San Fran capitalized on damage from the Loma Prieta Earthquake to remove the Embarcadero Freeway. Before and after at Market Street This is part one of a series. Click here for part two on Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct. Take a peek at the road atlas or Google Maps for any major American city and there’s … Continued
BusinessWeek published a special report on Green Design and Innovation this week, and one of their top stories highlights the core message of Growing Cooler: meeting the demand for the walkable neighborhoods and cities that result in less driving is one of the best solutions for reducing emissions. Alex Steffen reworked his longer essay that … Continued
Budget 09: Domestic cuts continue
Prepared for Smart Growth America by Advocacy Associates
President Bush has submitted to Congress the final budget proposal of his administration. The $3.1 trillion plan essentially freezes overall non-defense domestic discretionary spending with many key community development programs targeted for significant cuts in funding.
The budget proposal once again calls for a number of planning and community-related programs to be either restructured or eliminated. Many of these ideas have been previously rejected by Congress. For example, this is the fourth consecutive budget which has recommended an overhaul of the Community Development Block Grant program. The budget also recommends using transit funds to fill a projected gap in the highway trust fund.
This report was released by ICF International.
The powers that be in Kansas City have been exploring the possibility of a light rail line for a few years now, a step in the right direction for a city with one of the highest numbers of interstate miles per capita of major American cities. With citizens increasingly concerned about the impact of higher … Continued
The most-read story on Indianapolis’ Channel 6 website this morning who took the task of “completing the streets” into his own hands. Muncie resident and Ball State U. grad student Whitney Stump got tired of seeing cars constantly rolling through the stop signs in front of his house at a four-way intersection. So he called … Continued
The APA Advocate tells us today that the House passed a reauthorization of the HOPE VI housing program, with some important additions and improvements. The passage will extend and increase the funding for the program, as well as making some progressive changes. (UPDATE: CNU posted a few words about the passage as well) The program, … Continued
To follow up our post from last week on the local, state, and regional coalition members, I put together a list of our national coalition members that have syndicated feeds you can subscribe to. Here is a quick list of those national folks with regular blogs — and a few that at least have RSS … Continued
Alex Steffen over at Worldchanging.org picked up on Growing Cooler in a fantastic recent essay on climate change called “My Other Car is a Bright Green City.” Sprawled-out land uses generate enormous amounts of automotive greenhouse gases. A recent major study, Growing Cooler, makes the point clearly: if 60 percent of new developments were even … Continued
When speaking about the Maryland smart growth program that he helped create more than 10 years ago, former Governor Parris Glendening is fond of telling the story of how the state’s decision to locate a University of Maryland campus in downtown Hagerstown sparked revitalization of the traditional town center. Just a couple of weeks ago, … Continued