The Surdna Foundation is developing a Sustainable Environments Storybank, the focus of which is to feature innovative ways to update infrastructure and foster healthy, sustainable and just communities. In this vein, Surdna has asked Reconnecting America and other Surdna grantees to contribute real-life stories about the green economy and sustainable infrastructure.

In January, Transportation for America released Making the Most of MAP-21, a 109-page handbook that explains the many changes in federal transportation policy — positive and negative — and outlines how local officials and advocates can help get involved and urge states to make sure that MAP-21 — Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century — money is used for the priorities of local communities. On Feb. 27, Transportation for America held a webinar focused on helping rural communities to take advantage of the MAP-21 changes. Among the speakers was Reconnecting America's President and CEO John Robert Smith.

The Ontario Growth Secretariat has completed two new case studies of completed projects that illustrate key policies in the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The case studies are King Street Reconstruction in Kitchener and Artscape Wychwood Barns in Toronto. These projects were selected because they:

The National Association of Regional Councils' review of literature about livability has been added to the Research Center's best practices database.

Editor's note: One issue discussed in the Living chapter of Are We There Yet? is that changing demographics aren't just influencing political outcomes, they are also influencing the kinds of houses people desire and where they want to live. People want more housing choices and more mobility choices. In many regions, this is translating into an increased demand for rental housing near quality public transportation.
Visit the Are We There Yet? home One lesson that emerges from the housing market meltdown is that people need and want more choices — in both urban and suburban locations — especially more affordable choices. If the McMansion typified one extreme, Tiny House blog typifies the other, and offers options for downsizing. This is a trend that has also been tracked on the cover of Dwell: While a 2005 magazine cover was headlined “Small Is the New Big: Homes Under 2,200 Sq. Ft.,” and a 2006 cover read…

Visit the Are We There Yet? home The previous chapters on living, working and moving do not, of course, sum up all the things Americans need in order to thrive. We also need exercise and clean air, safe neighborhoods, good schools and quality childcare, healthy and affordable food, parks, shops, arts and culture — and a “built environment” in which all of this is available to people regardless of age or income or whether they can drive. but if indeed the “quality of human capital” is a key indicator of whether regions and the U.S. as a whole will be able to compete in the global economy — as discussed in the economist Intelligence Unit report at the beginning of the Working chapter — then we also need to invest in human development, an essential element of thriving. This point was persuasively made by the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), a national community development finance institution that serves as…

Visit the Are We There Yet? home Trends underway in the housing and jobs market portend a need for more transportation choices to help people get where they need to go as well as to enhance this country’s economic competitiveness. Market trends confirm the shift in demand away from single-use, single-family neighborhoods, corporate campuses and shopping centers connected by highways, and toward compact mixed-use neighborhoods where streets are not the sole province of fast-moving cars but are shared with pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users. Providing more transportation choices is critical to supporting this 21st century lifestyle and it seems to be what both younger and older generations want. For the younger generation, traffic congestion, $5 a gallon gas prices, and the popularity of smartphones and social media have made driving far less appealing than it was to their parents. According to the U.S. department…

Smart Growth & Economic Success The EPA's Smart Growth Program has released a new report, Smart Growth and Economic Success, on the economic advantages of smart growth development. As this report shows, smart growth development -- compact, walkable, and diverse -- is attractive to developers, investors, local governments, and communities because it offers new opportunities for economic growth that is also environmentally sustainable: Compact: Using land and resources more efficiently and redeveloping old or neglected areas while retaining existing infrastructure can create economic advantages for real estate developers and investors, businesses, and local governments. Compact development can generate more revenue per acre because it uses land more efficiently. It can reduce the costs of land and infrastructure for individual projects and the costs of providing fire and police protection, utilities,…