What the election showed me

This election season was tumultuous and divisive. For me, as president of an organization working to improve Americans’ lives by building better communities, it has brought a mixture of uncertainty, alarm, and hope. First, the uncertainty. With regard to economic development, tax policy, housing, infrastructure, and other federal programs that affect communities, the policies of … Continued

Advocacy

Smart Growth at the Ballot Box: Fall 2009 Edition

With a lot of cities and states in dire budgetary straits, the tendency is often to focus on what they consider “the basics” — meaning that a lot of necessary projects to fix dangerous intersections, build pedestrian facilities, finance a new transit line, or preserve green space might be on the chopping block. So how did these sorts of projects in communities across the country fare in the November elections a few weeks back?

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2008 at the Ballot Box: Continuing the Trend

The results of November’s Presidential election may have represented a change of direction for our country, but at least one trend at the ballot box remained unchanged from the past few elections: Taxpayers across the country again approved a bevy of ballot measures to conserve land, protect farmland, promote smart growth; and expand public transportation, … Continued

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Who will cast a vision for our "metro nation?"

“Despite occupying just 12 percent of U.S. land mass, the nation’s 100 largest metro areas account for 65 percent of its people and 75 percent of its economic output. They hold the keys to America’s future prosperity…” As a nation where economic success or failure hinges firmly on the backs of our largest metropolitan areas, … Continued

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Energy, smart growth, climate change and the 2008 candidates (Part 2)

This is part two of our rundown of candidates’ energy, climate, and transportation positions. Today, we’ll cover the Democrats. (Click here for the Republicans) As a reminder, Smart Growth America is endorsing neither a candidate nor a party. This is solely for informational purposes. Have we missed something or has a candidate changed their stance? … Continued

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Energy, smart growth, climate change and the 2008 candidates (Part 1)

After watching some of the debates over the last few weeks, and partially inspired by a similar post from Rob Goodspeed on the Planetizen Interchange, I pieced together this very abridged summary of where some of the current candidates stand on some of the environmental, transportation, energy and urban issues that our coalition cares about. … Continued

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Virginians elect smart-growth candidates

Thanks to a Board of Supervisors elected in 1999 that basically bent over backwards to let any and all growth come to Loudoun County, Va., this formerly rural county on the fringe of Washington, DC quickly become one of the fastest growing counties in America. But the growth came with a great cost as poorly … Continued

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