Creating Equitable, Healthy, And Sustainable Communities
February 9, 2013
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A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Sustainable Communities and Office of Environmental Justice has been added to the Research Center's best practices database.
News: Austin HSR Dreams, Smart Streetcar Plans, Transit Riders Regional Connection, Penn. Transpo Gas Tax, Smart Growth & Environmental Justice
February 8, 2013
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Tracks News - In this section you'll find news from cities around the country as well as interviews and general reporting on issues. It might be from a newspaper or a blog, but it counts as news.
TRANSPORT
Austin: City Could Be on the High Speed Rail Future
KUT News
Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell has promised a public vote on an urban rail system before he leaves office. Considering Austin was just ranked the fourth worst U.S. city for traffic congestion, that news could make for a lot of happy commuters...
Read On Charlotte: Atlanta Mayor - Streetcar a Smart Investment Charlotte Observer
With the Charlotte City Council deadlocked over whether to build 2.5 miles of a streetcar line,…
Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell has promised a public vote on an urban rail system before he leaves office. Considering Austin was just ranked the fourth worst U.S. city for traffic congestion, that news could make for a lot of happy commuters...
Read On Charlotte: Atlanta Mayor - Streetcar a Smart Investment Charlotte Observer
With the Charlotte City Council deadlocked over whether to build 2.5 miles of a streetcar line,…
Infrastructure Financing Options for Transit-Oriented Development
January 22, 2013
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Livability Literature Review: A Synthesis Of Current Practice
January 22, 2013
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The National Association of Regional Councils' review of literature about livability has been added to the Research Center's best practices database.
Bay Area Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing Fund Earns EPA Recognition
December 11, 2012
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Reconnecting America was honored to learn that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recognized the Bay Area Transit-Oriented Affordable Housing Fund (TOAH) as an honorable mention recipient of the 2012 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement in the category of Programs and Policies for TOAH’s work to provide financing for affordable housing development and community services throughout the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.
Federal Policy Update: Smart Growth & Economic Success
December 11, 2012
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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,…
Blogosphere: Tacoma Link Plans, NY Plan Ignores Bike & Ped, Streetcar Myths, DC Housing Shortage, Smarter Growth
December 7, 2012
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Blogosphere - In this section you'll find commentary, opinion and editorials from blogs and newspapers around the country. The opinions expressed in these blogs do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Reconnecting America.
TRANSPORT
Blogosphere: Six Downtown Alternatives for Link
Tacoma Tomorrow
Yesterday, I was able to attend the Sound Transit open house on Tacoma Link Expansion. Following the last comment period, ST and their consultants compiled a list of 24 distinct corridor alternatives. These alternatives were based on the roughly 300 comments that were filed...
Read On Blogosphere: Spending Blueprint Overlooks Walk/Bike Streetsblog
Advocates for safer streets are alarmed by a…
Yesterday, I was able to attend the Sound Transit open house on Tacoma Link Expansion. Following the last comment period, ST and their consultants compiled a list of 24 distinct corridor alternatives. These alternatives were based on the roughly 300 comments that were filed...
Read On Blogosphere: Spending Blueprint Overlooks Walk/Bike Streetsblog
Advocates for safer streets are alarmed by a…
Livability Literature Review: A Synthesis Of Current Practice
October 18, 2012|National Association of Regional Councils
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Introduction and Purpose
In 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (U.S. HUD) created the Partnership for Sustainable Communities (the Partnership) “to help improve access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment in communities nationwide” (U.S. EPA, 2009, para. 6).
Guided by the goals of the Partnership, the federal government has committed significant resources and attention to implementing livability in state and local governments. While high-level, strategic federal investment in livability is relatively recent; states, regions, and localities have planned and implemented livable communities for more than a decade. For example, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities (Met Council) established their programs in 1995. As many of the…
Blogosphere: LA Rail Ridership, Bus Vs. Train Riders, TOD Lessons For DOTs, Urban Rock Climbing, Suburban Ponzi Scheme
September 21, 2012
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Blogosphere - In this section you'll find commentary, opinion and editorials from blogs and newspapers around the country. The opinions expressed in these blogs do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Reconnecting America.
TRANSPORT
Blogosphere: Expo Ridership Closing on 2020 Goals
Streetsblog LA
It seems rail transit can perform just fine in Los Angeles, despite what folks at the pretend-Libertarian Reason Foundation would tell you...
Read On Blogosphere: Would New Taxi Rules Shut Down Uber? Greater Greater Washington
The DC Taxi Commission (DCTC) has proposed new regulations for "sedan" services, rides you pre-arrange instead of just hopping in a…
It seems rail transit can perform just fine in Los Angeles, despite what folks at the pretend-Libertarian Reason Foundation would tell you...
Read On Blogosphere: Would New Taxi Rules Shut Down Uber? Greater Greater Washington
The DC Taxi Commission (DCTC) has proposed new regulations for "sedan" services, rides you pre-arrange instead of just hopping in a…
