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Smart Growth America cultivates vibrant, sustainable communities with diverse living and transportation options, enhancing quality of life for all.
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Throughout the year, we host a number of in-person and virtual events covering topics related to public health, social equity, and climate resilience.
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Even the best-planned cities have a few hidden alleys.

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From reduced opportunities to travel by bike or foot to a lack of parks and green spaces, our built environment actively contributes to the state of our physical and mental well-being, and nowhere is its negative impact felt more than in Black and Brown communities.
<figure id="attachment_86102" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-86102" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-86102 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/taylor-flowe-suburban-housing-unsplash-1024x656.jpg" alt="A row of identical houses in a suburban neighborhood" width="1024" height="656" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-86102" class="wp-caption-text"><a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/white-wooden-house-4zRkgmuZH-8">(Taylor Flowe, Unsplash)</a></figcaption></figure>
It has been well documented that Black and Latinx households face higher risks of developing physical ailments <a href="https://housingmatters.urban.org/articles/connection-between-housing-health-and-racial-equity">including asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, and experiencing a heart attack or stroke compared to white households</a>. These physical health outcomes are compounded by the mental health disparities seen in Black and Brown communities. Residents are experiencing <a href="https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/148477">higher rates of social isolation</a> (a key factor contributing to the <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf">national loneliness epidemic</a>.) This increases the risk of experiencing dementia, heart disease, premature death, depression and/or anxiety.
Much of the blame for poor health outcomes in communities of color lies with our built environment and the policies that shape it, including zoning regulations.
Since the 1920s, zoning has not only been used as a tool to separate land uses, but also a means to <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/zoning-for-equity-raising-all-boats/">socially separate people along the lines of wealth, class, and race</a>. This can be seen through the racist practice of redlining, where the government published maps that designated neighborhoods based on their “residential security” into categories of “best” (green) to “hazardous”(red). Areas marked in red were generally places with higher populations of people of color. This land designation was an intentional tool used to spur widespread disinvestment in Black and Brown communities, further destabilizing neighborhoods and depriving residents of necessary <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/redlining">resources such as grocery stores and supermarkets</a>. Residents of redlined neighborhoods were additionally denied access to financial services including mortgages and insurance loans, causing disparities in homeownership rates, locking in patterns of residential segregation, and contributing to the racial wealth gap.
Despite efforts to disallow the inequitable practices of the past, zoning has largely continued to reinforce this reality, and it shows in the data: <a href="https://time.com/6074243/segregation-america-increasing/">American neighborhoods are more residentially segregated today than ever before</a>. In this way, zoning has not only created barriers to developing social connections but also has restricted our opportunities to build relationships with people who differ from ourselves. These relationships have strong ripple effects in communities, helping to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235746349_Social_participation_and_social_trust_in_adolescence_The_importance_of_heterogeneous_encounters">build social trust</a> and strengthen mental health outcomes by reducing loneliness and increasing an individual’s socialness and sense of empathy—all factors that lead to healthier, more socially connected communities.
Today, the most common form of zoning in the U.S., often referred to as Euclidean zoning, tends to separate uses, leading to areas where only low-density single-family housing can be built. People who live in communities that are designed this way often have to travel long distances and take solo trips by car to get to work or go to the store. As a result, they have fewer opportunities for informal social interactions that can lead to deeper relationships, as well as fewer chances to organically engage in physical activity like walking or biking to school or work.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]
<h4>Public realm disparities</h4>
Residents of majority-Black and Brown neighborhoods often have a deficit of people-centered infrastructure including <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/15/the-inequality-of-sidewalks/">sidewalks</a> and safe crosswalks, as well as <a href="https://chicagopolicyreview.org/2020/09/23/racial-disparity-in-access-to-public-green-space/">substantially less access to green spaces</a>. Black people are <a href="https://housingmatters.urban.org/articles/connection-between-housing-health-and-racial-equity">52 percent more likely</a> to live in a census block group with heat-risk conditions compared to white people. Heat risk can include having little to no green space, and a high volume of impervious surfaces like asphalt and concrete pavements. These conditions create a higher risk for heat-related deaths and illnesses.[/alert]
These combined factors have created spaces that discourage physical activity, increase surface temperatures (leading to more extreme heat events), and expose residents to toxic air pollution levels <a href="https://itdp.org/2021/03/10/highways-and-zoning-tools-of-racist-policy/">(which has been linked with developing asthma, cognitive development delays, and premature death)</a>. And though everyone experiences these health impacts on some level, the people who are most at risk are people of color.
<h3>What can be done?</h3>
Zoning got us into this crisis, and it can get us out. Zoning is a tool that yields different built environment results depending on how it is leveraged. Enacting zoning reforms that prioritize more equitable, people-centered, smart growth development can help to reverse the inequitable trend in our built environment. For example, zoning regulations that <a href="https://housingmatters.urban.org/articles/three-ways-zoning-can-advance-housing-and-climate-justice">prioritize affordable housing production</a> can improve access to housing, and studies show that having safe, affordable housing <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/briefs/housing-and-health-overview-literature">helps to promote better health outcomes</a>. Additionally, zoning that prioritizes green spaces like parks can encourage an active lifestyle, reduce risk of heat-related deaths and illnesses, and even reduce stress, anxiety, and depression for community residents.
Land use regulations have encouraged a built environment that fails to serve everyone’s needs for far too long. But it doesn’t have to be this way. By making changes to outdated, harmful zoning regulations, community leaders can help ensure that all residents can experience stronger health outcomes, particularly for residents that are most vulnerable.
Looking to learn more about zoning reform? Check out <a href="https://knowledge.uli.org/en/Reports/Research%20Reports/2023/Reshaping%20the%20City%20Zoning%20for%20a%20More%20Equitable%20Resilient%20and%20Sustainable%20Future">our Reshaping the City report</a> (co-authored with the Urban Land Institute) and take a look at <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/how-form-based-codes-can-help-reshape-a-city/">how form-based codes (an alternative land use regulation) can shape a city’s built environment</a>.

