Protected: Coalition Call Notes – 6/28/2012
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Update on Appropriations: The Partnership for Sustainable Communities
This week, the Partnership for Sustainable Communities celebrated three years of collaborative and innovative work, but members of Congress proposed to eliminate and restrict the funding of its programs. While the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations (T-HUD) bill in the Senate had not been brought to the floor, the full House of Representatives has passed … Continued
Partnership in the News: TIGER grant to repair streets, build sidewalks and bike lanes in Birmingham
In the new round of TIGER grants announced recently, $10 million will go to the City of Birmingham, Alabama to repair its streets and build new sidewalks, bike lanes, paths and pedestrian corridors. Improvements in Pratt City, hard-hit by a tornado last year, will be the main focus of the project, called “Roads to Recovery.”
Upcoming Webinars: July 2012
Monday, July 2, 2:30-4:00pm ET. The Intersection of Health Services and Community Environments. Register here.
Wednesday, July 11, 3:00-4:30pm ET. Training for the new Urban Bikeway Design Guide from the National Association of City Transportation Officials. Learn more and register here.
Thursday, July 12, 3:00-4:00pm ET. Regional Collaborative Procurement for Solar Projects. Register here.
Compromise on Transportation Reauthorization Fails to Advance Critical Transportation Reform
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 28, 2012
Compromise on Transportation Reauthorization Fails to Advance Critical Transportation Reform
Conference report does not represent major improvement to existing law, lacks significant “fix-it-first” and bike-pedestrian safety measures
Conference report does not represent major improvement to existing law, lacks significant “fix-it-first” and bike-pedestrian safety measures
WASHINGTON DC — After weeks of negotiations to resolve differences between the House and Senate, the two bodies’ conferees have released a transportation reauthorization. That conference report, now moving toward a vote in Congress, represents a significant downgrade to existing services and fails to provide the kind of visionary, gamechanging transportation reform America deserves.
“The conference report is a disappointment,” says Smart Growth America President and CEO Geoffrey Anderson. “It compromises safety, it doesn’t do anything to ensure that roads and bridges are repaired and maintained, and it bypasses the kinds of innovative transportation solutions that we should expect out of a new transportation reauthorization.”
Partnership for Sustainable Communities celebrates three years of groundbreaking interagency collaboration
Above: A rendering of neighborhood design for Ranson, WV. Ranson has received support from HUD, DOT and EPA to serve as a national model for how small rural cities on the fringe of a major metropolitan area can foster sustainable economic development, transit, and community livability through targeted and strategic planning and infrastructure investments. Image via Ranson Renewed.
In the three years since the Obama Administration announced the groundbreaking Partnership for Sustainable Communities – a directive which coordinates efforts across the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Departments of Transportation (DOT) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – the innovative and effective program has helped hundreds of communities across the country address economic development, transportation infrastructure, public health and environmental concerns through through grants and direct assistance.
“Even after only three years, the Partnership has proven its unquestionable value,” says Smart Growth America President and CEO Geoffrey Anderson. “Working together, the agencies are more efficient and more effective at enabling American communities to respond to the critical challenges they’re facing in today’s economy and in the years of growth ahead.”
Sprawl costs Ohio’s families and its regional economy, new report shows
The twelve counties that make up Northeast Ohio are home to a community that prides itself on its public art, theaters, parks and hiking trails, and home-grown businesses. Now, a new vanguard of engaged residents are working with a local organization to make Northeast Ohio even better.
The first step in this process is to examine what’s working in Northeast Ohio’s communities, and a new survey from the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium (NEOSCC) does just that. NEOSCC released its Conditions & Trends platform on Tuesday, during the Consortium’s monthly meeting in Youngstown. The extensive inventory of Northeast Ohio’s assets, challenges and year-over-year trends provides a comprehensive assessment of how the region could improve.
Prominent among the findings is the fact that Northeast Ohio has spread out over the past several decades, and that this trend is damaging the region’s economy. Between 1979 and 2006, the average number of people per acre of developed land in Northeast Ohio declined by 22.96%, with many residents moving from urban areas like Cleveland and Akron to more sparsely populated ones.
Proposed House Appropriations Bill Would Defund Smart Growth Program, Slash EPA Funding
WASHINGTON DC — In language that puts politics ahead of public safety and economic development, the House of Representatives’ Fiscal Year 2013 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations bill zeroes out funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s smart growth program and reduces EPA funding overall by 17 percent. “Though House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers … Continued
Protected: Coalition Update – 6/27/2012
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June news from the National Brownfields Coalition
With the Republican Convention just over two months away, where does the party’s presumptive nominee, Mitt Romney, stand on brownfield issues? His time as Governor of Massachusetts provides some insights. The following is one of the ten Sustainable Development Principles outlined in Smart Growth Resources for Cities, and Towns written by Massachusetts’ Office of Commonwealth Development in 2006:
“REDEVELOP FIRST. Support the revitalization of community centers and neighborhoods. Encourage reuse and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure rather than the construction of new infrastructure in undeveloped areas. Give preference to redevelopment of brownfields, preservation and reuse of historic structures and rehabilitation of existing housing and schools.”
Announced at an October, 2003 Pittsfield, Massachusetts event, Mitt Romney’s economic development plan included “Doubling the Economic Opportunity Tax Credit from 5 to 10 percent for the redevelopment of a brownfields site.” Romney cited job creation and the potential to entice new companies to existing development as reasons to increase the credit. Read more >>
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