It’s one of our most basic needs, and one we take most for granted — clean, fresh water. But polluted stormwater runoff, overtaxed sewer systems, increasingly urbanized areas and shrinking forests and grasslands are threatening Americans’ water quality. Tell your Representative to support green infrastructure now!
This week we report on: three new policies adopted by Bozeman, MT, Franklin, PA, and the Madison County Council of Governments in Indiana and policy progress in several more communities and states.
This American Public Health Association report, “outlines how the connection between health and the built environment impacts the pocketbook; it also provides a summary of the process of planning, funding and building transportation systems, and discusses key opportunities for public health professionals to get involved in the process.”
This APTA report, “based on a March 2010 survey, provides a national perspective on the extent to which the current recession is affecting public transit agencies and the tens of millions of Americans who use their services. The survey asked APTA member transit agencies to report on actions they have taken since January 1, 2009 in response to the economic downturn and those actions anticipated in the near future.”
Atlantic Station in Atlanta in 1971, today a superb example of a successful brownfield restoration. The economic downturn changed the landscape of communities across the country — creating growing numbers of abandoned homes, shuttered auto manufacturing plants, and vacant land parcels. Distressed and economically disadvantaged areas have been hit worst of all, and more communities … Continued
In case any doubt remains, let me remove it. The fortunes of our country will rise and fall with the fates of our cities and metropolitan areas. For the first time in history, more people worldwide live in cities than anywhere else. In the United States, our largest 100 metropolitan areas house a staggering 65 percent of our population.
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Through the end of 2009, investments by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in public transportation have created almost twice as many jobs per dollar as investments in highways – and the advantage is growing. The most recent data from states shows that every billion dollars spent on public transportation produced 19,299 job-months, compared to 10,493 job-months for every billion spent on highway infrastructure. Public transportation projects create more jobs than road projects because they spend less money on land and more on labor, and because projects are often more complex, whether laying track or manufacturing vehicles.
The Department of Transportation just announced the recipients of its $1.5 billion TIGER grant program,the US DOT’s first attempt at a competitive grant program where projects of all modes compete based on their ability to meet national goals. Complete streets projects across the country will be funded.
In today’s announcement of $1.5 billion in TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) awards, the US Department of Transportation (US DOT) showed the kinds of transportation projects that move people and freight in a way that makes places stronger, cleaner, and safer. DOT received 1,380 applications for the $1.5 billion pot, for a grand total of $56.5 billion in funds requested. The 51 projects announced under TIGER, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), include…