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A recent backpacking trip using public transit shed light for this urban dweller on the value of rural transit service.


Last month, my partner joined me for a 4-day backpacking trip on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in Northern Oregon. Unlike Switzerland where trains and ski lifts carry trekkers most anywhere, most backpacking trips in the U.S. involve driving a car to the trailhead. This trip was different. We left the car at home.


<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-86093 size-large"><img decoding="async" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Mount-Hood-Express_SGA-T4A-photo-1024x768.png" alt="A bus waits to transport passengers to the mountain rising up in the background" class="wp-image-86093"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Mount Hood Express delivers skiers, hikers, mountain bikers and workers to Timberline Lodge high up on Mount Hood.</figcaption></figure>


After a phenomenal four days and 50 miles, passing through semi-alpine environs and then down into spectacular Eagle Creek in the Columbia River Gorge, we arrived in Cascade Locks where the PCT crosses the Columbia River into Washington.


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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Chris-Rall-photo-2-1024x768.png" alt="An orange mountain peak in front of a clear blue sky" class="wp-image-86095"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Sunset on Mount Hood on our first night in the wilderness.</figcaption></figure>


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Chris-Rall-photo-3-1024x768.png" alt="A sign post atop a mound of earth in the middle of the wilderness" class="wp-image-86096"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A cairn marks the trail above Eagle Creek &amp; the Columbia River Gorge.</figcaption></figure>
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We had time to grab a meal in Cascade Locks before riding the Gorge Express back to Gateway Transit Center in Portland and taking a Trimet Light Rail and bus from there to home-sweet-home.


Had we tried to do this trip by car, we would have had to use two cars and spend hours “running shuttle” to position vehicles where we needed them at the start and end, plus pick a car back up after the hike. Public transit made it possible to hike from point-to-point instead of a loop, so that we could progress through the landscape as beautiful scenery unfolded before us.


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Chris-Rall-4-1024x768.png" alt="A purple bus picks up passengers in a rural area" class="wp-image-86097"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Catching the Gorge Express after lunch in Cascade Locks.</figcaption></figure>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Rural transit doing quadruple duty</h3>


There are other reasons to give transit access to outdoor recreation another look. As we explained in <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/rural-roadmap/">An Active Roadmap: Best Practices in Rural Mobility</a>, the more than one million rural residents without access to a car might find access to public parks and recreation areas challenging, even when they live relatively close to these areas. 


Public transit can be useful for enhancing access to outdoor recreation. I’ve seen many teenagers from Sandy riding the Mount Hood Express—the bus we used to get to Timberline Lodge—so they could go skiing without getting a ride from their parents. That same bus helps mountain bikers in the summer to get up higher on the mountain so they can enjoy more downhilling and less climbing. In central Oregon, <a href="https://cascadeseasttransit.com/ride/ride-the-river/">Cascade East Transit’s Ride the River shuttle</a> serves various tubers and stand-up paddle boarders enjoying the Deschutes River, carrying folks upstream so they can float down through the City of Bend, Oregon.


For some really popular outdoor destinations, public transit can help address parking and traffic problems and help transit riders avoid hassles. I’ve been on the Mount Hood Express on a bluebird winter powder day passing a line of cars blocked from proceeding because the Timberline parking lot was full. During our ride on the Gorge Express headed home from our backpacking trip, a couple got off the bus at Multnomah Falls with stickers from the bus driver allowing them to bypass the permitting system that regulates visitor parking, allowing them to quickly jump into their activities.


And not everyone using these transit services is there to play. Transit services that urban dwellers use to access outdoor recreation are also often really useful rural public transportation. Our bus to Timberline lodge carried restaurant workers to Government Camp and Timberline employees to the lodge. When we got off the Gorge Express at Gateway Transit Center in Portland, a few fellow passengers from Hood River were headed to the Portland airport.


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Other examples of public transit enhancing access to outdoor recreation</h3>


Compared to developed European and Asian countries, folks traveling in the U.S. have to drive to outdoor recreation much more often. This can limit access to these public spaces and increase harmful transportation emissions caused by private vehicle use. However, there are some bright spots. The state of Colorado runs <a href="https://ridebustang.com/snowstang-mountain-service/">Snowstang</a> (an outgrowth of its <a href="https://ridebustang.com/">Bustang</a> intercity bus program) that focuses on delivering skiers to the many ski resorts in the Centennial State. Ski resorts are in fact a big public transit opportunity, since so many people are all traveling to one place. Perhaps that’s why we see strong transit service to ski resorts in places like Oregon, <a href="https://getskitickets.com/blog/the-top-3-ski-towns-with-public-transportation-to-the-slopes/">Colorado, Utah and Wyoming</a>.


Many national parks in every corner of North America have also <a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/national-parks/national-parks-without-car/">invested in public transit access</a>. In many places, this service is by bus, but it can also be a ferry or even, in the case of Yellowstone, a <a href="https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/adventure/winter-adventures/snowcoach-transportation/">snowcoach</a>. While a lot of transit service in national parks is aimed at visitors who park their cars near the entrance and use transit within the park, some national parks have transit service that can get you there from nearby cities. For example, you can take Amtrak to Merced, California to access Yosemite, and the <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/glacier-national-park-by-train">Amtrak Empire Builder train trip to Glacier National Park in Montana</a> is well-renowned.


