What facilitates the transition from a policy into tangible street designs? To bring a Complete Streets policy to life, engineers need to know how to design these streets in very clear, concrete terms. The best Complete Streets policies will adopt excellent street design guidance that directs and supports practitioners to create an accessible and complete network of streets.
How do you know if your Complete Streets policy is working? You measure it. And then you share the results publicly. A strong Complete Streets policy requires tracking performance measures across a range of categories—including implementation and equity—and making someone responsible for doing it.
A formal commitment to a Complete Streets approach is just the beginning. A strong policy also spells out specific steps for implementing the policy in ways that will make a measurable impact on what gets built and where.
Streets don’t exist in a vacuum. They are inextricably connected to the buildings, sidewalks, spaces, homes, businesses, and everything else around them that they serve. The strongest Complete Streets policies require the integration of land-use planning to best sync up with a community’s desires for using and living on their land today and in the future.
Every local community, region, and state has a process by which they choose which transportation projects to fund and build. A strong Complete Streets policy changes that process by adding new or updated criteria that give extra weight to projects that advance Complete Streets and improve the network.
Building a complete and connected transportation network requires investing in places and people that have not received investment. The strongest Complete Streets policies will specifically prioritize underinvested and underserved communities based on the jurisdiction’s composition and objectives.
Northwest Arkansas (NWA) is experiencing a significant and fast paced population growth, and, as a result, housing supply is constrained. A regional approach is needed to sufficiently address this housing crisis and develop a plan to accommodate the population growth throughout the region. Smart Growth America (SGA) partnered with ULI Northwest (ULI NWA) in a … Continued
Smart Growth America (SGA) and its Thriving Communities team are looking to recruit an Arts and Culture Associate to support its programming and development. Please send a cover letter and resume to [email protected] with “SGA Arts & Culture Associate” in the subject line. In your cover letter, please indicate how you learned of this job opportunity. … Continued
Saying that the “Complete Streets mindset” is the problem when a transportation agency builds a dangerous high-speed road and calls it a “complete street” is like calling for the repeal of the Clean Air Act when a highway agency claims their widening project will reduce emissions.
Last week, Smart Growth America submitted comments on the design of the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program (ECJ Program), created under the Inflation Reduction Act, on the types of projects EPA could prioritize, requirements that should be applied to ensure projects are community-driven, and different types of technical assistance that could support the … Continued