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Spotlight on Sustainability: Mitchell to Rapid City, South Dakota

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The following is based on an interview with Bruce Lindholm, Program Manager, South Dakota Department of Transportation.

For farming communities in South Dakota, high transportation costs for crops has a major impact on the economy. Increased mileage and fuel prices mean that less money goes back into farmers’ pockets and into the local community. All of that is about to change with the help of a TIGER II grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, through the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities. The Mitchell-Rapid City Rail Line, in the midst of rehabilitation, will soon be able to transport agricultural commodities shorter distances and at lower costs than the trucks currently in use. Once completed, the Line will carry grain and fertilizer over 60 miles from Mitchell, SD to Chamberlain, SD.

The improvements will be a boon to the economy. “Significant savings in transportation costs will allow the local elevator to pay farmers 15-25 cents more per bushel for their product. That money goes back into the local economy,” says Bruce Lindholm, Program Manager at the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT). He and others at SDDOT are overseeing the reconstruction of the rail line through a predominantly agricultural and rural region of the state.

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Smart Growth America welcomes Bill Fulton, Mayor of Ventura, CA and urban planning expert, to staff

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Smart Growth America is proud to welcome Bill Fulton, Mayor of Ventura, CA and an expert in the field of urban planning, to its staff.

A longtime writer, researcher, and urban planning consultant, Mr. Fulton is one of the country’s leading experts on the smart growth policies and the relationship between smart growth and economic development. At Smart Growth America, Fulton will focus on Smart Growth America’s programs to assist state, regional, and local government agencies around the nation with smart growth policies and tools.

Geoff Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America said:

Bill’s practical experience implementing smart growth strategies will be a tremendous asset to Smart Growth America. Our organization is committed to helping local elected officials use smart growth strategies to create stable, sustainable economies and communities and Bill’s expertise will help us do just that. We are proud to welcome him to our team.

Fulton currently serves as a Principal and Shareholder of The Planning Center | DC&E, a California-based planning consulting firm. He will continue these roles in a limited capacity, focusing on Transfer of Development Rights programs nationwide and high-profile smart growth projects in California. In Ventura, he will step down as Mayor and member of the City Council in December. He also serves as a Senior Fellow at the School of Planning, Policy, & Development at the University of Southern California, where he teaches land use policy and smart growth.

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Upcoming webinar: Navigating Change: Running Effective Community and Coalition Meetings

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Building sustainable communities involves engaging people in meetings to set a vision, agree upon goals, manage projects, and build relationships that will carry forward. Often—even with people who agree with what we are hoping to create—these meetings aren’t as effective as we’d like: they go off topic, we get mired in a particular issue, or we get overwhelmed by the number of decisions we need to make. In many cases, these meetings are interrupted by or taken over by those who are uncomfortable with our work, or might not understand the benefits of creating healthier, more sustainable communities.

Navigating Change, presented by facilitator and community sustainability consultant Odin Zackman, will walk you through the basics of designing an effective community or coalition meeting, provide facilitation tips and techniques, and offer interventions that can help keep public meetings on track. We’ll also reserve time for questions and a “community meeting clinic” where your stories and challenges can serve as case studies for all participants.

In preparation for this webinar, please fill out a brief survey to share your expectations. This will help design a session that addresses the questions and challenges you face that tend to be common to many communities.

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Congress passes DOT and HUD funding for FY 2012

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HUD’s Washington DC headquarters. Photo by Flickr user matturick.

The first conference report of the FY 2012 appropriations process – which includes funding for both the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) – passed both the House and the Senate on Thursday.

The bill included funding to maintain the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities at HUD, which will continue to coordinate federal policy with DOT and the Environmental Protection Agency. Together the three agencies compose the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities. By coordinating policy, the Partnership helps make federal investments more effective and efficient.

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Capital Region housing developers finding opportunity in infill housing: “We are not afraid anymore”

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Cross-posted from our coalition member Empire State Future.

Throughout New York State demand for downtown living continues to expand as baby boomers are ditching the cul-de-sac and generation X and Y are re-envisioning their American Dream. The change in consumer preference has already driven a million people to the “City that Never Sleeps”, New York City, since 1990, with another million New Yorkers expected by 2035. As people continue to find the value and livability of urban living in New York City and many of New York State’s 61 smaller cities, reuse of existing commercial and industrial structures as well as infill development on abandoned and vacant lots will play a role in serving the increasing demand for residential units.

As each state-commissioned Regional Economic Development Council releases their strategic plans, major calls for smart growth are materializing. This is advantageous for numerous developers who have already made the transition to building residential properties in existing downtowns and on or near main streets. Over the next few weeks ESF is going to highlight a few of these projects from across the state to show what New York’s cities will have to offer in the years to come.

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Congress does not include funding for HUD’s Sustainable Communities Initiative in FY 2012

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Washington, DC – The conference report for the FY 2012 minibus, which includes funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) eliminates funds for the Sustainable Communities Initiative. The program served as HUD’s contribution to the interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a collaborative effort between HUD, the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Geoffrey Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America, released the following statement:

“The Partnership for Sustainable Communities is one of the federal government’s most effective tools, and HUD’s crucial role in that program will be almost certainly eliminated by these cuts. If you think building homes that people can afford near jobs and schools is a sound strategy for rebuilding our economy, if you think local governments can partner to deliver service more efficiently, if you want to help communities copy other localities that have saved hundreds of millions in federal infrastructure funding, this was the program for you.

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Partnership in jeopardy: call your members of Congress today!

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If you haven’t yet called your representatives in the House and Senate to express your support for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, today is a crucial day to pick up the phone. Funding for the Partnership is being decided now, and your call could be the one that helps keep these programs for the year to come.

Call today! Click here for information about calling your representatives.

With funding for the Partnership in serious jeopardy, voicing your concerns to your members of Congress is crucially important to the decision-making process, and it only takes a few minutes.

The Partnership for Sustainable Communities helps towns and cities across the country spur economic growth by investing in local jobs and local communities. This is an efficient, effective investment of taxpayer dollars and one that will keep our country strong for years to come. Help us fight to keep these programs alive!

Tell your representatives to support the Partnership for Sustainable Communities: Call your members of Congress today.

The Partnership depends on the support of advocates like you. When you speak out, Congress listens! Please take a few minutes to call your members of Congress today.

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Summary of the Senate MAP-21 transportation bill proposal

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Crossposted from Transportation for America.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released a draft of the transportation bill late Friday. The EPW committee’s portion of the bill covers what’s known as the “highway” title. (The Banking Committee is responsible for writing the “transit” title and the Commerce Committee covers rail and safety. Those sections of the bill have not been released yet.)

We’ve prepared a short few pages on what MAP-21 means for the federal transportation program. This top-line analysis is a bit on the wonky side, but hopefully it’ll be helpful if you’ve been trying to summarize the 600 pages of bill text.

One of the most visible changes MAP-21 makes is to restructure seven core highway programs and 13+ formula programs into just five core highway programs. This graphic below illustrates those changes. Read on for the full summary, which you can also download here. (PDF)

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