Today’s stories:
Train travel makes a comeback
MSN Money – December 17, 2012
But given high gas prices, worsening traffic conditions, airline industry cuts and government pledges to renew the nation’s infrastructure, it appears passenger train service is quietly making a comeback across the country.
Public transportation use on the rise in D.C. region
Washington Examiner – December 16, 2012
About 37.5 percent of D.C. residents use public transportation to get to work, compared with 42 percent who drive, according to the 2007-2011 average released by the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. In 1999, 33.2 percent took public transit and 49.4 percent drove.
M@dison Building, D:hive, coffee shops dominate start-up news in 2012
Model D – December 18, 2012
Small business news in 2012 wasn’t dominated by individual start-ups as much as it was the places that let them grow. Here are the Top 5 enablers of Detroit’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
D.C. aims to create sustainable ‘living building’
Washington Post – December 13, 2012
Seeking to further distinguish the District as a national leader in urban sustainability, officials plan to create the city’s first “living building,” joining a green certification program that promotes the highest level of architectural sustainability.
A Complete Streets workshop in Fairbanks, Alaska, in October.
We’re doing a special blog series highlighting some of Smart Growth America’s favorite accomplishments from 2012. This is the ninth of twelve installments.
In 2012, we helped communities across the country learn how to grow smarter through technical assistance workshops on a range of smart growth strategies.
In Eastport, ME, we provided a two day “Cool Planning” workshop in September that focused on helping the community find strategies for reducing its fossil fuel dependency to help Eastport create long-term strategies and bring down heating costs. Eastport’s City Council supports trying out new ideas, and new public-private partnerships are working to help make future development more sustainable. One of the newest partnerships has been with Thermal Efficiency: Eastport, a project focused on wintertime heating issues. Project staff worked with Smart Growth America during the workshop and is in the process of creating a report outlining recommendations for local development that will be submitted to the City.
We’re doing a special blog series highlighting some of Smart Growth America’s favorite accomplishments from 2012. This is the eighth of twelve installments.
In 2012, we joined together with colleagues and allies to learn from one another and work together on our common goals.
At the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, we talked about area-wide planning, the transportation debate in Congress, infill development in small cities, implementing Complete Streets, progressive trends in state transportation policy, how to turn transit-oriented development in to economic prosperity, and how to create political support for smart growth projects.
Today’s stories:
Orange County toll roads under review by California
Los Angeles Times (CA) – December 11, 2012
There have long been questions about the long-term financial viability of the San Joaquin Hills and Foothill-Eastern corridors. But those concerns have now heightened, and a government oversight panel chaired by state Treasurer Bill Lockyer has launched a formal inquiry into whether the roads can cover mounting interest payments to private investors who purchased tollway bonds.
Federal funding on track for M-1, regional transit
Detroit News (MI) – December 13, 2012
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said federal funding for Michigan transportation efforts is on track, but the state must complete action on a regional transit authority.
Landowners air concerns about effects of high-speed rail
Fresno Bee (CA) – December 12, 2012
Farmers have been among the most vocal critics of the train system in the San Joaquin Valley, and Farm Bureau organizations in Madera and Merced counties are among those suing the rail agency to stop work on the Merced-Fresno section approved by the rail authority this year.
State appears ready to get on board with Orlando-to-Miami train
Orlando Sentinel (FL) – December 14, 2012
The state appears set to approve a key step in All Aboard Florida’s quest to build a privately financed $1 billion train to carry tourists and business travelers from Miami to Orlando International Airport.
Today’s stories:
140 acres in Detroit sold to grow trees
Detroit News (MI) – December 12, 2012
A divided City Council approved a controversial initiative to sell about 140 acres of vacant land for the Hantz Woodlands project Tuesday over raucous public opposition.
Bill would protect those tidying vacant properties
Columbus Dispatch (OH) – December 13, 2012
A state bill would allow residents and neighborhood groups to clean up vacant, neglected properties without the fear of being cited for trespassing.
Maryland officials call for hike in gas tax
Washington Examiner – December 12, 2012
Numerous local leaders in Maryland clamored Wednesday for an increase in the state’s gas tax, sales tax or tolls to pay for the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to pay for transit and road improvements.
Decision on Honolulu rail lawsuit expected soon
Hawaii News Now – December 12, 2012
Today was the much anticipated day that the rail lawsuit was back in court. While both sides presented their arguments the judge did not make a decision, instead saying that will come in short order.
CEO and President of Smart Growth America Geoff Anderson and Vice President & Director of Policy Development & Implementation Bill Fulton. Photo by the San Diego Union-Tribune.
We’re doing a special blog series highlighting some of Smart Growth America’s favorite accomplishments from 2012. This is the sixth of twelve installments.