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Amtrak-Empire-Builder-Loco-Steve-Flickr-1024x659.png" alt="A train crosses a valley between mountains" class="wp-image-86098"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Amtrak’s Empire Builder to Glacier National Park <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/locosteve/">(Loco Steve, Flickr)</a></figcaption></figure>


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We have a long way to go to be like Switzerland where trains serve almost every valley, and cog railways and ski lifts transport trekkers up the mountains. However, we can certainly do more to provide more transit to outdoor recreational opportunities, which would reap benefits for outdoor enthusiasts and rural communities alike.

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Now Hiring

Smart Growth America (SGA) and its Land Use and Development team are looking to recruit a Fall 2024 intern to support its economic development portfolio and technical assistance work.
<h3>Organizational Overview</h3>
<h4>About Smart Growth America</h4>
Smart Growth America is a national nonprofit organization that envisions a country where no matter where you live, or who you are, you can enjoy living in a place that is healthy, prosperous, and resilient. We empower communities through technical assistance, advocacy, and thought leadership to realize this vision of livable places, healthy people, and shared prosperity.
<h4>About the Land Use and Development (LUD) team</h4>
The Land Use and Development (LUD) team at Smart Growth America is focused on how land use, development, and real estate can advance SGA’s mission and vision for equitable, sustainable development. LUD’s topic areas include real estate development, planning, zoning, development finance, climate adaptation, and brownfield redevelopment.
<h3>Position Overview</h3>
The intern will be a member of SGA’s Land Use &amp; Development Department, reporting to Michael Rodriguez, Director of Research, and is expected to contribute to a collaborative team environment.
This position will assist in delivering Smart Growth America’s work in zoning, land use, and economic development. Specifically, this internship will focus on a project regarding zoning, permitting and processing, and economic development currently underway for a small Midwestern city.
Other projects may include, but are not limited to, assisting with innovative analytical work, developing new methods of analysis, assisting technical assistance engagements, and supporting projects across the LUD team and organization. The position is also likely to support SGA’s research efforts and signature reports.
<h3>Knowledge and Skills</h3>
Interns seeking to work with SGA should strive to have the following skills:
<ul>
<li>Commitment to SGA’s mission, including diversity, equity, and inclusion</li>
<li>Working knowledge of and passion for zoning, land use, economic development, and urban planning topics, including interest in or exposure to zoning</li>
<li>Specific knowledge of zoning codes, zoning language, land-use regulations, and permitting processes through some combination of coursework or experience</li>
<li>Strong research and writing skills</li>
<li>Strong oral and written communication skills</li>
<li>Ability to display data, research, and policy concepts in a clear and relevant manner</li>
<li>Organized and able to fulfill tasks per instructions</li>
<li>Knowledge or ability to learn ArcGIS or other GIS platforms</li>
<li>Proficiency in G-Suite and Microsoft Office suite of tools, or similar, for document preparation (memos, presentations, etc.)</li>
<li>Local knowledge of Tulsa urban development policies are a plus</li>
</ul>
SGA also strongly encourages interns to apply with the following skills:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Knowledge or familiarity in visual graphic design editors (i.e. Adobe Suite with a strong preference for InDesign or similar) </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Experience with policy analysis and literature reviews, as well as distilling academic analysis into more accessible language  </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Familiarity with key data sets, including the U.S. Census and how to use state and local zoning data.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Knowledge or familiarity with descriptive and inferential statistics and statistical packages (SPSS, State, R)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Educational Background</h3>
Graduate students in Urban Planning, Real Estate Development, Public Policy, Sociology, or related disciplines are encouraged to apply. Key among intern applicants is an interest in land use and zoning.
<h3>Compensation, Schedule, and COVID-19 Protocols</h3>
The prospective intern will need to supply their own computer and access to wifi. The intern will also be expected to commit 20-30 hours per week for a minimum of 12 weeks in Fall 2024 for up to a total of 340 hours during the course of the internship. The internship may last up to 15 weeks until the end of December.
The intern will be paid a semi-monthly stipend throughout their tenure in the program at the hourly rate of $22 for graduate students for a stipend not to exceed $7,779 during the entirety of the internship. All interns are expected to be insured by their school’s or personal health and/or liability insurance, as this internship program does not provide health or liability insurance coverage for interns.
SGA is based in Washington, DC, and operates on a hybrid work schedule. SGA staff work in the office three days a week (Tuesday-Thursday), while generally working remotely the rest of the week. Interns are expected to report to the office at least two days per week if located in the Washington, DC area. Fully remote candidates may be considered on a case-by-case basis; interns not located in Washington, DC are still encouraged to apply.
If an intern works in the office, they will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination and a booster.
<h3>How to apply</h3>
Please send a resume and cover letter where you specifically address the below three questions to <a href="mailto:jobs@smartgrowthamerica.org">jobs@smartgrowthamerica.org</a> with “LUD Intern” in the subject line. Applications will be accepted immediately on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What interests you about working for Smart Growth America / the LUD team?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What key issue(s) in zoning and land use will have the biggest impact on Americans, particularly low-income Americans and people of color, and why?</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How did you hear of this internship opportunity?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion</h3>
Smart Growth America is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. SGA and the Economic Development team are committed to building a diverse staff and strongly encourage applications from candidates of color.
Employment and promotional opportunities are based upon individual capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation/preference, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established under law.

