield. The Massachusetts Technical Assistance programming included three distinct phases of support for the two community organizations in their efforts to advance affordable housing production and economic development opportunities in their respective communities. CultureHouse: Encouraging … Continued

Land Use and Development Technical assistance

Highlights from our Climate Justice Convening

By ·

Last month, Smart Growth America brought together partners from community-based organizations across the country to discuss climate, land use, and housing issues impacting their communities, with a special focus on strategic communications and intersectional storytelling in the climate and social justice space. The convening celebrated nine months of working collaboratively to advocate for planning policies … Continued

Climate Change Land Use and Development
  • …
  • …