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Partnership in the News: City of Birmingham, AL breaks ground on new multi-use trail thanks to TIGER grant

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The City of Birmingham, Alabama received a $10 million U.S Department of Transportation,Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to partially finance a bicycle-pedestrian trail through the city.

This trail system is part of a larger planned system, the Red Rock Ridge and Valley Trail System, created with the input of over 3,000 residents of Jefferson County.

Thanks to the TIGER grant, the trail will connect residents to some of the city’s Civil Rights Heritage Sites, as well as provide options for physical activity and access to jobs, schools, and public transportation.When completed in 2014, the trail will span 29-miles and link 21 communities.

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Upcoming Webinars: August 2013

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Want to learn about new, innovative strategies for creating great places? Several upcoming webinars provide ideas and inspiration for local leaders.

Preserving Affordable Housing Near Transit: Program and Policy Models for Success
***NOTE: This is a rescheduled webinar from July 24 that was cancelled due to technical difficulties.****
Monday, August 5, 2013 – – 2:00-3:30 PM EDT
Click here to register.
Regions and cities across the country are struggling to preserve affordable housing near their current and future high frequency transit. This webinar will provide a brief overview of the need to preserve affordable housing near transit at the national level and will focus on three unique examples from the Boston, Denver, and Washington DC regions. The examples will highlight the ways that policy, cross sector collaboration, and financing can begin to address the need for affordable housing preservation near transit.

Building Vibrant Local Economies: Creating Entrepreneurial Communities in Rural Places
Thursday, August 15, 2013 – – 2:00-3:15 PM EDT
Click here to register.
Oftentimes, attracting and retaining entrepreneurs is overlooked as a vital way to build on existing assets to strengthen rural economic development on the local and regional levels. Communities across the country are finding ways to attract and retain an entrepreneurial community to help achieve their land use planning, economic development, and sustainability goals. Join NACo to learn more about strategies and resources for developing entrepreneurial communities in rural and small towns.

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Appropriations update: Debate ends over T-HUD, brownfields funded in Senate

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In an unusual situation on Capitol Hill this week, both the House and Senate had an opportunity to pass their versions of the FY 2014 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bills – a bill that funds critical transportation and community development programs around the country. On Thursday the Senate moved to cut off debate … Continued

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Partnership in the News: Railroad towns aim to spur economic growth through federal grant

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The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is a commuter rail system that services the entire length of Long Island, New York from Manhattan to the tip of Suffolk County. With 124 stations and over 700 miles of track it is the second busiest passenger rail service in the nation, serving approximately 81 million people per year.

Earlier this year, HUD awarded the New York & Connecticut Sustainable Communities Consortium (NYCSCC) a $3.5 million regional planning grant, which the group hopes to use to, “develop livable communities and growth centers around the region’s commuter rail network to enhance affordable housing efforts, reduce congestion, improve the environment and continue to expand economic opportunities”.

NYCSCC will help fund 16 interrelated projects across the region., including awarding Nassau County $350,000 to “conduct an Infill Redevelopment Feasibility Study for properties within a half-mile radius of up to three existing Long Island Railroad stations located within and surrounding the Nassau Hub Transit Study Area”. The towns of Baldwin, Lynbrook and Valley Stream were selected to receive a portion of these grant funds because of their desire to rethink land use patterns, foster transit oriented development, reduce auto dependence, lower their carbon footprint, and expand their population and tax base.

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Congressional testimony on brownfields highlights economic opportunities of redevelopment

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Geoff Anderson

Smart Growth America President and CEO Geoff Anderson testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last week at a hearing titled “Cleaning Up and Restoring Communities for Economic Revitalization.” Joining him were Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator at the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Honorable Debbie O’Malley, Bernalillo County Commissioner from New Mexico, and Dr. Kendra Kenyon, President of the Idaho Council of Governments.

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Since the workshop: Charlotte, NC plans for economic and fiscal health with Smart Growth America workshop

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The City of Charlotte, NC, is working to spur economic development and community reinvestment within five geographic areas with the help of a technical assistance workshop from Smart Growth America.

Property values have increased in many of Charlotte’s neighborhoods over the past decades. However, several areas in Charlotte have lagged behind.

This observation prompted the City to apply for technical assistance from Smart Growth America. In May, our staff visited the city to host a “Planning for Economic and Fiscal Health” workshop. At the workshop, Smart Growth America’s experts and City officials discussed strategies for attaining quality growth throughout Charlotte, and how better development strategies could contribute to the city’s economic competitiveness and stability.  Five areas in Charlotte were targeted for city investment including: Whitehall/Ayrsley, Prosperity Village, West Trade/Rozelles Ferry, Sunset/Beattie’s Ford, and Central/Eastland/Albemarle.  In their “next steps” memorandum after the workshop, Bill Fulton and Roger Millar of Smart Growth America recommended a number of possible high-impact public investments for each of the five target neighborhoods. Ultimately, the hope is that these types of investments will strengthen the five areas by making them more desirable for commercial and retail markets and middle-income housing.

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House of Representatives calls economic redevelopment programs "nice-to-have," moves to eliminate all funding

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Program helps communities clean up abandoned land and put it back into productive use. Tomorrow Congress will begin considering whether the program will continue this work in 2014.

The Brownfields Program is rebuilding local economies across the country, and that’s not work we consider “lower-priority.”

On Wednesday, July 31, the House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee will mark up the Interior and Environment and Related Agencies funding bill, which allocates funding for all EPA programs, including Brownfields. Last week, a House subcommittee passed a draft version of the bill. The draft bill would cut funding for the EPA by 34% overall—and zero out funding for the Brownfields Program.

Don’t let Congress zero out funding on community redevelopment: Send a letter to your Representative today.

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M-1 streetcar project a sign of hope for Detroit amidst municipal bankruptcy

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M-1 Streetcar in downtown Detroit. Photo via The Architects Newspaper.

Despite Detroit declaring bankruptcy earlier this month, the city’s M-1 RAIL streetcar project is pressing forward and bringing with it hopes for a stronger local economy in downtown Detroit.

We’ve written before about the M-1 RAIL project and how it is expected to support economic development along Woodward Avenue. The good news is that the City’s ongoing financial troubles are not expected to impact the project’s progress.

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Smart growth strategies a key to economic opportunity

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Income mobility map
A map of income mobility. Mixed-income neighborhoods turn out to be a key indicator of a family’s ability to rise out of poverty. Via New York Times.

A new study from Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley underscores why smart growth strategies are a key part of economically strong regions.

The Equality of Opportunity Project examined economic mobility—the likelihood a family will rise from the bottom of the income ladder toward the top. Schools, civic engagement and two-parent households are all correlated with economic mobility, but the study also considered factors that previous studies of economic mobility could not, including a region’s geography. The study found that where a family lives also impacts their potential to rise up the income ladder.

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