Internship

Now hiring: Land Use and Development Intern

Smart Growth America is seeking an enthusiastic and dynamic Senior Manager of Events and Development to join our team. If you are passionate about creating vibrant, equitable communities and have a knack for organizing impactful events and driving successful fundraising campaigns, this role is for you. As the manager of our premier annual event, the Equity Summit, you will play a crucial role in shaping and executing an event that reaches hundreds of practitioners, advocates, and policymakers dedicated to advancing racial equity through smart growth. You&#8217;ll also be a key player in our fundraising efforts, helping to advance our mission to create healthy, prosperous, and resilient places for everyone. The Senior Manager, Events and Development reports to the Director of Communications, with oversight by and direct support to the President and CEO on the role’s fundraising support and coordination responsibilities. 
Instructions to apply can be found below. 
<h4>About Smart Growth America</h4>
Smart Growth America is a leading national non-profit organization advocating for equitable, sustainable land use, development, and transportation. We empower communities through technical assistance, advocacy, and thought leadership to realize this vision of livable places, healthy people, and shared prosperity. Programmatic priorities for SGA include advancing racial equity, addressing the climate crisis, and improving the health of communities.
<h4>About the Equity Summit</h4>
The Equity Summit is SGA’s premier annual event, reaching over 300 practitioners, advocates, and policymakers seeking to advance racial equity through smart growth. Speakers and participants come from around the country to engage in meaningful conversation about advancing equity in our transportation, housing, climate and land use decisions. Launched in 2021 as a virtual event, SGA hosted the Equity Summit in person in Washington, DC for the first time in 2024. SGA’s equity event programming also features virtual Equity Forums on specialized topics.
<h3>Responsibilities:</h3>
<h4>Events &amp; the Equity Summit</h4>
<ul>
<li>Oversee all aspects of the Equity Summit, including managing staff, the Summit Host Committee, an advisory committee, and outside consultants, and vendors.</li>
<li>Coordinate with Communications and Finance teams on Equity Summit-related work.</li>
<li>Lead the program development for the annual Equity Summit and Forums in partnership with SGA programmatic staff, a Host Committee, and other partners.</li>
<li>Manage the Summit budget and strategize on the ongoing evolution of the Summit.</li>
<li>As time and capacity is available, support other external SGA events, including webinars, Equity Forums, and other convenings.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Fundraising</h4>
<ul>
<li>Provide direct support to the President and CEO for all fundraising-related activities.</li>
<li>Support the organization in creating and implementing fundraising strategies.</li>
<li>Support the creation of fundraising marketing materials and sponsorship decks.</li>
<li>Manage correspondence, communications, and meetings related to the development activities of the CEO, and vis-a-vis the Equity Summit and Equity Forums.</li>
<li>Manage the end-of-year fundraising campaign, in coordination with the Communications team.</li>
<li>Work with the CEO to research potential funders, donors, and funding opportunities.</li>
<li>Work with the CEO to create and maintain systems for tracking funder and donor interactions and engagement.</li>
<li>Serve as a key liaison with outside consultants working on organization-wide and Equity Summit fundraising.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Knowledge and Skills</h3>
<h4>Required:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Commitment to SGA’s North Star.</li>
<li>4-7+ years of progressively responsible experience in events management and/or fundraising.</li>
<li>Proven experience in planning, organizing, and executing large-scale events, including virtual and in-person formats.</li>
<li>Experience managing outside vendors and consultants on events.</li>
<li>Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of work, including experience working with diverse communities and stakeholders.</li>
<li>Strong project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple tasks and projects simultaneously.</li>
<li>Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment.</li>
<li>Some experience in building and maintaining relationships with funders, donors, sponsors, and stakeholders.</li>
<li>Excellent written and verbal communication skills.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Preferred:</h4>
<ul>
<li>A Master&#8217;s degree in public administration, communications, marketing, nonprofit management, public policy, or a related field.</li>
<li>Experience in developing and managing budgets.</li>
<li>Ability to think creatively and innovatively to develop new fundraising ideas and event formats.</li>
<li>Familiarity with issues related to land use, housing, transportation, equity, climate, and community development.</li>
<li>Significant experience in building and maintaining relationships with funders, donors, sponsors, and stakeholders.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Compensation</h3>
The salary range for this position is $70,000-$85,000, depending on the level of applicable experience.
SGA has an entrepreneurial and innovative workplace culture where employees work collaboratively to achieve the mission with a focus on equity. SGA offers a generous employee benefits package featuring a fully paid medical plan, optional dental and vision coverage, 401k with a strong company contribution, company-paid life and disability insurance, three weeks’ vacation in the first year, and 11 paid holidays.
<h3>Office Schedule &amp; COVID Protocols</h3>
This position is based in Washington, DC, and operates on a hybrid work schedule. SGA staff work in the office at 1350 Eye Street NW, Tuesday through Thursday, while generally working remotely in the DC area the rest of the week.
SGA requires employees to be vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19.
<h3>Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility</h3>
SGA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Smart Growth America is committed to building a diverse staff and strongly encourages applications from candidates of color. Employment and promotional opportunities are based on individual capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation/preference, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as established under law.
<h3>How to Apply</h3>
Please send a cover letter and resume to <a href="mailto:jobs@smartgrowthamerica.org">jobs@smartgrowthamerica.org</a> with “ATTN: Events and Development Senior Manager Application” in the subject line. In your cover letter, please indicate how you’ve learned of this opportunity. We look forward to hearing from candidates soon.

