Complete Streets

The latest developments, events, and resources from the National Complete Streets Coalition:

Announcing new resources for communities implementing Complete Streets policies

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A bicyclist in California, from the cover of the California Department of Transportation’s Complete Streets Implementation Action Plan, one of the resources included in the new overview.

New resources are now available to help communities successfully implement Complete Streets policies.

The National Complete Streets Coalition’s Implementation tools include general guidance and specific strategies to help leaders and advocates address design standards, concerns about funding costs and measuring outcomes.

These resources are designed to be used by local leaders working to put Complete Streets policies into action. Throughout those pages you can find best practices, suggested activities, and resources to help guide your community through Complete Streets implementation. We provide examples of materials that are used by communities of all sizes from across the country at all stages of policy implementation.

Complete Streets

New Policies in Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, and Ohio. Complete Streets news: March 2013

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Policy Adoption Broward County, Florida will now use the Broward Complete Streets Guidelines in its work, following a unanimous vote from the County Commission, which also established an interdepartmental Complete Streets Team to review and recommend additional changes. The Guidelines, developed through a partnership that included public health and transportation agencies, are based on the … Continued

Complete Streets

Complete Streets news: February 2013

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Policy Adoption

On February 5, 2013, the Oakland, California City Council unanimously approved a Complete Streets policy. The new document includes specific actions to implement Complete Streets, including a review of existing plans, defining a stakeholder consultation process, and establishing and collecting data related to Complete Streets performance measures. Read more >>

Rancho Cucamonga, California, a suburban community in the greater Los Angeles region, boasts the state’s newest Complete Streets ordinance. Approved unanimously in December, the ordinance includes a robust list of performance metrics and implementation steps. Read more >>

The City of Philadelphia has finalized its Complete Streets Handbook! The new guide provides design guidance to planners, engineers and architects and helps residents understand the city’s tools for creating Complete Streets. The Handbook release follows the signing of the city’s Complete Streets Bill in December 2012 and Mayor Nutter’s 2009 Executive Order. Under the Handbook, all City projects will be subject to Complete Streets processes. Read more >>

Complete Streets Local Leaders Council

Mayor Randy Rhoads and Lee’s Summit, MO: Regional leaders in smart growth

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Yesterday we announced the winners of our 2013 Leadership Awards. Mayor Randy Rhoads and Lee’s Summit, MO were one of the winners.

In one Missouri city, a mayor’s leadership has helped foster a culture that values sustainability and public participation, with significant smart growth accomplishments on the ground to show for it.

Lee’s Summit, Missouri is a city of just over 91,000 people located 20 miles from downtown Kansas City. During the last decade, Lee’s Summit experienced rapid growth, with the city’s population swelling by nearly 20 percent from 2005 to 2010. This created an emerging sense in the community that property developers – rather than citizens themselves – were charting the course for the future of Lee’s Summit. Development questions were thrust to the forefront of civic conversation as the community grappled with how to grow in a fiscally and environmentally sustainable manner.

Complete Streets

Gabe Klein Ties Complete Streets to Chicago's Economic Success at National Complete Streets Coalition Dinner

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Last week, fifty Partners and friends of the National Complete Streets Coalition gathered in Washington, DC to celebrate the Complete Streets movement, the Coalition’s work over the last year, and the generous annual support of our Partners.

The dinner’s featured guest, Commissioner Gabe Klein of the Chicago Department of Transportation, added to the room’s enthusiasm. Commissioner Klein tied Chicago’s Complete Streets efforts to city’s economic success, citing the growing attention Complete Streets receive from local leaders, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Chicagoans are seeing Complete Streets as the pathway to safer and more attractive places for people to live and attract top companies to the city. Commissioner Klein encouraged Complete Streets supporters to “be brash” when talking about your goals, clearly communicate the benefits of the approach, use all available funding sources, and demand more from the private sector.

Complete Streets

Chicago DOT commissioner headlines annual dinner — Complete Streets News, January 2013

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Policy Adoption

On January 14, the Alameda, California city council approved a Complete Streets policy by resolution. The policy reflects and is responsive to the city’s adopted General Plan, and includes direction on design guidance, working with stakeholders, and those authorized to approve exceptions. Read the Alameda Policy (PDF)

Suisun City, California, a community of 28,000 northeast of San Francisco, adopted a Complete Streets policy via resolution on December 18. In doing so, the city becomes eligible for the OneBayArea grant program, administered by the regional planning organization. The city will work on an update to its general plan that complies with the state’s Complete Streets law. Read the Suisun City Policy (PDF)

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You are invited: National Complete Streets Coalition's Third Annual Complete Streets Dinner

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Chicago Transportation Commisisoner Gabe Klein is this year’s featured guest.

You are invited to join the National Complete Streets Coalition for our Third Annual Complete Streets Dinner on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at Petits Plats in the Woodley Park neighborhood of Washington, DC. We’ll nosh on some of the District’s best French cuisine while networking with top minds in the field.

We are excited to have Commissioner Gabe Klein of the Chicago Department of Transportation as our featured guest this year. Klein views his position as an opportunity to continue public service in the fifth-largest urban economy in the world for a reform-minded and results-oriented leader; to make Chicago an example nationally for innovation in transportation and public space; and most importantly, to positively impact quality of life for the 2.6 million residents of Chicago. Klein was previously the Director of the Washington D.C. Department of Transportation and has held a number of leadership roles in transportation, technology, consumer services, and consulting.

Your dining companions will be some of the biggest names in Complete Streets, including several of our Complete Streets Steering Committee members, workshop instructors, and staff from our Complete Streets Partner consulting firms.

Seats are available at $150 or, for $200, you will be seated at the head table. Click here to reserve your tickets online. Current Complete Streets Partners receive a significant discount, and Partners at the Silver level and up receive complimentary tickets.

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Complete Streets winners, big and small

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Downtown Lancaster, California. Photo courtesy of the City of Lancaster.

A Complete Streets approach helped Lancaster, California revitalize its commercial core and win the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2012 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement for Overall Excellence.

After decades of decline, the city’s downtown, centered on Lancaster Boulevard, had become home to rising crime and unemployment rates. Automobiles regularly travelled at speeds of 40 to 50 miles per hour, and many of the intersections were controlled by traffic signals. Residents believed that the street was dangerous to cross and unpleasant to walk and shop along.

Complete Streets

Smart Growth America's Top 12 of 2012: Growing our coalition

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The Fairborn-CEMEX town plant redevelopment is one of hundreds of brownfield sites across the country. Photo by the Ohio Office of Redevelopment, via Flickr.

We’re doing a special blog series highlighting some of Smart Growth America’s favorite accomplishments from 2012. This is the fifth of twelve installments.

In 2012 Smart Growth America welcomed two major new programs to our advocacy work.

In February, we announced a new alliance with the National Brownfields Coalition. The National Brownfields Coalition, now a program of Smart Growth America, seeks to raise awareness about the economic benefits of transforming vacant brownfields into thriving neighborhoods. The Coalition brought with it expertise on federal policies that promote brownfield revitalization and sustainable development have helped us pursue public policies aimed at reinvigorating neighborhoods across the country.

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