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Development-oriented transit: How value-capture launched DC’s newest neighborhood

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The 2013 LOCUS Leadership Summit was held on June 3-5, 2013 in Washington, D.C. A walking tour of NoMa was one of the many items in this year’s agenda.

At certain times of day, competition for an available bicycle can be fierce at the Capital Bikeshare station on the corner of 1st and M Street NE in Washington, D.C. That intersection serves as the unofficial crossroads for the city’s newest and fastest growing neighborhood, NoMa (short for “North of Massachusetts Avenue”), where a building boom is in full swing. On a typical weeknight, the sidewalks of NoMa brim with young professionals, who stop in at the new Harris Teeter grocery store or CVS pharmacy before heading to one of the nearby apartment buildings or the local Metro station. High above, the numerous construction cranes dotting the neighborhood serve as reminder that the frenetic pace of growth in the area shows no signs of slowing.

LOCUS

Senator Frank Lautenberg’s legacy of support for America’s towns and cities

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Senator Frank Lautenberg
Senator Frank Lautenberg (center) with supporters and colleagues in Paterson, NJ in 2008. Photo by Tony Fischer via Flickr.

Senator Frank Lautenberg led on an incredible range of issues during his five terms in the Senate. Creating stronger towns and cities—in New Jersey and across the country—was just one of them.

Transportation was a touchstone issue for Lautenberg during his time in office. As chair of the Surface Transportation, Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, & Security Subcommittee, Lautenberg championed passenger and high-speed rail service, especially for intercity travel and urban transit. One such project was New Jersey’s Hudson Bergen Light Rail line, which has brought commercial and residential development to the Hudson River waterfront and helped to improve the area’s neighborhoods. He worked to expand Amtrak and NJ Transit service, and helped secure funding to create NJ Transit’s Secaucus station, which now bears his name.

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City of Fairfax, VA to host public workshop on planning for economic and fiscal health

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Fairfax, VA
Fairfax, VA’s City Hall, where next week’s meeting will take place. Photo by TJ Hanton via Flickr.

Smart Growth America is headed to Fairfax, VA next week to meet with local officials and residents about the city’s development policies and regulations, as well as its approach toward the continued investment in high-quality public infrastructure.

Technical assistance

Houston hosts workshop on implementing Complete Streets

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Local residents and officials in Houston, TX  met with representatives from Smart Growth America on April 17 and 18, 2013 as part of a free, grant-funded technical assistance program. The workshops aimed to give Houston the tools to develop a Complete Streets policy in their Museum Park Neighborhood, which will lay the foundation for future Complete Streets policies in other neighborhoods throughout the city.

“Museum Park, in partnership with the City of Houston’s Office of Sustainability anticipates that the Complete Streets workshop will take Houston a step closer to achieving a few of Mayor Parker’s stated goals for her second term, such as “sustainable development, public safety, infrastructure and quality of life,” said Kathleen O’Reilly, Vice President of the Museum Park Super Neighborhood. “Museum Park, with its mix of 14 museums, Hermann Park, 3,000 homes, schools, health care, churches and more offers the ideal mix to craft the highest standards for transit and quality of life in Houston. As we launch ReBuild Houston, the timing of this exciting collaborative effort couldn’t be better.”

Complete Streets Technical assistance

Final agenda released — Last chance to register for LOCUS Leadership Summit

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In less than a week, leading smart growth developers and investors from across the country will gather in Washington DC for the second annual LOCUS Leadership Summit. With the Summit fast approaching, now is the last chance to join these leaders, as well as exciting speakers like Slate columnist Matthew Yglesias, Congressman Earl Blumenauer and USDOT Deputy Secretary John Porcari, by registering for this one of a kind event!

LOCUS

Senator Mary Landrieu and LOCUS developer Pres Kabacoff to be honored with 2013 LOCUS Leadership Awards

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Mary Landrieu and Pres Kabacoff
From left: Senator Mary Landrieu with LOCUS Fellow Walker Toma, Smart Growth America Chief of Staff Ilana Preuss and Pres Kabacoff at a meeting on Capitol Hill in 2011. Landrieu and Kabacoff will be honored with this year’s LOCUS Leadership Awards.

Louisiana will take center stage next week in Washington as LOCUS honors two smart growth champions from the Bayou State at its upcoming Congressional Reception.

As part of the second annual LOCUS Leadership Summit, the 2013 Leadership Award will be presented to Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu and Pres Kabacoff, CEO of New Orleans-based developer HRI Properties, for their work to promote smart, sustainable development in Louisiana and across the country.

LOCUS

Partnership in the News: Portland, Maine and EPA Launch Bikeshare Effort

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Portland, Maine has begun to develop a regional bikeshare program thanks to initial technical assistance provided through the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program.

Portland’s Planning and Urban Development Department applied for EPA’s 2013 grants under the leadership of Jeff Levine. Portland residents, Mr. Levine noticed, already had a strong interest in alternative transportation.

“There’s a big commitment in Portland toward the environment and sustainability,” said Levine. “The challenge is providing an infrastructure that can help people to meet that goal.”

Residents were interested in a bikeshare program, but Portland needed a catalytic event to kick-start the project.

EPA’s workshops and forums, conducted earlier this month, jumpstarted the city’s efforts to implement a bikeshare program. Mr. Levine believes EPA’s time in Maine brought a necessary and “strong focus on the issue”. Residents and local officials  participated in the sessions strategizing how Portland can make a bikeshare program a reality. With the project underway, Portland and the project’s supporters now must develop a business plan for a bikeshare program.

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Listen in: Building Better Budgets panel discussion

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Building Better BudgetsYesterday Smart Growth America released new research on the savings and revenue of smart growth development. Building Better Budgets is the first report to aggregate local fiscal comparisons and determine a national average of how much communities can expect to save by using smart growth strategies.

To accompany the release we hosted a panel discussion of the new findings. If you weren’t able to join the event an archived version is now available at the link below.

Listen in: Click here to view the archived recording

Speaking on the panel were William Fulton, Vice President of Policy Development and Implementation, Smart Growth America; Rick Bernhardt, FAICP, CNU-A, Executive Director Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County Planning Department; Mary Newsom, Associate Director of Urban and Regional Affairs at UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute; and Chris Zimmerman, Member of Arlington County (VA) Board.

The panel discussion includes an overview of the findings and discussion of development strategies in Nashville, TN, Charlotte, NC, and Arlington, VA, as well as a question and answer session with panel attendees.

Read more about Building Better Budgets >>

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Building Better Budgets quantifies average savings and revenue of smart growth development

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Building Better BudgetsLocal governments across the country have compared development strategies to understand their impact on municipal finances. These studies generally compare two or more different development scenarios, and help local leaders make informed decisions about new development based on the costs or revenues associated with them.

Many municipalities have found that a smart growth approach would improve their financial bottom line. Whether by saving money on upfront infrastructure; reducing the cost of ongoing services like fire, police and ambulance; or by generating greater tax revenues in years to come, community after community has found that smart growth development would benefit their overall financial health. Many of these findings have been made publicly available.

No national survey has examined these savings as a whole until now. This report is the first to aggregate those comparisons and determine a national average of how much other communities can expect to save by using smart growth strategies.

Building Better Budgets: A National Examination of the Fiscal Benefits of Smart Growth Development surveys 17 studies that compare different development scenarios, including a brand-new study of Nashville-Davidson County, TN, commissioned specifically for this report.

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