Coming soon: "The WalkUP Wake-Up Call: Michigan"
On June 23, LOCUS will unveil a new analysis of which walkable urban places—or “walkUPs”—are changing the real estate landscape in seven metropolitan areas in Michigan.
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Since the workshop: Focus on sustainability and neighborhood development helps fuel economic revitalization in Tacoma, WA
The former Heidelberg brewery in Tacoma’s Brewery District neighborhood. Smart Growth America’s 2012 workshop looked at ways to revitalize the neighborhood. Photo by Corey Knafelz via Flickr.
Tacoma, WA is growing fast. The area is projected to be one of the top 10 U.S. metro areas for job growth through 2020, and City leaders are working to support and sustain that economic growth with a smart growth approach to development.
Tacoma’s leaders were already thinking about these strategies back in April 2012, when Smart Growth America conducted a technical assistance workshop with the City. Staff from Smart Growth America and our partner Criterion Planners worked with Tacoma officials and local residents to understand how a smart growth approach could support revitalization in the Hilltop/ Martin Luther King Jr. neighborhood and Dome/Brewery District. The workshop focused on using the Leadership for Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) tool to help city officials establish a framework to set goals, measurements, and eventually brand these neighborhoods as center for green development.
Speakers Announced for the LOCUS Michigan Leadership Summit
The LOCUS Michigan Leadership Summit: Closing the Next [Smart Growth] Deal, occurring June 23 in Detroit, will host over 135 real estate developers and local elected officials to share and discuss new opportunities in smart growth development and advance walkable urban communities across Michigan. LOCUS is excited to introduce our lineup of speakers who will be featured at the event: Geoff … Continued
Planning Director George Atta on planning for a more convenient Honolulu, HI
Artist’s rendering of light rail service through downtown Honolulu. Image via AIA Honolulu.
Honolulu, HI is known for its natural beauty. The city unfortunately also has third worst traffic in the nation. To help remedy that, the City of Honolulu is working to create alternate ways for residents to get around the island and George Atta, the Honolulu Planning Director and a member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, is one of the leaders making it happen.
Atta grew up in Honolulu and has been in the planning profession for many years. Doing this work on a small island, he explains, makes many smart growth lessons more immediate.
“Planners on an island see the consequences of our actions pretty quickly,” Atta says, “The problems we create stay here. So it’s been easy for us to understand the benefits of a smart growth approach.”
House of Representatives considers appropriations bill that would slash funding to housing, transportation programs
Today the House of Representatives will continue consideration of its Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) appropriations bill, which will set funding levels for nearly all federal housing and transportation programs in the coming year.
The House’s current version of the bill would slash funding for many of these programs, including grants and technical assistance programs at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Specifically, the bill:
- Cuts funding for HUD’s HOME program from $900 million in FY15 to $767 million in FY16. HOME must be fully funded in addition to, not at the expense of, critically needed funding for the NHTF.
- Cuts funding for HUD’s Choice Neighborhoods program from $90 million in FY15 to $20 million in FY16. Choice Neighborhoods supports struggling neighborhoods and aids in community revitalization.
- Eliminates HUD’s Office of Economic Resilience, which has helped communities rebuild their economies, create jobs and improve economic development.
- Cuts $200 million for new transit construction. This comes at a time when public transportation ridership is booming and cities of all sizes are looking to invest in new bus, rail transit, and bikeshare projects to help them stay economically competitive.
- Slashes funding for USDOT’s TIGER program by 80 percent from last year’s level down to just $100 million. Over the past six years this competitive grant program has proven to be incredibly popular and effective, and its previous funding level was already inadequate to fulfill the huge demand for this program across the country. The program has funded innovative projects in communities of all sizes in all 50 states — and in districts both red and blue.
- Cuts Amtrak’s budget by $250 million, just a few weeks after the tragic Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia and at a time when ridership is growing fast.
The bill does maintain funding levels for HUD’s Community Development Block Grant program at $3 billion.
Take action
Members of the House will consider this bill later today, so now is the time to voice your support for these important programs. Send a letter to your Representative today >>
These programs help Americans live in safe, affordable homes in convenient neighborhoods with transportation choices. That’s important for families and it’s crucial for our economy. Tell your Representative not to cut these important programs.
Join us on June 18 for the launch of “Core Values”
Bumble Bee Seafoods, which moved to downtown San Diego in 2014, is one of the companies included in forthcoming research from Smart Growth America. Photo courtesy of Bumble Bee Seafoods.
Over the past five years, hundreds of companies across the United States have moved to and invested in walkable downtowns. Why did companies choose these places? And what features did they look for when picking a new location?
Core Values: Why American Companies are Moving Downtown is new research coming out on June 18 from Smart Growth America in partnership with Cushman & Wakefield and the George Washington University School of Business’ Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis.
The BUILD Act of 2015 can help communities revitalize
Harrison Commons in Harrison, NJ All across the country, in communities big and small, are remnants of an industrial past—underutilized land, often sitting vacant. When the Langdale and Riverdale textile mills closed in the 1990’s, Valley, Alabama not only lost a major employer, but a piece of their heritage. Residents were inspired to make the … Continued
2015 LOCUS Leadership Summit provides private sector solutions to the affordability and social equity crisis
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx addresses the audience at the 2015 LOCUS Leadership Summit.
The fourth annual LOCUS Leadership Summit convened earlier this week at the Carnegie Library in Washington, DC, bringing together 130 real estate developers and local elected officials from around the country. Attendees discussed and debated with the brightest minds in real estate, discovering private sector tools and strategies to combat the affordability and social equity crisis.
In Macon, GA, smart growth would mean quadruple returns
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Actually, more than quadruple. It would generate 4.7 times the fiscal impact as development on the edge of town.
Back in April, we released a new model for analyzing the fiscal implications of development patterns. Since then we’ve analyzed development in Madison, WI and West Des Moines, IA.
Now, Macon, GA is the most recent city in which we’ve applied our model.
We looked at four scenarios of how Macon could grow over the next 20 years, and what each scenario would mean for the city’s finances. Our research found that development on the edge of town would generate about $165,000 for the city each year. The same development, if located downtown, would generate at least $428,000 per year for the city—and potentially as much as $788,000 per year if walkable places’ higher property values were factored in.
These results are similar to those from Madison and West Des Moines: building in compact, more walkable ways benefit a city’s bottom line. These strategies reduce the cost of infrastructure and services, while also generating more tax revenue per acre. The only question is, how much would your city gain with a smart growth approach?
Federal Realty Trust and Lucas Thornton recognized with 2015 LOCUS Leadership Awards
Since 2012, LOCUS has presented the national LOCUS Leadership Awards to developers and investors who have demonstrated exemplary commitment to public leadership, smart growth development, and furthering LOCUS’ mission.
This year, we received a record-breaking number of nominations from all over the country, and our decision was more difficult than ever before. That said, we are pleased to announce the following winners of the 2015 LOCUS Leadership Awards.