Now hiring

Now Hiring: Senior Manager, Events &#038; Development

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Smart Growth America (SGA), through its Complete Streets Leadership Academy, worked with Maryland’s Department of Transportation (MDOT) and State Highway Administration (SHA) to pilot quick-build demonstration projects on state-owned routes in Bel Air, Hagerstown, and Howard County. These three communities were asked to plan, design, and install quick-build projects at specific locations to improve safety and accessibility for people walking and biking.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-86049 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/IMG_2607-1024x768.jpg" alt=" width="1024" height="768" />
After a successful <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/complete-streets-leadership-academies-report/">2023 Complete Streets Leadership Academy</a> featuring Alaska, California, Connecticut, and Tennessee, Smart Growth America has brought similar safety demonstration programming to the state of Maryland. The Maryland Complete Streets Leadership Academy builds on SGA’s experience working with state DOTs and local jurisdictions to install quick-build demonstration projects on state-owned routes. Howard County&#8217;s Complete Streets policy was ranked number one in our <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/best-complete-streets/">2023 Best Complete Streets Policy Report</a>, and the Academy was a great opportunity to build the momentum for continued safety improvements for all road users on Maryland&#8217;s streets. SGA, MDOT, SHA, and Stantec came together this summer to support a team of engineers, planners, and safety experts to create and implement safety projects in Bel Air, Hagerstown, and Howard County.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;] Quick-build demonstration projects are temporary installations to test roadway configurations that can improve safety and access for everyone, particularly people walking, biking, and rolling. These short-term measures can provide immediate improvements while also testing design strategies to determine the most effective long-term improvements. They are also a great opportunity to engage community members in the process of making streets safer for everyone by collaborating on design and incorporating feedback into future permanent installations. <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/program/national-complete-streets-coalition/quick-build-demonstration-projects/">Learn more about quick builds! &gt;&gt;</a>[/alert]
A common barrier to quick-build projects is being able to get permission to install safety projects on a road not owned by the local jurisdiction. But state-owned routes are among the <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/dangerous-by-design/">most dangerous roadways</a> for people walking, biking, and rolling, making them ideal candidates for quick-build projects. Close collaboration between state DOTs and local jurisdictions from the beginning provides an opportunity to identify and then develop strategies to mitigate barriers to collaboration. SGA has seen much success with projects from former its Complete Streets Leadership Academy, such as with this <a href="https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/dot/documents/dpolicy/quick-build---complete-streets-june-2024.pdf">new guidance from CTDOT.</a>
Recently, SGA led a walk audit at the quick-build demonstration project that was recently installed in North Laurel, Howard County. The project replaced the rightmost lane on US 1 with a multi-use path for people to walk and bike, marked by flex posts and paint to delineate the new use of the space. People walking this route previously had to use the grass or the shoulder, as there is no sidewalk, and people biking had to hug the curb or brave the speeding vehicular traffic. Despite the unsafe conditions, people depend on this route to get to and from their work. With this project in place, there is room for people outside of cars to get where they need along US 1. At the walk audit, CSLA participants all felt the tangible improvements made by this project, shared the lessons learned in installation, and discussed how future long-term changes could improve upon this demonstration project.
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In addition to the immediate safety benefits to people in these three communities, the Maryland CSLA program is being conducted with long-term change in mind. Bel Air, Hagerstown, and Howard County were chosen in part because they are each located in a different SHA District. By running this pilot in three different districts, MDOT can take lessons learned from the Academy to develop a permanent program for quick-build projects in all Districts across the state. This work is part of Maryland’s larger state-wide <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.mdot.maryland.gov/tso/pages/Index.aspx?PageId=207">Model Complete Streets Initiative</a>. Learn more from the <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://mdot-csla-resources-maryland.hub.arcgis.com/">Maryland Complete Streets Leadership Academy Hub</a> and stay tuned for a larger report from SGA once the communities have installed the quick-build demonstrations and engage the community about the proposed changes
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-86053 alignnone" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/DSC06386-214x300.jpg" alt=" width="289" height="405" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-86051 alignnone" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/DSC06432-300x214.jpg" alt=" width="566" height="403" />
&nbsp;

quick-build projects

Making Maryland Safer: Protecting all road users with Complete Streets

Press-Release

On Sunday, August 18, and Saturday, August 31, Atlanta artists Emma Chammah and Eddie Farr will host interactive workshops exploring the need for an improved public transportation network in Atlanta. During the free workshops, all are invited to engage with the artists’ project, Traffic Cams, which creates a real-time augmented reality experience to show what Atlanta could look like with expanded transportation options. The project is supported by Smart Growth America’s <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/call-for-ideas-healing-our-highways-through-creativity-community-and-culture-applications-open/">Healing Our Highways grant program</a>.
Traffic Cams uses OpenCV, Georgia DOT traffic camera footage, and custom software written by artist Eddie Farr to visualize the amount of space wasted by the status quo approach to transportation, which emphasizes driving at the expense of other modes of travel.
What: Traffic Cams public workshop, a project aiming to envision a healthier and safer transportation environment in Atlanta.* 
Who: Led by Atlanta artists Emma Chammah and Eddie Farr; 
When and where: Sunday, August 18 at Atlanta Streets Alive (btwn 12th and 13th Street); and Saturday, August 31 at the Hapeville Depot Museum
*These workshops are free and open to the public.
“Dude,” said artist Eddie Farr, “what if we took street cams and made them show us the future we want?”
“We are inspired by this opportunity to use our minds and skills as artists to bring people together to talk about the future,” said artist Emma Chammah. “In both my practice and Eddie’s, you will see work that talks about issues we need to address as a society, or imaginations of a future where we are more inclusive and caring.”
“Smart Growth America is proud to support Traffic Cams, yet another strong example of how artists and cultural workers can inspire communities to rethink our greatest challenges,” said Marian Liou, Director of Arts &amp; Culture at Smart Growth America and local Atlantan. “Emma and Eddie’s project reframes our assumptions about our harmful transportation system and sparks collective change toward a better one.&#8221;

Media alert: Local artists invite Atlantans to envision more ways to travel at free, public workshops

