A redevelopment site in Denver, Colorado is seeking to create healthy lifestyles through healthy environments. The project, called Mariposa, featured in the New York Times this week, has gone to great lengths to improve the quality of life for its residents.
The Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act of 2013, introduced today by Senators Lautenberg, Inhofe, Udall and Crapo, would improve the way the federal government supports brownfields redevelopment in the United States. Here’s how.
The Act reauthorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Program, and improves the program’s ability to support local economic development. If passed, the bill would modernize and improve key elements of the program, and would provide additional tools and resources to communities working to redevelop brownfields. It makes a number of improvements recommended by the National Brownfields Coalition, which is comprised of a broad set of stakeholders, including local governments, developers, and community redevelopment organizations.
The Boulder Civic Area is a visionary “community driven” project to rethink and evolve the downtown’s most expansive public space. Image via Bouldercolorado.gov on Flickr.
Boulder, CO officials and local residents will meet with representatives from Smart Growth America on March 4 and 5, 2013 as part of a free, grant-funded technical assistance program. The workshops aim to find innovative travel and mobility strategies that will give Boulder the tools to achieve the next level of the city’s ambitious carbon-reduction goals.
Boulder residents are invited to join the workshops first day for an open house on the city’s 2013 Transportation Master Plan Update (from 4:30 to 6 p.m.) and a presentation by Smart Growth America (from 6 to 8 p.m.). The event will be held Monday, March 4, 2013 at the Hotel Boulderado Conference Center, 2115 13th Street, Boulder, CO.
Buffalo, NY’s Larkin District won an honorable mention for the Main Street or Corridor Revitalization category in 2013. Photo courtesy of U.S. EPA.
Do you know of an organization or project that’s using better development strategies to make your community a great place to live? If you do, consider nominating it for the 2013 National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
These prestigious annual awards honor projects and policies that use smart growth strategies to improve communities environmentally, socially, and economically. Past winners include some of the most innovative development projects in the country, and a project in your community could be next.
New Orleans, LA has received a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities grant to investigate beginning a bikeshare program. New Orleans is one of five grants funded by the EPA focusing on planning bikeshare programs.
The town of Brattleboro, Vermont has received a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Building Blocks Sustainable Communities grant to aid in incorporating smart growth principles into local codes. Brattleboro is among 43 communities nationwide to receive a grant, and one of nine grants to focus on Sustainable Strategies for Small Cities and Rural Areas.
In advance of President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight, we’re taking a look at the state of the administration’s work on development in the United States.
2012 saw a number of stellar advancements in federal policies that coordinate land use, housing and transportation. A number of federal programs as well as improvements to existing ones are helping communities across the country develop in ways that are cost efficient and promote broader economic growth.
The ongoing work of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities is the foremost example of this. The Partnership is an innovative program that helps communities more effectively coordinate federal housing, transportation, water, and other infrastructure investments. This work helps make neighborhoods more economically resilient, allows people to live closer to jobs, saves households time and money, and supports municipal budgets.
Maui County, HI has been selected to receive technical assistance to create a green streets strategy as a part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program.
The popularity of infill development and walkable neighborhoods continues to grow, according to a new report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Residential Construction Trends in America’s Metropolitan Regions focuses on 209 metropolitan regions between 2000 and 2009 and offers a look at trends in residential infill development, i.e. new homes built in previously developed areas. The main findings during that period:
Nearly three out of four large metropolitan regions saw an increased share of infill housing development during 2005-2009 compared to 2000-2004. Among the 51 large metropolitan regions (population one million or greater) examined in this study, 36 saw an increased share of infill housing development during 2005-2009 compared to 2000-2004. In many regions, this increase was substantial. Miami increased from 40 percent infill to 49 percent infill. Providence, Rhode Island, increased from 20 percent to 29 percent. Several medium-sized metropolitan regions (population 200,000 – one million) saw even greater shifts towards infill housing.
The Partnership celebrates three years of work. Image via “Three Years of Helping Communities Achieve Their Visions for Growth and Prosperity.”
We’re doing a special blog series highlighting some of Smart Growth America’s favorite accomplishments from 2012. This is the fourth of twelve installments.
In July, we celebrated the three year anniversary of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a groundbreaking collaboration between the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.