Blog

Cities have been opening streets to people, and artists could help make them better

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Select cities are responding to COVID-19 and stay-at-home restrictions by opening up streets to people, providing vital room for people to safely exercise as well as walk, bike, and roll to essential destinations while maintaining physical distancing. Smart Growth America is eager to help cities tap the expertise of artists and designers for this work, which can help produce better, more beloved projects that could remain after the pandemic, and foster helpful relationships between artists, city leaders, and transportation departments.

Complete Streets Creative Placemaking Transportation

Recap Webinar, Policy to Practice: What does prioritizing pedestrians actually look like?

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In our latest installment of our monthly webinar series Complete Streets 301: Putting people first, we heard how Minneapolis has worked to prioritize pedestrians and advance multimodal transportation through advocacy, policy, and safer street design. A recording of the webinar is now available. You can also download a PDF of the presentation or read the brief recap below.

Complete Streets Uncategorized

If we want an infrastructure stimulus, there are valuable lessons to learn from 2009

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While there are enormous needs for relief and support all across the economy, the president and many congressional leaders have indicated that they want infrastructure to be a major part of a future stimulus bill. If Congress does intend to use infrastructure spending to create jobs and support recovery, their own effort in 2009 has some clear lessons they should learn from.

Advocacy Transportation

Closed cities should open streets

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Some cities around the country are responding to COVID-19 by opening up more street space for people as traffic has dwindled and more space is needed for people to safely be outside. But could these temporary changes lead to more public space for people even after the immediate threat has subsided? Possibly, but only if cities start acting to realize that future now.

Complete Streets Transportation

Complete Streets Responses to COVID-19: Minneapolis, Charleston, Bogotá, and beyond

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Join us for a webinar on April 27 to hear how communities are using transportation initiatives and actions to respond to COVID-19. This is the latest installment in our monthly webinar series Complete Streets 301: Putting people first.

Complete Streets

LOCUS’ COVID-19 Resource Page

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As communities across the country battle COVID-19, LOCUS is committed to providing our members and supporters with timely updates and transparent resources that help keep your communities, families, and businesses safe and resilient. 

LOCUS

Smart growth can provide a guide for recovery

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Our economy is at a virtual standstill because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs and healthcare. Businesses of all sizes are facing an existential threat. Local municipal budgets are being gutted. As we hope for light at the end of the tunnel we’ll need to craft a smart recovery. We leaned on our experience with the stimulus of 2009 and our long expertise in infrastructure and community development to produce a package of federal policy recommendations Congress should consider to build the foundation for a long-lasting recovery.

Advocacy Economic development LOCUS Transportation

Congress agrees to $25 billion for transit

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MTA post announcing service restored in Brooklyn
Early yesterday morning, congressional leaders and the White House agreed to a $2 trillion COVID-19 economic stabilization plan that includes $25 billion emergency direct assistance to transit agencies, at a time when agencies’ revenue is plummeting, as well as more than $1 billion for passenger rail. This is a huge victory, and it wouldn’t have been possible without your messages and calls to Congress. But there’s still more work to do.

Advocacy Transportation
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