Editor's Note: Walkable neighborhoods and bike-friendly streets are all the rage but its road rage and the legacy of decades of auto-oriented bias slowing the creation of complete communities. The impact of the automobile bias of traffic engineering is the topic of today's excerpt from Are We There Yet?
Visit the Are We There Yet? home The shift away from auto-oriented neighborhoods to a design that is more friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists is difficult because the tools used on a daily basis by traffic engineers have a built-in bias toward the interests of drivers. Travel models, for example, predict the future need for roads based on the need in the past, instead of recognizing that the priorities of Americans are changing. Studies have shown that people who live or work near transit are more likely to use it. This may seem like a no-brainer but conventional transportation models that are used to determine how…

This week TheDirectTransfer.com celebrated its first full month of service

Editor's Note: This week's Are We There Yet? excerpt discusses the success of urban freeway teardowns, something unthinkable not long ago, and the need for today's transportation investments to be made in the context of multiple considerations that were previously thought to be unrelated, ranging from the impact on public health to the impact on real estate development and investment to the impact on the prosperity of all people.
Visit the Are We There Yet? home [C]hanges in the value of walkable real estate have prompted many cities to consider something that they never would have considered a decade ago — tearing down their innercity freeways. Developers and investors are keenly interested in building in downtowns, but there’s typically very little land that hasn’t already been developed. Freeway teardowns, however, can open up vast swaths of prime downtown real estate for development. To date, four cities have…

In early 2011, Reconnecting America released the 2010 Inventory of TOD Programs and shortly after an interactive map detailing the local, regional and statewide programs that fund transit-oriented development plans and projects. Now, Reconnecting America has updated the map and the accompanying data, including information not previously published.

Editor's Note: Location, location, location is the mantra of the real estate industry. This excerpt from Are We There Yet? explains why being able to leave the car at home and walk to nearby amenities can be the pivotal element that creates a desirable location.
Visit the Are We There Yet? home At the same time that the interest in driving has been declining, the interest in walking — or at least in living in a walkable neighborhood — has been increasing, and this interest is reflected in an increase in land and property values in walkable neighborhoods. A number of recent studies have shown that cities and neighborhoods with the highest land values are those where people can easily interact and connect both within neighborhoods and to destinations outside, and they have held their value even in the recession. Several of these studies are based on the Walk Score website, which measures walkability by calculating the…

President's FY14 Budget Today the President released his FY14 budget. This package of proposals is the Administration’s annual request to Congress. Congress will have the ultimate decision-making power over what programs get funded as they develop appropriations bills later this year. Many of the proposals in the budget will face a steep uphill climb in Congress. A short summary of the Key Proposals in the Administration's FY14 Budget for Transit, TOD, and Sustainable Communities is available here. John Robert Smith Comments On Budget A statement of John Robert Smith, President and CEO of Reconnecting America, on the Administration's Proposed FY14 Budget is available here. Reconnecting America provides occasional updates on federal activities related to transit, TOD, and sustainable communities. Updates may include key legislative or regulatory actions, grant opportunities, relevant resources, or original…

Editor's Note: In this excerpt from Are We There Yet? we return to the Moving section and address automobile use and the critical need to provide alternatives for the aging Baby Boomers, who represent 20 percent of the nation's population.  
Visit the Are We There Yet? home The situation of older Americans is more difficult since most want to “age in place,” according to AARP, which means they want to live independently in their homes and communities for as long as possible. The problem is that many of the communities in which they live do not provide alternatives to the car: three AARP surveys of older adults in 2010 found that almost 40 percent of the respondents did not have adequate sidewalks near their homes; 60 percent do not live within a 10-minute walk of public transportation; and 38 percent said their public transportation choices were not reliable. The sheer size of the aging Baby Boomer population —…

CTOD Comments On FTA's Proposed Circular On Joint Development Projects Reconnecting America, Strategic Economics and the Center for Neighborhood Technology have released comments on the Federal Transit Administration's proposed circular on joint development. The three are partners in the Center for Transit-Oriented Development, the only national effort dedicated to providing best practices, research, and tools to support equitable market-based transit-oriented development (TOD), and therefore uniquely qualified to discuss the FTA's proposed guidance to transit agencies on joint development projects. Joint development projects are undertaken by transit agencies and public, private, or nonprofit entities to create transit-supportive development near transit stations. Joint development projects often take place on land owned by the transit agency, and can be stand-alone projects or part of larger TOD efforts. Transit agencies' contribution to TOD through joint development activities…