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CNBC: Walkable neighborhoods key to revitalizing America's struggling suburbs

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Bethesda Row
Bethesda Row in Bethesda, MD, is a walkable area amidst a suburban community. Photo by ehpien via Flickr.

Suburbs around the country are reinventing themselves by adopting pedestrian-friendly streets and amenities, according to a new special report by CNBC. The growing demand for neighborhoods where people can walk to shops, restaurants, parks and schools is outpacing supply—but creating walkable communities goes beyond simply building sidewalks. Geoff Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America spoke to CNBC about the new trend.

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Houston, TX, announces plans to adopt city-wide Complete Streets policy

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A Complete Streets approach in Houston
Bagby Street in Houston, TX used a Complete Streets approach, which will now be a new standard for the city. Photo courtesy of the City of Houston.

The city of Houston, TX, cast its vote for safer, more vibrant streets yesterday when Mayor Annise Parker announced her intention to sign an executive order creating a city-wide Complete Streets policy.

The mayor’s Complete Streets and Transportation Plan will make Houston’s streets safer, more accessible and more convenient for motorists, public transit riders, pedestrians, people of all abilities and bicyclists. The new policy, detailed in a draft executive order from the mayor, will be implemented over time as improvements to existing roadways and redevelopment occur.

Complete Streets Local Leaders Council

TIGER grant has a Florida university focused on transit

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Florida International University (FIU) will soon move forward on transit-oriented development projects thanks in part to an $11.4 million Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the US Department of Transportation. The grant will help fund a series of campus-area projects aiming to enhance the economic growth of FIU and the surrounding city of Sweetwater, Florida.

The University City Prosperity Project will increase transit ridership to and from campus, improve all modes of public transportation, improve pedestrian access and provide incentives to attract local businesses to the surrounding communities.

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Mayor Ralph Becker on building a prosperous Salt Lake City, UT

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TRAX SLC
Salt Lake City’s TRAX light rail line, one of Salt Lake City’s many innovative transportation projects. Photo by Matt Johnson via Flickr.

Mayor Ralph Becker, a charter member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, is turning Salt Lake City, UT into one of this nation’s most prosperous urban centers. And he’s doing it by building accessibility, sustainability and livability into many city policies.

Becker’s efforts are evident across Salt Lake City. He has spearheaded one of the most ambitious rail systems in the country, building new light rail, bus rapid transit, streetcar AND commuter rail systems. He’s also made the city accessible for all users by more than doubling the number of bike lanes, launching a bike share program and focusing on walkability and pedestrian safety.

Local Leaders Council

Materials from the National Complete Streets Coalition's sessions at National Walking Summit 2013

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Complete Streets partners breakfast
At the National Complete Streets Coalition’s partner breakfast, part of the 2013 Every Body Walk conference last week.

The National Complete Streets Coalition had a whirlwind week last week at the first-ever National Walking Summit in Washington, DC. More than 300 participants came together to discuss ways to support walking through policy, design, advocacy, funding, organizing and engagement in communities large and small. The conference had great energy and enthusiasm for Complete Streets and how this approach supports safe, inviting and convenient places to walk.

With the help of the DowntownDC BID, the Coalition welcomed 15 Partners and Steering Committee members to Washington at its Partners breakfast. After catching up with one another, the Partners heard from Ellen Jones, Director of Infrastructure and Sustainability for the Downtown BID, about how downtown DC will begin to accommodate more pedestrians as travel demand increases.

Complete Streets

New report reveals historic shift in real estate demand in Atlanta, GA

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Atlanta's Five Points neighborhood
Atlanta’s Little Five Points Neighborhood. Photo via Flickr.

Walkable urban development is now the primary real estate market in one of the nation’s most unlikely regions: metropolitan Atlanta, GA.

That’s according to The WalkUP Wake-Up Call: Atlanta, a new report released today and authored by Christopher Leinberger, President of Smart Growth America’s LOCUS coalition of real estate developers and investors.

LOCUS

LOCUS developers to meet in Washington, DC next week and call for overhaul of federal real estate programs

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LOCUS Winter Meeting
LOCUS members gathered earlier this year at the coalition’s winter meeting.

Federal real estate programs could be doing more for families, taxpayers and communities, and a national coalition of real estate developers and investors will convene in Washington, DC next week to advocate for changes to these enormous programs.

LOCUS, Smart Growth America’s coalition of responsible real estate developers and investors, will gather in Washington and meet with members of Congress on October 8 and 9, 2013 to advocate for reforms to federal real estate programs that could broaden housing opportunities, revitalize cities and towns nationwide while saving taxpayers upwards of $33 billion a year.

LOCUS

Join the advocates speaking out for the Safe Streets Act today

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Today, hundreds of advocates are in Washington, DC to ask Congress to make a Complete Streets approach the national standard.

We’re on Capitol Hill this morning speaking out for the Safe Streets Act of 2013, a bill introduced in the House of Representatives in June that would encourage communities to consider safety improvements in transportation project planning.

Join the advocates in Washington this morning: Tell your Representative you support the Safe Streets Act. 

Planning for safer streets saves lives. Safety improvements can often be made at little or no extra cost and without separate funding sources.

Perhaps most importantly, the bill does not trigger any new federal spending. 

Help make streets safer for everyone who uses them: Speak out for the Safe Streets Act today.

Despite the partisan gridlock Washington currently faces, making streets safer is an issue legislators on both sides of the aisle can get behind and the Safe Streets Act already has bipartisan support.

This is a bill that Congress can come together on: Speak out for the Safe Streets Act today.

Complete Streets

Chula Vista, CA hosts Smart Growth America workshop on sustainable building practices through LEED ND

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Chula Vista, CA
Third Avenue in Chula Vista, CA. Photo by the City of Chula Vista via Facebook.

Smart Growth America visited Chula Vista, CA this week to meet with residents and local officials, and to explore together the city’s options for incorporating sustainable practices in the community, through the lens of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (LEED ND) program.

The City of Chula Vista is working toward its sustainability goals with its Climate Action Plan and other initiatives. This week’s workshop was designed to help City officials understand how neighborhood development can contribute to that vision.

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Vice-mayor Hannah McKinney on saving municipal budgets through smarter growth in Kalamazoo, MI

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Hannah McKinney believes that to create strong metropolitan areas in this country we have to focus on creating strong neighborhoods. As Vice Mayor of Kalamazoo, Michigan; she’s working to make that happen in her region.

“That sense of being tied to a physical location is something that, for many people doesn’t exist anymore,” says McKinney, “We need to create neighborhoods that are unique, that are livable.”

An Advisory Board member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, Hannah McKinney has served on the City Commission for 16 years. She has a long history of working to make Kalamazoo a great place to live, work, and visit. In 2003, McKinney co-chaired the Convening our Community project; a community-building initiative focused on creating a smart growth report to guide land use decisions. McKinney worked on the city’s Comprehensive Plan update, Downtown Plan, and the creation of a 2010 Master Plan to guide future growth and development, all while protecting Kalamazoo’s unique character – – and that’s only part of it.

Local Leaders Council
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