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This July, SGA hosted the Smart Growth Network (SGN), a national coalition of smart growth-oriented organizations,  in its offices for the coalition’s Summer 2024 Quarterly Discussion. The discussion focused on extreme heat, which has been especially prevalent globally in recent years, and the role that smart growth, urban forests, and community organizing can play in addressing inequities in how extreme heat is felt by communities. The convening was closed with a discussion and sharing of resources regarding ongoing heat-related resilience efforts by SGN partners.
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The Smart Growth Network, formed in 1996, brings together public, non-profit, and private organizations working to advance smart growth to support healthy, prosperous, and resilient communities across the U.S. The Network provides opportunities for partners to share resources and information with other like-minded organizations and for collaboration in supporting and leading the smart growth movement.
The Network’s Quarterly Discussions provide one such space. This most recent Quarterly Discussion, hosted by SGA and organized together with the EPA Office of Community Revitalization, was centered on resilience to extreme heat and how smart growth can contribute to these efforts.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Extreme Heat &amp; Smart Growth with the Smart Growth Network" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1SSGKENwzfk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<h3>Discussion Themes, Highlights, &amp; Takeaways</h3>
The discussion was kicked off with remarks from Joel Scheraga, Senior Advisor for Climate Adaptation from the EPA, and Danielle Arigoni, and SGA Board Member and Managing Director for Policy &amp; Solutions at the National Housing Trust. Both highlighted the dangers that extreme heat poses, especially to specific communities, like the elderly. They also discussed many of the recent steps that have been taken to address extreme heat at the federal level, including, for example, the establishment of <a href="https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-office-policy-op">EPA’s Office of Climate Adaptation and Sustainability</a>, which provides technical assistance to communities to boost climate resilience.
These remarks were followed by a panel of experts on extreme heat: Dexter Locke, from the USDA Forest Service; Joshua Simon, from American Forests; and Shana Udvardy, from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Moderated by Katharine Burgess, SGA’s Vice President of Land Use &amp; Development, the panel began with a discussion clearly linking the extreme heat we’re seeing more often to the effects of climate change. More importantly, much of the panel focused on the role urban forests, green spaces, and tree canopy can play in alleviating the effects of extreme heat, as well as how the inequities in how these resources are distributed make already underserved communities feel the heat even more. Formerly redlined areas, where many communities of color are still concentrated today, tend to have a greatly reduced tree canopy and much higher temperatures. However, because most trees are located on private property, it’s difficult to organize a cohesive, community-wide tree canopy policy or program. Although support for urban trees exists from federal sources like the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and other Inflation Reduction Act programs, much more funding is necessary to address extreme heat.
<h3>Extreme Heat Resources</h3>
The Quarterly Discussion concluded with breakout groups that allowed SGN partners to discuss their extreme heat-related work and to share resources and opportunities for collaboration. These resources are listed below:
<ul>
<li>NOAA provides a <a href="https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/heatrisk/">HeatRisk forecast</a> through the National Weather Service; leads the <a href="https://www.heat.gov/">National Integrated Heat Health Information System</a>, which developed a <a href="https://cpo.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Heat-Governance-Maturity-Model.pdf">Maturity Model for Heat Governance;</a> and manages the Climate Adaptation Partnerships Program which has a portfolio of <a href="https://cpo.noaa.gov/divisions-programs/climate-and-societal-interactions/cap-risa/co-creating-community-solutions-to-compound-and-complex-extreme-heat-impacts-across-the-u-s/">extreme heat work</a> including a <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.ncdps.gov/news/press-releases/2024/04/22/new-state-heat-resilience-toolkit-offers-solutions-reduce-heat-related-health-problems">heat resilience toolkit</a> in North Carolina.</li>
<li>Skalen, an organization using geospatial data analysis to support climate resilience, will soon be releasing a report on the social and community impacts of extreme heat in New York City.</li>
<li>The Urban Land Institute has <a href="https://developingresilience.uli.org/">a clearinghouse</a> for urban climate resilience strategies and has released <a href="https://developingresilience.uli.org/themes/extreme-heat/">a report on extreme heat and land use</a>. 
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy participates in the <a href="https://smartsurfacescoalition.org/smart-surfaces">Smart Surfaces Coalition</a> and has published <a href="https://www.aceee.org/blog-post/2024/07/smart-surfaces-are-reducing-heat-many-disadvantaged-communities-are-being-left">an article</a> highlighting how smart surfaces can boost urban climate resilience.</li>
<li>The American Public Health Association’s <a href="https://apha.org/topics-and-issues/climate-health-and-equity/smart-surfaces">Cities for Smart Surfaces Project</a>, developed with the Smart Surfaces Coalition, works to explore how smart surfaces can help mitigate the health effects of climate change on communities. They also have an <a href="https://apha.org/topics-and-issues/climate-health-and-equity/extreme-heat">Extreme Heat Resource Hub</a>.</li>
<li>The EPA’s <a href="https://www.epa.gov/arc-x">Climate Change Adaptation Resource Center</a> provides resources to local governments to help them prepare for the impacts of climate change in their communities.</li>
<li>The EPA also manages the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/environmental-justice-thriving-communities-technical-assistance-centers">Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers Program</a> to help communities navigate grant applications, create and maintain communication channels, and boost community engagement. <a href="https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/local-foods-local-places">The Local Foods, Local Places</a> also supports urban green spaces and community gardens.</li>
<li>USDOT’s <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/rural/grant-toolkit/promoting-resilient-operations-transformative-efficient-and-cost-saving">PROTECT Grant</a>, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which supports efforts to make surface transportation infrastructure more resilient to the effects of climate change.</li>
<li>The Maryland Department of Planning is hosting the Sustainable Growth Webinar Series, which will include a webinar on August 20 focusing on extreme heat.</li>
<li>The federal government’s <a href="https://planning.maryland.gov/Pages/OurEngagement/Webinars/planning-webinars.aspx">Subcommittee on Climate Services</a>, which focuses on topics relevant to the Network.</li>
</ul>

