Today, we officially launch the Rebuild America’s Neighborhoods campaign to organize developers and investors to advocate for a federal tax and budget plan that increases private capital investment in public infrastructure, affordable housing and economic development.
A Complete Streets approach requires “diverse users” to be more than just a buzzword. This brand new addition to our policy framework aims to hold jurisdictions accountable for including equity into their plans based on the composition and objectives of the community, a requirement that was lacking from the previous framework. The U.S. history of systemic discrimination and exclusion based on race and income is part of the transportation context and cannot be ignored. Transportation choices should be safe, convenient, reliable, affordable, accessible, and timely regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, income, gender identity, immigration status, age, ability, languages spoken, or level of access to a personal vehicle.
This morning, the House Ways and Means Committee unveiled their draft tax reform proposal. Read LOCUS President Jair Lynch’s official response to this once-in-a-generation proposed tax reform legislation.
Our next webinar, Promoting Equitable Change through Creative Placemaking & Complete Streets takes place on Tuesday, November 21st from 1:00-2:00 PM EDT.
No two communities are identical, and no two Complete Streets policies should be exactly the same either. Vision and intent, a revised element in the updated Complete Streets policy framework, is an opportunity for jurisdictions to customize and prioritize their motivations for adopting a Complete Streets policy. The following post explores the reasoning behind this revisions, and how it can help communities better reach their most vulnerable populations.
This post is part of Complete Streets month at Smart Growth America; we will be sharing a series of blog posts that cover and explain each of the 10 revised policy elements in some detail.
On October 18th we hosted “Public/Private Partnerships: Complete Streets & Large-Scale Development” the eighth installment in our monthly webinar series, Implementation & Equity 201: The Path Forward to Complete Streets. A recording of the webinar is now available above. You can also download the PDF of the presentation, or read the brief recap below.
With the upcoming release of our new white paper on this topic on November 7, we are spotlighting a few of the standout examples of cities that have fostered a small-scale manufacturing sector through strategic land use decisions. This series will highlight the merits of small-scale manufacturing and how it’s contributing to the character, appeal, and success of smart downtowns in Lowell, MA; Twin Falls, ID; and Knoxville, TN.
Distilleries, jewelry makers, and 3D printers — what do they all have in common? Each is part of the emerging, national movement of small-scale manufacturing, and can contribute meaningfully to a community’s downtown economy. Made in Place: Small-Scale Manufacturing & Neighborhood Revitalization, a forthcoming report from Smart Growth America in partnership with Recast City, will explore this innovative industry and showcase best practices for downtown revitalization.
Differences in perceived travel time based on visual preference surveys. Source: Erath et al., 2015. Where people walk: Two new studies improve “walkability” measurement In planning and designing for pedestrians, sidewalks are often a good start but rarely make a place walkable on their own. Measuring pedestrian accessibility (the topic of a recent SSTI webinar) depends … Continued
We’ve got big news to share: As you hopefully know already, each year the Coalition releases an analysis and ranking of the best Complete Streets policies in the country based on 10 policy elements that were established more than a decade ago. Beginning in 2018, we will be using a brand new framework to analyze and rank Complete Streets policies.