Elkins, West Virginia has been working to revitalize their downtown, a challenge in any circumstance, but especially in a rural Appalachian town. The workshop with Smart Growth America shared expertise and provided site-specific advice to aid local officials and community members in placemaking. The SGA team visited Elkins for two days where they participated … Continued
Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3), Dan Kildee (D-MI-5), Darin LaHood (R-IL-18), and Mike Kelly (R-PA-16) have introduced the REHAB Act in the U.S. House. This legislation, if passed, will help spur private investment in affordable housing and public infrastructure in the places where it’s needed most: walkable, transit-connected places.
As we travel the country, there are few things better than witnessing an elected official have an “a-ha” moment and realize that the conventional wisdom they’ve been handed down about growth and development perhaps wasn’t actually the best wisdom after all.
During a special week in September we called Rebuild America’s Communities Week, elected local leaders in the First & Main coalition from small and mid-sized towns and cities across the country carried a clear and unified message to their representatives who were at home for recess: “We need reliable federal partners to support our homegrown efforts to rebuild our downtowns, restore our economies, and improve opportunity for everyone.”
Each of the six communities selected to receive assistance on supporting local small-scale manufacturing are very different. Ahead of the assistance that will happen over the next year, get to know each of the communities we’ll be working with a little better.
This month on Building Better Communities with Transit we’re joined by Bill Sirois, Senior Manager, Transit Oriented Communities with RTD in Denver. Bill chats about the success of the transit agency’s TOD program, the project to rehabilitate the historic Union Station (and the area surrounding it), and what comes next when the current period of transit expansion comes to a close.
Smart Growth America is once again soliciting applications for a new round of free technical assistance for communities interested in using small-scale manufacturing as a strategy to create economic opportunity, boost the prospects of Main Street, and build great places.
This month on Building Better Communities with Transit we’re joined by the Executive Director of the KC Streetcar Authority, Tom Gerend. In 2016, Kansas City, MO opened the first streetcar the city has seen in almost 60 years and transformed the city’s downtown. Former skeptics of the line are now some of the KC Streetcar’s biggest proponents as businesses have boomed and more people are moving to—and spending in—the center city. The 2.2 mile KC Streetcar, akin to a downtown circulator, is “a demonstration of the possible.”
Expanding broadband access can help communities revitalize their downtowns and attract and retain a new generation of works. But beginning the process can be daunting, particularly for smaller communities with limited resources. This webinar will cover action steps for broadband investment, informed by our work with communities across the country.
With the right investments in reliable broadband, communities can revitalize their downtowns and attract younger Americans that can bring their existing businesses and remote jobs with them. Listen to this webinar to hear about how Zanesville, OH and Eastport, ME are retooling their towns for a 21st century economy.