Extreme Heat &#038; Smart Growth with the Smart Growth Network

A_downtown_view_of_Richmond_VA

Innovative research from Smart Growth America and the Lincoln Institute reveals the potential for public lands to transform the financial health of urban municipalities. Using Richmond, Virginia, as a case study, the findings outline a clear plan for developing public lands to harness their potential for the greater good.
<figure id="attachment_86014" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-86014" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-86014 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A_downtown_view_of_Richmond_VA-1024x658.jpg" alt=" width="1024" height="658" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-86014" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Courtesy of Bruce Emmerling via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_downtown_view_of_Richmond,_VA.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></figcaption></figure>
<div style="background-color: #f7f3f3; width: 250px; padding: 10px; margin: 0px 0px 20px 20px; float: right; text-align: left;"><a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Lincoln-Munincipal-Finance-Summary_8.7.24.pdf"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-78038 size-full" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Lincoln-Institute-Cover.png" alt="click here on report cover to read the report PDF" width="1258" height="838" /></a> 
<a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Lincoln-Munincipal-Finance-Summary_8.7.24.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read our two-page summary</a></div>
Public lands in urban areas can make up substantial parts of a city and hold significant economic value. In a new paper, SGA Director of Research Michael Rodriguez demonstrates how developing these public parcels could greatly benefit municipalities. By using a variety of methods, including an inventory of public assets, statistical analysis, and advanced machine learning techniques, the analysis of Richmond, Virginia, reveals that a surprising portion of land is undeveloped and underutilized.
The research demonstrates the untapped fiscal potential of urban public lands. In Richmond, the analysis finds that developing these lands could raise property values by approximately $530 million, increase tax revenue by $6 million annually, and have additional positive effects on nearby private properties.
Overall, the report highlights the importance of public lands in city planning and provides valuable insights for policymakers on how public assets can be leveraged to harness the potential of public assets for the greater good, revitalize cities, and improve fiscal stability. It suggests that careful and strategic development of these lands can bring in much-needed revenue while ensuring sustainable and fair use of urban spaces.
This study is especially useful for cities facing financial challenges and demonstrates how public lands can be a key resource for urban renewal and economic growth.
[button type=&#8221;info&#8221; block=&#8221;true&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/working-papers/advancing-connection-between-public-lands-and-municipal-finance/&#8221;]You can read the full working paper here [/button]

Lincoln Institute

SGA research

Urban Development

New paper: Unlocking the potential of public lands in Richmond, Virginia

Orlando1

In this year’s <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/dangerous-by-design/">Dangerous by Design</a> report, Florida was ranked as the second most deadly state for people walking. From 2018-2022, Florida saw an average of 3,705 deaths on their roadways, with a fatality rate of 3.43 (well above the national average of 2.26). Additionally, we found that eight of the twenty most deadliest metro areas for pedestrians are in Florida.
The state of Florida continues to see an increase in pedestrian fatalities year after year. Our new video, “Walking in one of the deadliest states in America,” features residents, advocates, and experts who speak to how cities like Orlando are trending in the wrong direction when it comes to prioritizing pedestrian safety. The people in this video are just some of the countless individuals who have been impacted by traffic violence. State and local leaders need to do more to create and implement policies that protect all road users.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Walking in one of the deadliest states in America" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4tJotk_oHu0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;] Florida streets are dangerous by design, but there are interventions that state leaders can implement to change that. Staff at the city of Orlando are working to address the ongoing issue of traffic violence in their area. Learn more about the steps they&#8217;ve taken and how they hope to continue to make progress in Orlando<a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/champion-spotlight-orlando-florida/"> in this case study &gt;&gt;</a> [/alert]

Dangerous by Design 2024

New video: Walking in one of the deadliest states in America

YS-AMtxY

Smart Growth America (SGA) is pleased to announce the return of the Form-Based Codes Award, now in its 17th year. As a program of SGA, the <a href="https://formbasedcodes.org/">Form-Based Codes Institute</a> has supported the FBC Award program to recognize exemplary form-based codes that advance the practice of form-based zoning for equitable development, people-oriented communities, and predictable development results. SGA would like to acknowledge the generosity of the Amazon Housing Equity Fund and the Barr Foundation in supporting this year’s FBC Award.
<figure id="attachment_86019" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-86019" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-86019 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Screenshot-2024-08-07-at-2.03.36 PM-1024x684.png" alt=" width="1024" height="684" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Screenshot-2024-08-07-at-2.03.36 PM-1024x684.png 1024w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Screenshot-2024-08-07-at-2.03.36 PM-300x200.png 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Screenshot-2024-08-07-at-2.03.36 PM-768x513.png 768w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Screenshot-2024-08-07-at-2.03.36 PM.png 1282w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-86019" class="wp-caption-text">No. 6 Scratch Kitchen in South Bend, IN, a restaurant and apartment project reusing a former fire station that made possible by the zoning ordinance’s permitted mix of uses and lack of parking mandates.</figcaption></figure>
<h3>2024 Form-Based Code Award submission now live</h3>
Form-based codes create a predictable, high-quality public realm by using physical form, rather than separation of uses, as the primary organizing principle. Form-based codes address the relationship between building facades and the public realm, the form and mass of buildings in relation to one another, and the scale and types of streets and blocks. Form-based codes focus on predictability, the form of buildings, and creating people-scale buildings and communities, creating a regulatory tool that gives development unity, efficient organization, social vitality, and walkability to our cities, towns, and neighborhoods.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;] <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-FBC-Award-Fillable-Entry-Form.pdf">Submit a code for an award!</a> [/alert]
Each year, the jury of experts—code writers, urban designers, code administrators, and developers—evaluate the applications against the form-based codes <a href="https://formbasedcodes.org/standards-of-practice/">Standards of Practice,</a> and this year, the jury will have the ability to recognize equitable elements of code submissions. Winning codes demonstrate the successful application of these standards across various contexts. This year’s FBC Award is particularly exciting because, while form-based codes are inherently equitable, this year&#8217;s award emphasizes a deeper exploration of equitable development and equitable FBCs by focusing on those that explicitly highlight and prioritize equity in the code documents, as well as expectations for equitable development that occurs from following the FBC.
The 2024 Form-Based Codes Award winner will be announced at the end of October, and the announcement will be followed by a webinar that will feature representatives from the winning entry who will speak about the winning codes and their impact on the communities where they were adopted.
Both newly-adopted and established codes showing positive built results are eligible. SGA encourages code applications that have been adopted for disinvested neighborhoods or communities of color, or that have been drafted by minority professionals. You can find a complete list of criteria that the jury will consider in the entry form and instructions PDF.
<a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-FBC-Award-Fillable-Entry-Form.pdf">[button type=&#8221;info&#8221; block=&#8221;true&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-FBC-Award-Fillable-Entry-Form.pdf&#8221;] Click here for the entry form and instructions. [/button]</a>
Submissions to SGA must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, September 11, 2024. If you have questions, concerns, or thoughts please contact Jamie Zouras, Senior Program Manager, SGA<a href="mailto:jzouras@smartgrowthamerica.org"> jzouras@smartgrowthamerica.org</a>, subject: FBC Award Questions.
Please note: codes that have been written, or worked on in any capacity, by members of the Form-Based Codes Award jury or their organization are ineligible for consideration during the time of that juror&#8217;s service.

