Thank you to those that joined LOCUS, the Economic Innovation Group, and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) for Understanding your Opportunity Zones. If you missed the live event, you can watch the recorded version here.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve gotten a lot of questions about the free, technical assistance Smart Growth America is offering in partnership with the U.S. Economic Development Administration and Recast City. This FAQ addresses many of the common questions we’ve received.
The First & Main coalition of local elected leaders sent a letter this week to Congress and the Trump administration urging them not to cut or eliminate programs upon which these local communities rely.
With free technical assistance from SGA on the issue available right now, it’s a good time to talk about what small-scale manufacturing is and how it can be a powerful part of the recipe for building great downtowns and neighborhoods in communities of nearly any size.
Next week, join LOCUS, the Economic Innovation Group, and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority for a comprehensive discussion of the new federal Opportunity Zones program.
Over the two days in Nashville, we were able to ask some of our speakers to share their thoughts on Complete Streets, the importance of equity in our transportation planning and systems, and what creative placemaking means to them. Watch the trilogy of videos below for inspiration. Intersections 2018: Creating Culturally Complete Streets Intersections 2018: … Continued
The small Colorado town of Pagosa Springs is focused on revitalizing its downtown and supporting more mixed-use, walkable development to both address a lack of affordable housing and accommodate a large volume of tourists. There are a number of opportunities to make progress in the near-term, including turning a recent disaster in the downtown into a catalytic redevelopment opportunity.
Smart Growth America is offering free technical assistance to six communities interested in using small-scale manufacturing to help revitalize a downtown or neighborhood and create economic opportunity.
To address recurring, dangerous speeding problems on neighborhood streets, the City of South Bend launched a demonstration project to test out traffic-calming tools they had never used before including traffic circles, chicanes, and bump outs. They worked closely with the local community to decide where these traffic-calming strategies were most needed. They also added educational signs to help teach people how street design can improve safety by encouraging drivers to slow down while simultaneously creating more vibrant places for people. As a result of this demonstration project, drivers drove slower on these streets, and South Bend also built trust with the community. To replicate the success of this project elsewhere, South Bend will develop a toolkit based on this experience to launch additional traffic calming projects in other neighborhoods throughout the city to improve safety and convenience for people on foot or bike.
Two particular intersections along Bryan Avenue in Lexington, KY were dangerous and confusing places for everyone, including people walking, biking, and driving. Both intersections had unusual turning angles and missing crosswalks, and it was often unclear who had the right of way. To slow the speeds of cars traveling through these two intersections and transform them into safer, more predictable, and more comfortable places for people, a team from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government launched a temporary demonstration project. They worked closely with the local community and used inexpensive, flexible materials to redesign the intersections by redirecting cars and adding crosswalks and pedestrian refuges. Lexington also tested out more interactive strategies for letting the people in the community most affected by the project take the lead on envisioning safer streets.