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National Associations Congratulate HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Awardees

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 14, 2010

National Associations Congratulate HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Awardees
Organizations Urge Continued Federal Investments to Ensure Nationwide Community Economic Competitiveness

WASHINGTON, DC – The National League of Cities (NLC), National Association of Regional Councils (NARC), Smart Growth America (SGA), the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a) and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA (ICLEI) congratulate the cities, towns, communities and regions which today were awarded Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These communities will now undertake critical regional planning and implementation activities that support building sustainable, livable communities through regional cooperation, broad stakeholder and community involvement and coordinated processes. The organizations also offer gratitude to HUD and the other federal agencies involved for undertaking an inaugural and historic process that will yield results for years to come.

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Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference Champions Economic and Environmental Revitalization

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Vacant Properties Conference 2010

Investing in and reusing vacant properties can catalyze long-term, sustainable revitalization in a community. Focusing on the multiple benefits these projects bring to neighborhoods and local economies, the Center for Community Progress’ Reclaiming Vacant Properties conference kicked off this week in Cleveland, Ohio. The annual conference brings together a diversity of leaders working on community development issues to make our neighborhoods stronger and healthier.

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Chicago's 30 year plan looks at day-to-day life and regional prosperity

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From CMAP's GO TO 2040 report
A page from the introduction to CMAP’s GO TO 2040 report.

Chicago’s Metropolitan Agency for Planning announced today a visionary plan how the city and its surrounding counties should grow and develop over the next 30 years. The GO TO 2040 project is “a comprehensive regional plan seeks to maintain and strengthen our region’s position as one of the nation’s few global economic centers.” After three years of research, the Agency lays out four main themes in its comprehensive new report: livable communities (including housing, water, energy, parks and local food), human capital (including education and the workforce), efficient governance (including tax reforms) and regional mobility (including strategic investment in transportation).

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Strengthen the economy and the middle class with better buses and road repair, Department of Treasury says

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Download full reportA report out from the Department of Treasury this week reveals that fixing America’s roads and bridges will not only improve our drive to the store, it will help the country’s middle class and our long term economic health, too.

The new report (PDF) discusses the numerous benefits of investing in transportation infrastructure. Spending on infrastructure is one of the best ways to invest transportation funds. The fact that these projects create good, new jobs – and lots of them – is one big reason why. Yesterday’s report found that 72% of the jobs created by infrastructure spending are middle class jobs, defined as those which pay between the 25th and 75th percentile of the national distribution of wages. New jobs are a huge boon for the construction industry in particular, which is facing unemployment rates at nearly twice the national average.

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Bill Lind Interview on Left Ahead Podcast

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William Lind, the Director of the American Conservative Center for Public Transportation, discusses the benefits of transit from a conservative perspective and addresses ways that liberals can engage conservatives in support of transit. Left Ahead produces podcast webisodes for bloggers in Massachusetts.

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Maintaining Diversity in America’s Transit-Rich Neighborhoods: Tools for Equitable Transit-Rich Neighborhoods

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This study by Northeastern University confirms that, “transit investment frequently changes the surrounding neighborhood. While patterns of neighborhood change vary, the most predominant pattern is one in which housing becomes more expensive, neighborhood residents become wealthier and vehicle ownership becomes more common.” The report proposes policy tools that could be used to shape equitable neighborhood change in both old and new transit-rich neighborhoods.

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Equity Caucus at Transportation for America Launches in Washington, DC

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Advocates from the NAACP, Change to Win, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 60 other prominent organizations came together in Washington, DC last night to launch the Equity Caucus at Transportation for America. The Caucus consists of an incredibly wide array of leaders working together to make transportation in the United States more equitable, including many organizations – such as Good Jobs First and the Center for Working Families – that work primarily on issues other than transportation. As co-chair of the Transportation for America campaign, Smart Growth America is proud to be part of such a diverse group of organizations working to bring fair access to transportation choices to all people.

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Smart Growth America Applauds National Transportation Equity Coalition

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As co-chair of the Transportation for America campaign, Smart Growth America is proud to help launch the nation’s leading civil rights, community development, racial justice, economic justice, faith-based, health, housing, labor, environmental justice, tribal, and transportation organizations to create the Equity Caucus at Transportation for America. Transportation is a crucial part of the path to … Continued

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National traffic congestion report gets daily driving backwards

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A new report out today from CEOs for Cities criticizes the Travel Time Index, an annual scoring of metropolitan areas and their congestion. The Index for each urban area in the US is released annually as part of the Texas Transportation Institute’s Urban Mobility Report and heavily influences decision-makers looking for solutions to traffic congestion. … Continued

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Tell AAA: Bicyclists are drivers, too!

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In the July/August 2010 issue of AAA World magazine, Don Gagnon, president and CEO of AAA Mid-Atlantic, argued that the federal Highway Trust Fund – a nationwide program which is meant to sponsor a wide range of transportation options – should solely fund highway development. In an article titled “Use the Highway Trust Fund to … Continued

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