In her new book City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America’s Highways, investigative journalist Megan Kimble weaves together the origins of urban highways with the stories of people impacted by our transportation system—and she features a behind-the-scenes look at how SGA is working with a handful of communities to repair the damage of … Continued
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) released final data for 2022 traffic crashes revealing 7,522 people were struck and killed while walking that year. This crisis isn’t new—pedestrian fatalities are on a consistent upward trajectory and have increased by 68 percent since 2011. We need strong leadership and swift, wholesale action to make our … Continued
In Austin, hundreds of families will lose child care if a preschool is demolished to expand an interstate. In Houston, a young Black woman will lose her brand-new home to a new lane on Interstate 10-just blocks away from where a seventy-four-year-old nurse lost her home in the 1960s when that same highway was built. … Continued
Although climate change is largely bringing a rise in global average temperatures, it also makes local weather patterns, including winter weather, more erratic. Though this past winter was unusually warm, climate change, in some areas, is and will continue to bring more frequent and severe snowfall and extreme temperatures. In order to protect residents, especially … Continued
Hi Friend, I’m Beth Osborne, the Vice President of Transportation and Thriving Communities at Smart Growth America. We advocate for a transportation system that safely, affordably, and conveniently connects people of all means and abilities to jobs, services, and opportunities through multiple modes of travel. Donate now to support our advocacy efforts to reimagine our … Continued
Our economy is at a virtual standstill because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs and healthcare. Businesses of all sizes are facing an existential threat. Local municipal budgets are being gutted. As we hope for light at the end of the tunnel we’ll need to craft a smart recovery. We leaned on our experience with the stimulus of 2009 and our long expertise in infrastructure and community development to produce a package of federal policy recommendations Congress should consider to build the foundation for a long-lasting recovery.
Yesterday afternoon in Washington, DC, President Obama called on Congress to adopt a long-term transportation bill on the scale of his recently proposed four-year, $302 billion program. In a speech in front of the Key Bridge in Georgetown, the president also appealed to Congress to save the Highway Trust Fund from pending insolvency, which would threaten jobs and the progress of vital transportation projects nationwide.
Unsustainable growth, lack of economic opportunities, community health concerns, and loss of natural resources—these are issues facing cities and towns across the country, and Madison, Wisconsin is no exception. But, regional planning organizations in the Greater Madison area are now attempting to confront these endemic issues in a strategic and sustainable way that utilizes Madison’s strengths rather than allowing its weaknesses to be barriers to an effective response.
In the new round of TIGER grants announced recently, $10 million will go to the City of Birmingham, Alabama to repair its streets and build new sidewalks, bike lanes, paths and pedestrian corridors. Improvements in Pratt City, hard-hit by a tornado last year, will be the main focus of the project, called “Roads to Recovery.”
Washington, DC – In his speech last night before Congress, President Obama outlined the new American Jobs Act, which states among its goals putting construction workers back to work rebuilding the country’s roads and bridges. In response to this call Geoff Anderson, President and CEO of Smart Growth America, issued the following statement:
Investments in smart growth infrastructure like public transportation and repairing deteriorating infrastructure in existing communities will best achieve the goals outlined in President Obama’s America Jobs Act. Rather than spending millions on land and equipment and obligating taxpayers to additional maintenance, these investments will reduce future costs and put a larger proportion of funds directly into the pockets of American families.
These investment strategies will also create the jobs of the future the president recognizes are key to America’s future economic health. Robust public transportation and roads and bridges in good condition are vital to keeping America competitive in a global 21st century economy, and the American Jobs Act is an excellent opportunity to begin building these important resources.