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Madison, IN and Milton, KY are repairing a landmark and boosting biking and walking

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Milton Madison bridge
The Milton-Madison bridge undergoing construction. Photo via the Milton Madison Bridge Project.

The reconstruction of a bridge spanning the Ohio River between Madison, IN and Milton, KY is more than just a long overdue repair. It is a restoration of a landmark, a way to better connect two interdependent communities and a means of bringing smart growth improvements to both sides of the river.

The existing Milton-Madison bridge had become functionally obsolete, deteriorating badly despite multiple rehabilitations. Its 20-foot wide road deck was too narrow to handle modern traffic and in August 2008, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Indiana Department of Transportation launched the Milton-Madison Bridge Project in an effort to replace the bridge.

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Partnership in the News: Planning for transit-oriented development in St. Louis, MO

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Transit-oriented development in St. Louis
St. Louis hopes to spur growth around existing transit hubs including MetroLink stations (pictured above). Photo via OneSTL.

Building near transportation hubs can create vibrant new places to live and work while supporting job growth and economic development. St. Louis, MO is working to use this smart growth strategy, and a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is helping make their vision a reality.

In 2010 the East-West Gateway Council of Governments was awarded a $4.7 million Regional Planning grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to create OneSTL, a regional plan for sustainable development. The St. Louis Development Corporation, CORTEX and the Missouri Botanical Garden also joined the effort with additional funding for the project.

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Carlisle, IA hosts workshop on walkability

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Carlisle IA

Carlisle officials and local residents met with representatives from Smart Growth America on September 23 and 24, 2013 as part of a free, grant-funded technical assistance program. The workshop provided recommendations to enhance the community’s walkability, and hence safety, particularly in the area adjacent to Iowa 5, a very busy highway that bisects the city.

“Carlisle is very interested in implementing smart growth solutions. The economic and environmental well-being of our residents and businesses depends on a thoughtful and reasonable pattern of growth across our region,” said Mayor Ruth Randleman. “In fact, we see smart growth solutions as the only responsible way to address the needs of our pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.”

Technical assistance

Councilmember Eric Olson works to ensure Prince George's County's legacy neighborhoods stay well connected

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Olson speaks with Governor Martin O'Malley at the announcement of new state offices near New Carrollton station. Photo via Flickr.
Prince George’s County Councilmember Eric Olson (right) speaks with Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (left) at the announcement of new state offices near New Carrollton station. Photo via Flickr.

Prince George’s County, MD has no lack of ways to get around or places nearby to go. The largely suburban county just outside of Washington, DC contains fifteen Metro stations and is served by two MARC commuter rail lines, among other transit routes. But regulatory red tape has made it difficult for developers to build near stations and as a result, many stations are most easily identified by the parking lots that surround them.

Local Leaders Council

Blue Springs, MO hosts workshop on sustainable land use code audit

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Blue Springs MO

Blue Springs officials and local residents met with representatives from Smart Growth America on September 19 and 20, 2013 as part of a free, grant-funded technical assistance program. The workshop aimed to provide a “code audit”—a review of development regulations—that will help Blue Springs leaders understand the various smart growth development options available to them, specifically with regard to the Unified Development Code. The City is in the process of updating both the Unified Development Code and Comprehensive Plan.

“The City of Blue Springs is a very fortunate recipient of a Smart Growth America technical assistance grant,” said Blue Springs Director of Community Development Scott Allen. “This code audit will focus on community health, alternative energy codes, and sustainable stormwater infrastructure, and will help Blue Springs move forward with sustainable development alternatives. This technical assistance from Smart Growth America and Cision Associates has come at a most opportune moment for Blue Springs. We are currently updating both the Comprehensive Plan and Unified Development Code, and the knowledge gained from this assistance can be incorporated into both the Plan and Code to move Blue Springs towards a more sustainable development type.”

