Over 200 communities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia have received grants or assistance through the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities. The Partnership has helped communities plan for growth that will strengthen their regions and their economies, but funding for the program is under threat in 2012’s federal budget.
Bruce Katz, Vice President of the Brookings Institution, discusses the power of metropolitan areas in an article on The Atlantic Cities, which launched today.
Originally posted on Huffington Post.
When the housing bubble popped in 2009, it left many American communities with foreclosed and vacant homes and businesses.
The American Jobs Act would help restore thousands of these abandoned properties and put construction workers back to work in the process with Project Rebuild. The $15 billion project would create thousands of jobs to tear down abandoned properties, renovate foreclosed homes and maintain abandoned properties until they can be sold once again. Intended to initially help communities with the largest number of foreclosed properties, Project Rebuild would create much-needed jobs and energize the country’s blighted communities at the same time. Key components of the project include:
Today in our new series on how our Coalition members and partners work to support the Complete Streets movement, we look at Kimley-Horn and Associates, a Silver Partner.
Smart Growth America supports President Obama’s call for federal investments that will create jobs, modernize America’s transportation infrastructure and support the country’s economy as part of the American Jobs Act. In particular, Smart Growth America supports Project Rebuild: Putting People Back to Work Rehabilitating Homes, Businesses and Communities, which has been allocated $15 billion under the proposed bill. From the White House’s description of the program:
The bursting of the housing bubble and the Great Recession that followed has left communities across the country with large numbers of foreclosed homes and businesses, which is weighing down property values, increasing blight and crime, and standing in the way of economic recovery. In these same communities there are also large numbers of people looking for work, especially in the construction industry, where more than 1.9 million jobs have been lost since the beginning of the recession in December 2007. The President is proposing Project Rebuild to help address both of these problems by connecting Americans looking for work in distressed communities with the work needed to repair and repurpose residential and commercial properties. Building on successful models piloted through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), Project Rebuild will invest $15 billion in proven strategies that leverage private capital and expertise to rehabilitate hundreds of thousands of properties in communities across the country.
Our success truly results from the efforts of our coalition. Today in our new series on our members’ and partners’ work to support the Complete Streets movement, we look at T.Y. Lin International, a Silver Partner.
In the past week, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to strip funding for the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities. The Senate will consider funding for the Partnership in the coming days, and now is the time to tell your Senators to maintain funding for this important program.
These are tough economic times, which makes it even more important to keep the innovative programs that put federal dollars to good use rebuilding our local economies, strengthening our communities, and creating jobs.
Tell your Senators: Protect funding for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.
Earlier this year when the Partnership was under threat, the voices of smart growth supporters made a real difference and funding was preserved. Now we need your voices to be heard even louder.
Make sure that Congress knows we will not accept shortsighted cuts that sacrifice the health of our communities.
An extensive and wide-reaching campaign for a Complete Streets policy in Billings, Montana hit its mark late last month. Montana’s biggest city joins three others in committing to safer, healthier streets for all.
The U.S. House of Representatives just stripped funding for the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities. The Senate will consider funding for the Partnership next Thursday. NOW is the time to tell your Senators to maintain funding for this important program.
These are tough economic times, which makes it even more important to keep the innovative programs that put federal dollars to good use rebuilding our local economies, strengthening our communities, and creating necessary jobs.
The President’s American Jobs Act would make a considerable and welcome investment in transportation infrastructure…but what would it mean for Complete Streets?