On January 20, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan hosted a call which he began by reaffirming HUD’s commitment to the the Sustainable Communities Initiative. Secretary Donovan emphasized the vast impact the Regional Planning and Community Challenge grant programs have had across the country and noted the range of communities that received grants, many of which were … Continued
A fine time was had by all at the Second Annual Complete Streets Dinner, held on Tuesday night at Washington, D.C.’s New Heights restaurant. The featured speaker was Roy Kienitz of Roy Kienitz LLC, who recently left the U.S. Department of Transportation where he served as Under Secretary for Policy.
The population of Central Iowa is growing fast, and it needs new strategies for development if it wants to turn that growth into prosperity.
That was the theme of a presentation earlier this month by Bill Fulton, Smart Growth America’s Vice President of Policies and Programs. Fulton spoke to a group of elected officials, members of the board of Des Moines’ Metropolitan Planning Organization and other interested residents about how the region can use smart growth strategies to provide better housing and transportation options for its residents in years to come – and protect public budgets in the process.
The following is a guest post from Ann W. Cundy, Senior Transportation Planner, Missoula Office of Planning and Grants
Transportation planners, public health professionals and a private railroad in Missoula, Montana are working together to reduce diesel emissions and improve air quality.
The project is possible thanks to a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Clean Diesel Campaign, which works with public agencies, private companies and community groups to reduce diesel emissions and promotes clean air strategies. The City of Missoula recognized the Clean Diesel Campaign as an opportunity to improve its air quality, protect public health, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money for Montana Rail Link – truly meeting a triple bottom line.
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
The following op-ed was crossposted from Roll Call.
President Barack Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke seem enamored with renting foreclosed properties to blunt price decreases and to stir economic recovery, but that’s a bandage for symptoms as opposed to a real cure.
Instead, we need to learn from the problems that landed us in this mess in the first place, working to bring government policies in line with good business sense and to incentivize market-driven development.
Or, in the words of investor Warren Buffett, “Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.”
Photo of U.S. Highway 101 as it passes through the Smith River Rancheria, from AARoads.
This post was co-written by Terry Supahan, President of Supahan Consulting Group.
With technical assistance from Smart Growth America, the Smith River Rancheria, a federally recognized tribal government, secured a $2.5 million TIGER grant for the U.S. Highway 101 Multimodal Smith River Safety Corridor project. The project will implement walking and bicycling safety improvements along approximately 1.3 miles of the Gateway Area of U.S. 101 in California just south of the Oregon border. Project elements include unique colorized, stamped shoulder treatments, new signage, lighting, and related improvements. The objectives of these investments are to increase safety, especially for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vulnerable users, as well as calm traffic, expand travel choices, and enhance community identity and livability.
What began as a high school study of the local economy in Howard, South Dakota has turned into a community revitalization effort that has sparked growth again in a declining rural community, reports an article published today in the Daily Yonder.
After nearly 15 years of work, Howard has become a poster child of community resolve. And it all began at the high school, building on an imaginative and intensely practical assignment…The town had lost nearly a hundred local businesses between 1960 and 1999. Farm production was declining. And young people, without prospects, were moving away.
In 2000, the average resident of Birmingham, AL drove 34.8 miles each day, and only 2% of residents took transit or walked to work. Now, Birmingham is looking to change these trends and asked Smart Growth America for ideas about how to do it.
The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham invited Smart Growth America President and CEO Geoff Anderson and LOCUS President Chris Leinberger to come to Birmingham last week to speak about smarter growth. In a joint presentation, Anderson and Leinberger discussed new trends in neighborhood design and what they could mean for Alabama.
Alton Mayor Tom Hoechst, Godfrey Mayor Mike McCormick, and Grafton Mayor Tom Thompson addressed economic development in each of their communities at a RiverBend Growth Association event this week, reports The Telegraph.
Among the many exciting initiatives, Mayor Hoechst spoke about the immense economic benefits that the $14 million dollar Alton Multimodal Station, funded by a Department of Transportation TIGER grant, will bring to the region.
Hoechst said the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, grant would help boost the economy, and not just in Alton. Some 65 million people travel by rail and the improvements to the system would allow more people to come to town.