Technical assistance

Dauphin County, PA hosts workshop on smart growth implementation

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Hummelstown PA

Dauphin County officials and local residents met with representatives from Smart Growth America on September 18 and 19, 2013 as part of a free, grant-funded technical assistance program. The workshop helped the community envision smart growth strategies in the context of Dauphin County, an area with varying levels of development density. It also helped to inform the county’s comprehensive planning process.

“We are excited about the opportunity to host this free, grant-funded technical assistance program in Dauphin County,” said Dauphin County Board of Commissioners’ Chairman Jeff Haste. “The goal is to develop local solutions to help our community grow in ways that will provide benefits now and for generations to come.”

Technical assistance

The next generation of transportation choices and what they mean for Washington, DC's neighborhoods

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Until recently, there were only a few choices for how to get around Washington, DC. Today, however, there are over a dozen services that make it easy to borrow a car, hire a taxi, grab a bike or catch a ride, and they’re using mobile web applications to make these choices possible. As a result, getting around DC has never been faster, more diverse or more convenient.

Transportation choices are a big part of smart growth strategies. Traditionally this has meant creating sidewalks, bike lanes and public transportation in addition to roads for driving. But the next generation of transportation choices—things like car sharing, ride sharing and bike sharing—bring a new dimension to that conversation. How will these new options affect where Washingtonians chose to live, work, dine or shop? As it becomes easier than ever to get across town, how will DC’s neighborhoods and development throughout the city change?

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600 manufacturing jobs return to Liberty, Texas with the help of Brownfields Tax Incentive

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boomernag-tube
The Boomerang Tube Manufacturing Facility in Liberty, TX. Photo courtesy via Brinkmann Constructors.

Liberty, TX is one of the many communities where the federal Brownfields Tax Incentive has brought new jobs to formerly abandoned industrial plants.

The National Tube and Pipe (later Allied Pipe and Tube) opened in Liberty in 1973 and eventually became the largest employer in the town. When the company closed in 1993, it left behind a 492,000 square-foot manufacturing facility contaminated with PCBs, asbestos, a polluted retention pond and petroleum.

In 2009 Boomerang Tube, a manufacturer of pipe and tubes for oil and gas customers, announced its intent renovate and expand the old National Tube and Pipe factory into a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. The project would bring 350 manufacturing jobs back to Liberty in the process. Boomerang Tube had one significant hurdle, though: an estimated $1.2 million in cleanup costs.

The federal Brownfields Tax Incentive program helped make cleanup feasible for Boomerang. The Tax Incentive effectively limited the impact of cleanup costs on the development budget. Tax abatement and other local incentives also factored in, and Access Industries provided financing for the project. All of this helped clear the way for a $200 million investment in the plant and equipment.

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Valley, AL finds a new use for old textile mills with the help of brownfields redevelopment

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Langdale Mill in Valley, AL
The Langdale Mill in Valley, AL. Photo via The City of Valley, AL.

After operating for more than a hundred years, the Langdale and Riverdale textile mills were a central part of Valley, AL’s heritage and economy. With the help of a Brownfields grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Valley is working to make the former mills part of life in Valley once again.

The Langdale and Riverdale Mills were built in 1866 along the Chattahoochee River on the eastern edge of Alabama. The city that is now Valley, AL was built up around the mills, and they served as the economic heart of the area for over a century.

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Learn about building walkable commercial districts at the National Walking Summit

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Decatur, GA
Downtown Decatur, GA, one example of a walkable commercial district.

The National Complete Streets Coalition, a program of Smart Growth America, will be at the first National Walking Summit in Washington, DC on October 1-3, highlighting how communities are using Complete Streets to pursue walkability and support their local economies. The three-day summit will convene business, civic and nonprofit leaders to develop strategies, increase momentum and showcase best practices to increase investments in walking and walkability in communities throughout the country.

The National Complete Streets Coalition will be leading a session at the Summit called “Walkable Commercial Districts: Making the Case and Design Principles,” at 2:30 PM on October 1. The session will include a panel of local leaders—elected and otherwise—who make or influence transportation decisions.

Complete Streets
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