In 2012, newspapers and media outlets from across the country reported on smart growth issues in ways they never had before. Here are some of the highlights:
Smart Growth’s Revival
San Diego Union-Tribune (CA) – February 13, 2012
‘Smart growth,” a planning concept popular since the 1990s, is gaining traction as the construction industry looks to a revival, say advocates of building housing, shops and workplaces near each other and transportation networks. But they acknowledge that neighborhoods still are leery of change.
Walkability increasingly drives developers and real estate market
Washington Post – November 16, 2012
“Walkable” is a feature sparking sales and energizing future development and redevelopment, according to a recent report by a George Washington University professor that calls the Washington area a national model for compact urban areas where residents can live and work without cars.
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Today’s stories:
Health Centers Find Opportunity in Brownfields
New York Times – December 11, 2012
The community health center rising on a derelict corner here in West Philadelphia never would have broken ground if not for the asbestos inside the building that was demolished to make way for it. Because of the contamination, Spectrum Health Services received a $2 million federal cleanup grant, the first piece of a $14 million construction financing puzzle.
Jersey Shore Development Failures Exposed By Hurricane Sandy
Huffington Post – December 11, 2012
Sandy is now testing the merits of the absolute right to rebuild like never before, resurrecting long-expressed concerns that it sets up homeowners and the government for future disasters. As New Jersey confronts the question of how and where to reconstruct its battered shore, experts warn that the state’s land-use laws are likely to perpetuate what has played out here for decades: cycles of reckless development followed by storm-inflicted devastation.
Top 10 Small U.S. Cities Growing Faster Than Their Suburbs
Atlantic Cities – December 11, 2012
A new study released Monday by Smart Growth America, the national community-development advocacy organization, expanded on Frey’s work to examine the population growth rates in the center cities of small U.S. metros (those with under one million people) between 2010 to 2011.
10 Reasons Millennials Might Abandon Big Cities
Business Insider – December 11, 2012
Cities face a new demographic reality: The young and single are aging and having children. If the pattern of the past 50 years holds, they might soon set their sights on suburbia.
The Fairborn-CEMEX town plant redevelopment is one of hundreds of brownfield sites across the country. Photo by the Ohio Office of Redevelopment, via Flickr.
We’re doing a special blog series highlighting some of Smart Growth America’s favorite accomplishments from 2012. This is the fifth of twelve installments.
In 2012 Smart Growth America welcomed two major new programs to our advocacy work.
In February, we announced a new alliance with the National Brownfields Coalition. The National Brownfields Coalition, now a program of Smart Growth America, seeks to raise awareness about the economic benefits of transforming vacant brownfields into thriving neighborhoods. The Coalition brought with it expertise on federal policies that promote brownfield revitalization and sustainable development have helped us pursue public policies aimed at reinvigorating neighborhoods across the country.
Today’s stories:
Breathing Life, and Art, Into a Downtrodden Neighborhood
New York Times – December 8, 2012
The newfound allure of Wynwood is the latest testament to how art — and creative developers, like Tony Goldman, who helped remake SoHo and South Beach — can sprinkle its metaphysical magic and transform even the bleakest places.
City of Philadelphia Wants To Get ‘Instant’ Bicycle Rentals Rolling
CBS Philadelphia (PA) – December 10, 2012
City Hall is now officially pushing a “bike share” program and will be asking City Council to help fund it to get it started.
With Billions Of Transportation Projects Needed, State Looks To Transit-Oriented Development
Hartford Courant (CT) – December 10, 2012
With the state budget in the red and federal aid at risk of plunging in two years, how will Connecticut maintain its highways and expand its mass transit network? At least part of the answer is to draw revenue from successful private development around new transit stations as they’re built, the governor said.
Amtrak breaks Thanksgiving ridership record, again
Washington Post – December 10, 2012
In what is rapidly becoming a post-Thanksgiving tradition, Amtrak has announced that a record-breaking number of riders boarded its trains during the holiday travel week.
Today’s stories:
Miami-to-Orlando passenger rail on track
Sun-Sentinel (FL) – December 10, 2012
A new passenger rail service is on track to begin in 2015, whisking travelers from Miami to Orlando, while offering hourly trains, gourmet meals and Wi-Fi.
‘Fitness parks’ catch on in cities
USA Today – December 9, 2012
Free outdoor gyms, the latest weapon in fighting the nation’s obesity epidemic, are sprouting up in city parks across the country. Clusters of traditional fitness equipment from elliptical machines to leg press and sit-up benches are being installed in city parks, often in poorer neighborhoods that may not have access to healthful options.
Scaled-down urban farm still a tough sell in Detroit
Detroit News (MI) – December 10, 2012
After three years of worldwide publicity, City Hall bureaucracy and local controversy, Hantz Woodlands Detroit is set for a public hearing today and a possible City Council vote Tuesday.
‘Needy’ workers will get jobs on high-speed rail
The Bakersfield Californian – December 7, 2012
The California High-Speed Rail Authority took steps Thursday to ensure that at least some jobs building the system will go to people who are most in need of work.
