The 2018 LOCUS Leadership Summit: Rebuild America’s Neighborhoods is just around the corner. LOCUS is excited to welcome the nation’s top real estate industry leaders, policy experts, and elected officials to Washington, DC from April 22-24 and we hope to see you among them. Registration prices will go up this Friday, March 23. So don’t miss your chance to participate in this year’s dynamic event!
With the right investments in reliable broadband, communities can revitalize their downtowns and attract younger Americans that can bring their existing businesses and remote jobs with them. Listen to this webinar to hear about how Zanesville, OH and Eastport, ME are retooling their towns for a 21st century economy.
On May 1, residents in Nashville will be voting on a $5.2 billion proposal to dramatically improve and expand the city’s transit system with improved frequency on existing lines, new BRT routes, and a new light rail system. Our upcoming conference, Intersections: Creating Culturally Complete Streets, is happening right in the midst of this once-in-a-generation conversation.
Councilman Ryan Dorsey, in collaboration with the advocacy organization Bikemore, drafted a groundbreaking Complete Streets ordinance for the City of Baltimore. The Complete Streets ordinance, if adopted, will introduce stringent, binding requirements to proactively reduce disparities in community engagement, project delivery, and performance measurements. The proposed ordinance is the result of a yearlong stakeholder engagement process that has built a broad coalition of supporters to oversee the adoption and implementation of this ambitious ordinance.
The Board of Smart Growth America (SGA) is pleased to announce the selection of Calvin Gladney to succeed Geoff Anderson as the third President and CEO in the organization’s history.
Based in Bloomfield, NJ (18 miles from New York City), VELO is a media and advocacy organization that informs and educates the public and policymakers on how to make the streets of Northern New Jersey safer for people, regardless of gender, age, race, disability, and/or socioeconomic status. VELO approach to equity includes raising the profile of transportation issues to policy and decision makers in working class, Latinx, and African-American communities. VELO excels in their community engagement efforts by not requiring people to alter their daily routines to participate. Since their launch, they have championed Complete Streets implementation, particularly in the immediate Bloomfield area, and amplified the voices of community members around transportation policies.
Pres Kabacoff, co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of HRI Properties, shares more about his experience as a member of LOCUS’ Rebuild America’s Neighborhoods campaign. Pres discusses the campaign’s work influencing recent federal legislation, upcoming opportunities for action, and more.
Just a month after the Trump administration proposed a budget that would eliminate the competitive TIGER grant program entirely next year, the US Department of Transportation announced the winners of this year’s awards. This year’s winners show a clear shift in priorities—this round is decidedly rural or small town in nature and nearly devoid of transit projects. However, the winners also show that this administration recognizes how smaller-scale complete streets projects bring tremendous value to local communities.
Millinocket, Maine epitomizes the plight of many rural communities across the country that struggle as legacy industries or major employers that once helped sustain a place slow down or close altogether. Millinocket has found new hope in part by pairing improved broadband internet access with a new focus on downtown revitalization, giving the community the chance to take hold of their future and “actually build something” new.
In this month’s episode of Building Better Communities with Transit, we connect with a planner who helped bring high-quality bus rapid transit to Albuquerque. ART, as the new line is called, is just one project but it forms a frequent and reliable backbone for Albuquerque’s entire transportation system.