How Do We Know if Complete Streets (or Any Streets) Are Meeting the Needs of Community Members?

As Smart Growth America releases its best practices to evaluate the success of Complete Streets efforts, we at Salud America! want to draw attention to how transportation needs and barriers have been conceptualized. This post was written by Amanda Merck from Salud America!  Across the fields of urban planning, public health, and health care, transportation … Continued

Complete Streets

Introducing the Complete Streets Policy Action Guide

The way we design and manage our streets holds immense power in shaping our communities. Yet, all too often, we prioritize the movement of cars over the safety and well-being of people. It’s time to challenge this status quo and implement a transformative approach to transportation planning—one that centers around the principles of Complete Streets. … Continued

Complete Streets

Staff spotlight: Heidi Simon, SGA Director of Thriving Communities

Heidi Simon has been the Director of Thriving Communities at SGA for a year and also leads our work with the National Complete Streets Coalition. In this Q&A, she reflects on her first year at SGA and what she’s looking forward to in 2024.   Tell us about your background and how your experience led you … Continued

our staff

Donate now to support better transportation options and thriving communities

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

Transportation

Community Connectors kickoff: Six key takeaways from our convening in Atlanta

Last month, more than 100 participants from the 15 communities selected to participate in the Community Connectors program convened in Atlanta to start building trust and relationships, plan out the scopes for the capacity-building grants they’re receiving from this 18-month program, and lay the groundwork for their ambitious projects to reconnect their communities. Joined by … Continued

Technical assistance

Smart Growth Means Accessibility: SGA Attends Disability Economic Justice Collaborative Anniversary Celebration

Inaccessibility in society often means that disabled people simply don’t have the same opportunities as their non-disabled counterparts. Barriers make something as simple as leaving the house difficult, and sometimes impossible; often leaving disabled people cut off from society. Despite being more likely to rely on public transportation, one of the biggest mobility challenges cited … Continued

Advocacy