Upcoming Webinars to Aid Implementation
Taking your Complete Streets policy from paper to practice? Read on for information on upcoming webinars that will help your community better plan and design streets for all users.
Blog
"Promoting Affordable and Fair Housing near Transit, Jobs, and Town Centers" webinar materials now available online
Thank you to everyone who attended Smart Growth America’s Sustainable Communities Network webinar “Promoting Affordable and Fair Housing near Transit, Jobs, and Town Centers” last week. This webinar was hosted by Smart Growth America, PolicyLink, Reconnecting America, and the National Housing Conference.
Included on this webinar are practitioners taking steps to ensure that housing for families at all income levels is available in location-efficient and opportunity-rich areas. Following an overview of tools available to create and preserve affordable homes in areas where transportation costs are likely to be low, learn how some of these tools have been implemented in Denver, Colorado as Denver expands its public transportation system. Included is a discussion of policies and legal decisions that help to ensure communities create their fair share of homes for low- and moderate-income families in New Jersey, as well as strategies to build public support for well-located affordable homes.
Additional materials now available: Applying for HUD Regional Planning Grants
On July 14, Smart Growth America along with the American Planning Association hosted a webinar that provided tips for organizations interested in applying for the next round of HUD Regional Planning Grants. The webinar included discussion from past Partnership for Sustainable Communities grant recipients, advice from a firm that has written several successful applications, and information about criteria that the Partnership uses to grade applications. Presentations from the webinar are also available.
Video: the phenomenal success of Capital Bikeshare
Washington DC’s Capital Bikeshare has soared in popularity since it started in 2008. The easy-to-use service has gathered 14,000 annual users and over 40,000 day users during that time. The video above from Streetfilms and the National Association of City Transportation Officials discusses how DC-area residents and visitors alike have taken to the service.
Companies migrate from suburbs to downtown Chicago
During the past five years, at least 10 companies have relocated some or all of their business to downtown Chicago, including United Airlines, BP, Thomson Reuters and Willis Group Holdings. Now, according to a story in this weekend’s Chicago Tribune, other major employers like Acco Brands, Sara Lee Corp. and Barilla are also considering moving back to the city – and they’re not alone.
Spotlight on Sustainability: Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri
The following is based on an interview with Tom Gerend, Assistant Director of Transportation, Mid-America Regional Council
While anyone who is involved in regional planning can appreciate the difficulties of trying to work across multiple local jurisdictions, Kansas City faces a unique set of challenges. Kansas City lies on the border of Missouri and Kansas, which means the Kansas City Transit Corridors and Green Impact Zone TIGER (Transportation Invesment Generating Economic Recovery) grant, by the U.S. Department of Transportation, is working across not just city and county lines, but state lines as well. That makes the project complex, but also rich with opportunity because numerous streams of federal revenue can be tapped to focus on one region.
Smart Growth America Applauds Governor Cuomo for Signing Land Bank Act into Law
Washington DC- Today Smart Growth America applauded New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo for signing an innovative new policy into law. The Land Bank Act will give localities across New York State new tools for redeveloping vacant and abandoned properties. The “land banks” will be created and run by local authorities with the purpose of reducing the high number of vacant properties in many upstate towns and cities and returning those abandoned parcels to a more productive use.
Geoff Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America, said: “I am thrilled that Governor Cuomo has signed this important bill into law. As the Governor noted in his urban agenda, blighted properties bring despair to communities and land banks are an innovative way to restore struggling neighborhoods. Also, I want to congratulate former Representative Hoyt, Senator Valesky, the Center for Community Progress, CenterState CEO and Empire State Future for their vision and commitment to getting this bill passed and signed into law.”
Protected: Webinar on Positive Messaging – SGA Coalition Call 7/28/11
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Rethinking Streets for Successful Communities
A video from the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission explores the reasons why investing in Complete Streets is a smart move for communities looking to strengthen their economies.
HUD releases Notice of Funding Availability for Regional Planning Grants and Community Challenge Grants.
U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced today in a press release that HUD will be investing $95 million to support stronger, economically competitive communities through their Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities. From the release:
This year’s Regional Planning Grant program will encourage grantees to support regional planning efforts that integrate housing, land-use, economic and workforce development, transportation, and infrastructure developments in a manner that empowers regions to consider how all of these factors work together to bring economic competitiveness and revitalization to a community. The program will place a priority on partnerships, including the collaboration of arts and culture, philanthropy, and innovative ideas to the regional planning process. Recognizing that areas are in different stages of sustainability planning.