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Take action! Help defend funding for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities

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The Senate and the House of Representatives have each proposed budgets for the 2012 federal fiscal year, and each proposal includes different levels of funding for the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities.

This week, the two houses are scheduled to reconcile their budgets and will decide funding for the Partnership and its programs for next year. That means this week is a crucial time to voice support for the Partnership.

Tell your Senators and Representative that to support the Partnership for Sustainable Communities: Call your members of Congress today.

The Partnership is an innovative and effective collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation and Department of Housing and Urban Development. Through the Partnership these agencies coordinate federal policies, programs and resources to achieve multiple goals at the same time. This makes policy more efficient, makes best use of taxpayer dollars and helps build strong, durable economies in communities across the country.

The Partnership depends on the support of advocates like you. When you speak out, Congress listens!

Voice your support: Tell your Senators and Representative to continue funding the Partnership in Fiscal Year 2012.

Let’s work together to protect programs that put taxpayer dollars to good work and strengthen America’s local economies: call your members of Congress today.

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Transportation investments spur private development in downtown Kent, Ohio

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Architect’s rendering of proposed Kent Central Gateway. Image via Kent State University.

When the federal government invests in infrastructure, the funds directly help communities with large, long-term projects. But these investments go beyond direct help: when the government invests in an area, private developers often follow its lead and invest as well. In doing so, these federal investments have an even bigger impact.

Downtown Kent, Ohio, is a great example of this. After many public meetings to create a vision for the city’s future, Kent is transforming its downtown into a vibrant public space. A $20 million TIGER grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation (part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities) has helped the town build a new multimodal transportation facility – and the city is now experiencing over $100 million in related development.

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Merging smart growth and economic development in New Jersey

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Photo of NJ Transit’s River Line light rail by Flickr user Schaffner.

New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the nation, has historically been a leader in smart growth efforts. In 1986 the state passed its State Planning Act which, among other things, mandated the creation of a State Development and Redevelopment Plan and a State Planning Commission to oversee the plan. The Plan was subsequently developed and laid out a vision for encouraging growth in areas with existing infrastructure while preserving farmland and open space. To help accomplish this vision, the Plan included a State Plan Map to guide investment decisions.

While New Jersey may have some of the strongest smart growth policies on the books, the results on the ground have been more mixed. Though many state agencies have integrated aspects of the State Plan into their regulations, widespread implementation of the plan does not exist at the state level, where individual agencies continue to pursue their own missions. Locally, the state’s strong home-rule tradition meant that the State Plan was merely advisory for municipalities, and attempts to incentivize compliance have been cumbersome and inconsistent. All of this has led to disappointing results in achieving the State Plan’s goals. While there have been smart growth success stories – like the revitalization of New Brunswick and the Gold Coast in Hudson County – the state continues to lose open space to low-density development at an alarming rate.

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Senate passes minibus bill with strong funding for Partnership for Sustainable Communities programs

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Washington, DC – The Senate passed an amended fiscal 2012 “minibus” appropriations package today, which included spending bills for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The bill includes $90 million in funding for the Sustainable Communities Initiative at HUD and $550 million for the TIGER program DOT.

These programs are part of the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an innovative and effective collaboration between HUD, DOT and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Partnership works to coordinate federal housing, transportation, water, and other infrastructure investments to make neighborhoods more economically resilient, allow people to live closer to jobs, save households time and money, and reduce pollution.

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Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Bill Moves to Senate Floor [UPDATE]

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UPDATE OCT. 31, 2011: No amendments were offered to cut funding for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities programs at either the Department of Housing and Urban Development or the Department of Transportation. The Senate is back from recess this week and is expected to vote on passage.

The following was originally posted on October 13, 2011:

The Senate begins consideration this week of three annual appropriations bills. With the 2012 fiscal year already underway and only one of the twelve appropriations bills approved so far, funding for the Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration; Commerce, Justice, and Science; and Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) bills will be taken up as a package. The federal government is currently operating on a temporary spending measure that expires on November 18th.

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Philadelphia: More than just good cheese steaks

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Philadelphia’s Girard Avenue, by Flickr user KGradinger.

Philadelphia has given us some of the world’s best cheese steaks, but the city also offers a great example of how smart growth strategies can help rebuild America’s cities.

Philadelphia’s smart growth efforts date back to 1991, when, beginning in his first term, Mayor Ed Rendell focused on revitalizing downtown. In 2001, Mayor John Street unveiled his Neighborhood Transformation Initiative that invested millions of dollars into neighborhood revitalization. And the City’s current mayor, Michael Nutter, is continuing this legacy by targeting the commercial corridors that provide goods, services and jobs to the City’s residents through the ReStore program.

These are great smart growth strategies that are revitalizing Philadelphia’s urban core and creating opportunities in underserved communities, and the efforts are beginning to pay off. For the first time in six decades, the City of Philadelphia has stopped losing population – and may be even growing. The 2010 U.S Census showed that Philadelphia’s population, which has decreased every decade since 1950, has stabilized.

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Transit Campaign Planner provides guidance for public transportation advocates

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Legislators on both sides of the aisle agree that public transportation systems provide many benefits to the communities they serve, and ballot measures across the country this year have revealed strong public support for public transportation. For communities interested in bringing services like these to their area, a focused, organized transit campaign can make all the difference.

Transit Campaign Planning: A strategy template for organizers (PDF) is intended to help advocates interested in supporting public transportation do so more effectively. Originally published in 2009 and updated for 2011, this campaign template provides strategy guidance and suggestions for organizations large and small interested in establishing local and state-based funding streams for transit.

The template encourages advocates to answer questions familiar to any seasoned campaigner, with guidelines for doing a situation analysis, defining specific goals and objectives, identifying important decision-makers, laying out strategies and creating a campaign structure. Ultimately, this template is meant to help advocates create an original campaign plan that responds to the priorities, needs and interests of their community.

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"Brownfields Redevelopment, Community Revitalization, and Regional Planning: Making It Work Together" webinar materials now available

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Thank you to everyone who attended SGA’s Sustainable Communities Network “Brownfields Redevelopment, Community Revitalization, and Regional Planning: Making It Work Together” earlier this week.

We heard from Adhir Kackar and Stacy Swartwood of the Environmental Protection Agency on how the federal government is working to streamline investments in community brownfield redevelopment and regional planning efforts, particularly through the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities. We then heard the stories and lessons learned from the community of Ranson, West Virginia already working on brownfield cleanup in conjunction with other economic development projects from Dawn Seeburger, Environmental Resources & Consulting.

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