Smart Growth Around America

In the first ten months of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), investments in public transportation have created twice as many jobs per dollar as investments in highways. A new analysis by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Smart Growth America, and U.S. PIRG shows that by mimicking funding levels for transportation set out in ARRA, the Jobs for Main Street Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December missed an opportunity to create additional jobs where they are needed most. Read more on the report, “What we learned from the Stimulus, and how to use what we learned to speed job creation in the 2010 jobs bill.”

An analysis of congressional data by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, the U.S. Public Interest Research Groups and Smart Growth America shows that stimulus funds spent on public transportation were a more effective job creator than stimulus funds spent on highways. In the 10 months since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was signed, investing in public transportation produced twice as many jobs as investing in roads.

Too often, communities are built with housing meant to serve only one segment of the population. People have different housing needs as young adults than they do as part of a family, or as empty-nesters. And as our population skews older and older, we need to ensure our communities can accommodate older [...]

We’ve said before that houses close to retail and jobs are good for public health, traffic congestion, and air quality. Aside from those worthwhile external benefits for everyone, people simply like living in walkable neighborhoods, within walking distance of the places they need to go.
The massive popularity of Walk Score — the site that measures [...]

There’s a handy interactive map accompanying the Trust for America’s Health new report, titled “F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing America.” The results of the 2009 edition are fascinating — and frightening. Adult obesity rates dip below 20% in just one state (Colorado.)  The percentage of obese and overweight children is [...]

While states may typically be excellent at spending federal money quickly, the big question is: are states also good at spending federal money wisely?
Within the $787 billion stimulus bill that became law in February, Congress provided states and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) with $26.6 billion for transportation projects. States and MPOs were given considerable flexibility [...]

A new study, released by the Center for Housing Policy, compares housing costs in over 200 U.S. metropolitan areas with the wages earned by workers in 60 occupations — and finds that often, workers in key professions are unable to afford buying a house even after the recent drop in housing prices. Some in [...]

Pediatricians should help work against conventional suburban development (top) and for traditional neighborhoods (lower). Why? For starters, so kids can walk to school again. AAP’s Policy Statement includes this drawing by Duany, Plater-Zyberk. A version of the drawing is available at http://www.dpz.com/research.aspx, Diagram #25.

Yesterday, the American Academy of Pediatrics adopted a ground-breaking policy statement on [...]

Click to learn more about the report

Governors and state departments of transportation around the country are burning the midnight oil to prepare lists of transportation projects that could be funded under President Obama’s economic stimulus package, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
As they develop these lists of transportation projects to be funded under the stimulus, [...]

You’ve probably seen some of the anecdotal evidence in newspaper stories or other outlets recently about how many center cities have experienced a resurgence of residential growth within their borders over the last 10 to 20 years.
Many of us had wondered if there had been any systematic examination of building permit trends to document the [...]

Yesterday, on the heels of the Wall Street bailout and hours before the final presidential debate, policymakers, community and business leaders, activists and citizens gathered in six cities across the country to call on the next President and Congress to strengthen our economy by building a 21st Century transportation system.
They were joined by more than [...]

We noticed this new report from the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, entitled “Primer on Transportation and Climate Change.” (H/T to David Crossley of the Gulf Coast Institute.) In it, they say some really terrific things about facing up to the realities of climate change while acknowledging we have to change our behavior [...]

How can we cut our emissions, fuel consumption, while also reducing congestion and providing more space for jobs and housing?
The US EPA’s smart growth office released a new study (5 mb pdf) examining the impact that good infill development can have on reducing transportation demand and lowering emissions. In some ways, this study picks up [...]

Chart on housing prices against gas prices from the CEO’s for Cities report, Driven to the Brink (2001 recession shaded)

If you look back over the last two weeks at what we’ve been pointing to in the news and circulating on the blog, there was a clear trend emerging: Rising gas prices and escalating transportation [...]

After nearly two years of study and debate, the Congressionally mandated, bipartisan commission charged with predicting our nation’s transportation future emerged last week with it’s collective hair on fire, screaming that our driver-less SUV of a federal policy is headed for a cliff. To which the news media responded with a collective yawn, except for [...]

Three-fourths of Americans believe that being smarter about development and improving public transportation are better long-term solutions for reducing traffic congestion than building new roads, according to a survey released today by the National Association of Realtors® and Smart Growth America.
The 2007 Growth and Transportation Survey details what Americans [...]

The growing demand for conveniently located housing in walkable, accessible, compact neighborhoods with a mix of uses has been well-documented, but according to research released today, meeting that demand could significantly reduce the growth in the number of miles Americans drive, shrinking the nation’s carbon footprint while giving people more housing choices.
A new book, pre-released [...]

Atlanta has been a region typically known for its affordable housing stock and rapidly-growing suburbs and exurbs. But a new study being released in Atlanta this week chronicles affordability in the region and finds that not only is there a dearth of affordable housing, there is a disconnect between affordable housing and its major job [...]

Falling bridges, sweetheart earmarks for developers’ highways … The evidence just keeps rolling in that the lack of accountability in how our national transportation dollars are spent is hurting us in myriad ways. Today, another potent example: A study out of St. Louis University showing how the construction firms paid with our tax dollars for [...]

It’s easy to figure out that driving less means more time to do other things. But can it also result in money in the bank? According to economist Joe Cortright, cities and their residents might be reaping financial dividends by investing in transit and walkability, and mixing uses so that jobs and housing are close [...]

When the United Kingdom announced their goal of adding 3 million new homes by 2020 to relieve pressure on an overburdened housing market, some residents probably had visions of great natural places like the London Greenbelt or Scottish Highlands filling up with new housing developments. In a country where space is at a premium, a new report by the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment makes the case that it’s a more economical and environmentally sounddecision to add these 3 million homes by creating “walkable, mixed use, mixed income developments instead of car-dependent housing estates.”

As gas costs go up and geopolitical concern over oil supplies rises, many Americans are feeling increasingly vulnerable. But residents in some metro areas are more exposed than others. Places where “affordable” housing lies at the distant fringe no longer look so affordable. Spread-out metros like Atlanta, where Gov. Sonny Perdue cancelled school during the post-Katrina fuel shortage, are especially susceptible to fluctuations in gas prices…