Ben Bakkenta is a Program Manager for the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) in the Seattle Metropolitan Region. PSRC is spearheading the innovative Growing Transit Communities project to bridge the gap between the broad transit visions for the region and the implementation of projects at the local level. The project focuses on existing and future … Continued
Hannah McKinney, Vice Mayor of Kalamazoo, Michigan, on engaging residents in the development of a Comprehensive Plan for future sustainable development. See more interviews with local leaders here >>
Ryan Coonerty, former Mayor of Santa Cruz, CA and Co-founder of NextSpace, discusses what Santa Cruz is doing to attract the new creative class of residents and businesses. See more video interviews with Local Leaders here >>
Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council sat down with Dan Burden, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute to learn about what makes for a “walkable” neighborhood and what communities can do to become more walkable.
“A walkable neighborhood is a right-scale neighborhood where you can walk, you have good street connectivity…streets that are reasonably quiet and peaceful, that relate to the people living there, shopping there, and enjoying their neighborhood,” says Burden.
Many communities are coming to realize smart growth provides substantial economic benefits in addition to creating great neighborhoods. Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council recently sat down with Joseph Minicozzi, the principal of Urban3, LLC, a private consulting firm specializing in land value economics, property tax analysis and community design, to discuss how some communities are using smart growth strategies to their economic benefit.
Hannah McKinney believes that to create strong metropolitan areas in this country we have to focus on creating strong neighborhoods. As Vice Mayor of Kalamazoo, Michigan; she’s working to make that happen in her region.
“That sense of being tied to a physical location is something that, for many people doesn’t exist anymore,” says McKinney, “We need to create neighborhoods that are unique, that are livable.”
An Advisory Board member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, Hannah McKinney has served on the City Commission for 16 years. She has a long history of working to make Kalamazoo a great place to live, work, and visit. In 2003, McKinney co-chaired the Convening our Community project; a community-building initiative focused on creating a smart growth report to guide land use decisions. McKinney worked on the city’s Comprehensive Plan update, Downtown Plan, and the creation of a 2010 Master Plan to guide future growth and development, all while protecting Kalamazoo’s unique character – – and that’s only part of it.
Kristin Palmer had long been interested in smart growth strategies, but smart growth really became a focal point of her first term on City Council in 2010, as New Orleans still struggled to rebuild five years after Hurricane Katrina.
“When you’re trying to rebuild from nothing, from ground zero, what are the things that make sense when you come back and rebuild? Access to public transportation and economic corridors was really part of that success,” says Palmer. “If you had access to grocery stores and you had a walkable community, and you could get to the resources you needed, those are the communities that rebuilt faster and better.”
Alexis Smith, Planner/Urban Designer for San Francisco’s Planning Department, talks about the city’s parklet program. See more interviews with issue experts here >>
Adam Arredondo, CEO and Co-founder of Local Ruckus in Kansas City, MO, talks about Kansas City’s Startup Village and the role of urban design in attracting the startup community. See more interviews with issue experts here >>
Ariel Ben-Amos, Senior Planner/Analyst for the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities in Philadelphia, talks about the city’s parklet program. See more interviews with issue experts here >>