The Thriving Communities team at Smart Growth America, alongside our partners at the National Complete Streets Coalition, worked tirelessly throughout 2024 to advance our vision of healthy, prosperous, and resilient communities. We saw many successes, from our Complete Streets Leadership Academies helping to shape safe streets policies and implementation across the country to our Dangerous by Design report influencing the national conversation about street design. Despite this, we’re ending the year facing many of the same issues that we started it with—historically high pedestrian fatalities, communities chipping away at decades of car-centric design, and far too little support for the type of systemic change we know is needed.
As the year ends, we’re taking a moment to refocus and reenergize with a short list of goals we will take action on in 2025. While we already have plans in motion to help move these goals forward, we recognize that they’re not possible to achieve alone. We’ll need each and every one of you to help make these goals a reality.
Take the steps to make good street design be as effective as it can be. We know how to create safe and accessible spaces for people walking and biking. But even with changes to street design, things can stand in the way of making the most of this progress. For 2025, we’re calling on practitioners to make sure that what is built is maintained: keeping bike lanes and sidewalks clear of things like leaves, snow, and parked cars; changing burnt out light bulbs; and making sure crosswalks are kept freshly painted.
Move past the gimmicks and campaigns to focus on tangible change. We think it’s well-past time to move past unhelpful wildlife comparisons that are proven to be not as effective as other interventions. Want to impress us in 2025? Focus on implementing proven effective street design changes and leave the education campaigns for drivers who need to learn how to navigate a roundabout or policymakers who need to be convinced of the power of a protected bike lane.
Tackle transportation issues by not tackling transportation. It’s no secret that we feel strongly about good street design being at the heart of good transportation. However, being informed on, advocating for, and implementing policies in related sectors is necessary to realize our vision of healthy, prosperous, and resilient communities. This means digging into zoning codes, parking minimums, comprehensive plans, and more to make sure that everything is working in harmony. We’re making a resolution to become more knowledgeable in these spaces and build our network; we hope you’ll join us on this quest.
There are champions in offices and agencies across the country. We need an army. One of the highlights of 2024 for us was bringing together alumni of our Champions Institutes for an in-person convening where we were able to celebrate, strategize, and reflect. It demonstrated the strength and passion of our growing network of advocates, practitioners, and elected officials. The growth is welcome, but 2025 should be the year when Complete Streets and related approaches become the default and are standard practice for everyone working in the space.
We’re not going to compromise when lives are at stake. Solutions are available today to start improving safety for people walking and biking. We need the wholehearted and unquestioned implementation of these proven interventions. You won’t see us sitting quietly on the sidelines. If you’re standing in the way of progress, you’ll hear from us in 2025. And if you’re in the trenches of creating change, we’re going to be right there with you.
We’re ready to take this fight into the new year with these to-do’s in mind. Plans are already in the works for some exciting things in 2025, including an updated edition of our Best Complete Streets Policies Report and a new class of the Champions Institute. But we can’t do it alone—these are issues that need the time, attention, and resources of policymakers, practitioners, and ever-hardworking advocates. We look forward to working with you in the coming year.