Adam Arredondo, CEO and Co-founder of Local Ruckus in Kansas City, MO, talks about Kansas City’s Startup Village and the role of urban design in attracting the startup community. See more interviews with issue experts here >>
Ariel Ben-Amos, Senior Planner/Analyst for the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities in Philadelphia, talks about the city’s parklet program. See more interviews with issue experts here >>
Jeff Aken, former Communities Program Manager with Forterra – Seattle, WA, talks about an innovative program that combines Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) with infrastructure financing to help cities grow in a responsible manner. See more interviews with issue experts here >>
Erik Calloway, Principal with Freedman Tung & Sasaki, an urban design firm out of San Francisco, CA; talks about designing cities to compete in today’s growing innovation economy. See more interviews with issue experts here >>
The Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail, one of the more complete sections of the project. Photo by Atlanta BeltLine via Flickr.
Atlanta, GA’s BeltLine project will complete a major section of its multi-use trail network three years ahead of schedule thanks to a Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The $18 million grant awarded earlier this month will help develop a 2.5-mile stretch of the BeltLine’s southwest corridor. This portion of the BeltLine is a former freight line that has not been operational in over 30 years. Funding from this fifth-round TIGER grant will cover the cost of right-of-way, design, demolition and construction for a mix of shared use trails, trailheads, access points, and the preservation of the future streetcar transit corridor.
From left: Oak Street in downtown Jena; participants in one of the city’s visioning sessions; an excerpt from Jena’s Vision, the town plan.
When a proposed highway project threatened Jena, LA’s historic downtown, Mayor Murphy McMillin worked with residents and fellow city officials to come up with alternatives to the construction. What ensued was a long-term vision incorporating smart growth strategies that not only found a solution to the highway project, but will also help guide development and protect Jena’s natural assets for years to come.
Jena has a simple tag line—“A nice place to call home.” Mayor McMillin, a member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, describes the town as a close-knit community of 3,000 residents located between the larger metropolitan areas of Alexandria and Monroe, and residents are fond and protective of their town’s rural character and identity.
The reconfigured Broad Avenue in Memphis. Photo by Justin Fox Burks.
Earlier this year Memphis, TN, passed the 500th Complete Streets policy in the United States. In a new policy and implementation brief, we detail how Memphis achieved its Complete Streets successes so far, the ongoing efforts in the region and the work that remains to be done.
Warwick, RI is the state’s second largest city, and with 39 miles of coastline and a “small town village feel,” Warwick could rest on its laurels. But Mayor Scott Avedisian, a member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, has an ambitious vision for his city, and is working to create a more vibrant public waterfront and a more diverse local economy.
Kansas City’s streetcar is one of the 52 projects to receive a 2013 TIGER grant. Image via PlanningKC.
Yesterday, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the fifth round of DOT’s Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants. The 2013 grants award a total of $474 million to 52 projects in 37 states, with 25 projects specifically for rural communities. A total of 568 applications were submitted for the grants, for projects in all 50 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa.
Amtrak station in Rochester, NY. Photo via New York Railroads.
Rochester, NY is building a transportation gateway to the city that will serve the region and become a landmark for generations—thanks in part to a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).
In August, USDOT dedicated $15 million in TIGER grant funding to replace the city’s current Amtrak station, which first opened its doors in 1978, with a new intermodal transit center. The new 12,000 square foot, $26.5 million facility will include high passenger platforms, an underground concourse and two new passenger sidings.
