Protected: SGA Monthly Coalition Call Notes – 2/24/11
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Blog
Building for the 21st Century: American support for sustainable communities
A recent poll by Smart Growth America has found that in the midst of a struggling U.S. economy, support for smart growth strategies remains high among Americans across the country and on both sides of the political aisle.
The poll focused specifically on support for sustainable communities: urban, suburban or rural communities that have more housing and transportation choices, are closer to jobs, shops or schools, are more energy independent and help protect clean air and water. Making communities more sustainable means generating more jobs, lowering housing and transportation costs and using limited public funds more wisely.
As the U.S. economy incrementally recovers, Americans want the federal government to stop spending into deficit and use the money it does have more effectively. Smart growth strategies do just that by reducing infrastructure costs at the state and federal level, strengthening local and state revenues and building economic wealth by investing in existing communities.
Complete Streets Trailblazers Set Tone for Coalition Strategy Meeting
A panel of Complete Streets leaders launched our 2011 Strategy Meeting and quickly set a high bar for the day. Panelists spoke on their experience at the local, regional, and state levels, sharing their methods and challenges with the 55 attendees.
New report from Brookings Institution advocates for road repair and maintenance
The Brookings Institution hosted an event this morning titled “State Roads to Economic Recovery: Policies, Pavements, and Partnership.” The multi-panel event was organized in conjunction with the release of “Fix it First, Expand it Second, Reward it Third – A New Strategy for America’s Highways,” a new report from the Hamilton Project analyzing the impact of state and national transportation infrastructure investments.
Report coauthors Matt Kahn, Professor of Economics at UCLA, and David Levinson, of the University of Minnesota, presented their proposal to a packed crowd. Over 80% of the current U.S. highway system, they explained, was built before 1972 – almost forty years ago. Kahn and Levinson recommend a three-step approach to maintain this aging infrastructure: fix it first, expand it second and reward it third. By focusing on fixing existing infrastructure before creating new, states can boost their economy and maximize the number of jobs created.
As Bruce Katz, Vice President and Director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, highlighted, state governments are currently under tremendous pressure to transform their economies. Katz identified transportation infrastructure as a crucial future investment to drive growth in metro regions across the country. Robert Puentes, Senior Fellow at Brookings, highlighted how transit systems are necessary to, “move goods, ideas and workers quickly and efficiently.”
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
While it “wonderful” may be an overstatement, with a half-dozen state legislatures looking at new Complete Streets bills this year, it is an exciting time for the Complete Streets movement.
Protected: SGA Coalition Update – 2/22/11
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Working for better transportation options in Washington state
A new campaign in Washington is fighting to improve transportation for people across the state. Transportation for Washington, a project launched this week by Smart Growth America’s coalition partners Futurewise and the Transportation Choices Coalition, is calling for better repair and maintenance of roads across the state as well as more transportation choices for Washingtonians. These transportation spending strategies – which are in line with many of Smart Growth America’s recent recommendations for Washington – create jobs, spur economic growth and improve Washington’s transportation system at the same time.
Roger Millar, Director of Smart Growth America’s Leadership Institute, discussed these same issues with Ross Reynolds on KUOW-94.9 Seattle’s The Conversation earlier this week. Together with Mike Ennis, Director of the Center for Transportation at the Washington Policy Center, Millar discussed the state of Washington’s transportation system and how the state can get more out of their transportation dollars:
Funding for public transportation is currently a hot topic in Washington state. A bill recently introduced to the state legislature would allow local transit agencies to seek funding to finance public transit projects. According to the Washington Transportation Commission, Washington currently has over $200 billion in unfunded transportation projects – and that need is growing.
Tell Congress: Don't balance the budget at the cost of our communities!
Leaders in the House of Representatives declared their plans this week to cut funds to many key programs that create jobs, strengthen communities and lay the groundwork to keep America competitive in the 21st century.
Tell the House of Representatives: Don’t balance the budget at the cost of our communities!
In a time of financial straits, Congress does need to cut wasteful and outdated programs – but it is unacceptable that effective programs that help rebuild our economy are being considered for elimination.
Among the cuts on the butcher’s block are funds that help our rural, suburban and urban communities create more housing and transportation choices near jobs, shops and schools, support our local economies and protect the environment.
New book from Philadelphia's City Parks Association highlights opportunities created by vacant properties
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Cities and towns across the country face a number of complex problems associated with vacant and abandoned properties, including public health concerns, environmental hazards and reduced property values. Solving these problems is a formidable challenge for any city, but solutions too often lack the long-term vision and planning necessary to rejuvenate a disintegrated community.
In Philadelphia, a city with more than 40,000 vacant properties, one nonprofit organization took an innovative approach to addressing the problem. Philadelphia’s City Parks Association (CPA), a non-profit land use organization, has played a catalytic role in establishing and maintaining public parks and open space in urban areas of Philadelphia. With a mission “to stimulate visionary thinking about natural resources and open space in the urban community” and experience in city planning, CPA recognizes that Philadelphia’s ecology and community engagement are essential parts for finding solutions to the city’s vacant property issues.
Voters agree: U.S. would benefit from better roads, improved public transportation options
A new survey by the Rockefeller Foundation about transportation infrastructure has found that two out of three voters say making improvements to the country’s transportation infrastructure is very important, and most voters say that in its current state the nation’s transportation system is barely adequate according to.
The new survey, released yesterday, finds that there is wide agreement among voters – even across partisan lines – that leaders in Washington should seek common ground. Nowhere is this more true, the survey finds, than with legislation related to the country’s transportation infrastructure. Voters want better and safer roads and more public transportation options, widely agreeing that the United States would benefit from an expanded and improved public transportation system.
Moreover, few believe that current government spending in this area is efficient and wise, and voters welcome a range of reforms in how transportation projects are financed. At the same time, as is the case with many spending-related issues today, voters are unwilling to personally pay for additional funding of national transportation projects. While wide support exists for encouraging more private investment, imposing penalties on over-budget projects, and establishing a National Infrastructure Bank, there is very little support for increasing the federal gas tax or increasing tolls on interstate highways and bridges.