Awards

The Form-Based Codes Award

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This case study was written as part of our Dangerous by Design Technical Assistance program. This initiative brought together champions from across the country to advance street safety efforts through data collection and storytelling. This study was written by Laura Hardwicke, Safe Mobility Manager at the City of Orlando.
<figure id="attachment_85997" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85997" style="width: 1023px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85997 size-full" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/26372830082_65b55c5d51_b.jpg" alt="Pedestrians wait to cross the street in downtown Orlando" width="1023" height="661" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85997" class="wp-caption-text">Downtown Orlando, Florida <a href="https://flic.kr/p/GbtDyW">(Flickr)</a></figcaption></figure>
Central Florida has an average of 1,500 residents moving to the region per week, that number is <a href="https://orlando.org/l/2030-report/">more than double the rate of growth in the United States</a>. There is an urgent need to create a safe, active, and accessible transportation network across all travel modes for residents and visitors alike.
<h3>Background</h3>
Orlando is home to 316,081 residents, making it the fourth-largest city in Florida, welcoming over 60 million visitors to our area every year. Located in central Florida, the City of Orlando is a vibrant and diverse city known for its enchanting theme parks, cultural richness, and thriving economy. Orlando ranks high for many great lists—<a href="https://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-to-start-a-business/2281">best largest city to start a business</a> and <a href="https://realestate.usnews.com/places/rankings/best-places-to-live">best places to live in the US</a>. However, the city also ranks high on Smart Growth America’s <a href="http://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design">most dangerous metro areas for people walking</a>.
Recently dropping from #1 to #8 most deadly metro for people walking, Orlando is beginning to see tangible results from its Vision Zero safety efforts, but the city wants to do more to change its direction.
Under the leadership of Mayor Buddy Dyer, the city <a href="https://www.orlando.gov/files/sharedassets/public/initiatives/vision-zero/signed-resolution-2017.pdf">adopted a resolution</a> committing to Vision Zero with a goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2040.
<h3>Taking action</h3>
The <a href="https://www.orlando.gov/Initiatives/Vision-Zero">Vision Zero Orlando Action Plan</a> identified the city’s High Injury Network (HIN) using a risk-based analysis for crashes that occurred from 2013-2017. An updated draft HIN is underway. Both HIN, using data periods ending in 2017 and 2022, feature Orange Avenue as a heightened safety risk, from State Road 50 (aka Colonial Drive) through Downtown Orlando to South Street.
Despite the low posted speed limit, frequent signalized crossings, and major pedestrian generators and transit along Orange Avenue, the corridor still presents a high risk for people walking. As part of the Downtown Orlando Master Plan 2.0, the city’s ultimate goal is to convert the street to a two-way street. This will increase friction for vehicles, creating a traffic calming effect. The added connectivity should improve business access throughout, and increase walkability. However, design and construction for such a project will take years.
In the meantime, the city launched its <a href="https://orlando.gov/quickbuild">Quick Build Guide</a> to deliver transportation safety projects today while still planning the infrastructure of tomorrow. The city selected <a href="https://mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2024/03/13/asphalt-mural-ads-art--safety-to-downtown-orlando">key intersections along Orange Avenue for asphalt art projects</a>—intersection murals, painted curb extensions, and artistic crosswalks. The goal was to increase drivers stopping for people in the crosswalk, and increase pedestrian compliance with walk signals. The city conducted a before and after study to measure the impacts of these projects on pedestrian safety, evaluating the impact of asphalt art on vehicle speeds, crashes, pedestrian-vehicle conflicts, and pedestrian behaviors.

Complete Streets

Champion Spotlight: Orlando, Florida

Brattleboro-Main-Street-Flickr-photo

One major misconception we encounter in our work is that smart growth principles like Complete Streets, public transit, and mixed-use development are just for big cities and don’t apply to small towns. But over the years, we’ve seen countless examples of <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/rural-roadmap/">rural places that used these strategies to great benefit</a>. I recently traveled to such a place–Brattleboro, Vermont.
<figure id="attachment_85977" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85977" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85977 size-full" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Brattleboro-Main-Street-Flickr-photo.jpg" alt="A cyclist travels down Brattleboro's tree-lined main street, near businesses." width="1600" height="1200" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85977" class="wp-caption-text">Brattleboro, Vermont <a href="https://flic.kr/p/9fznMU">(J. Stephen Conn, Flickr)</a></figcaption></figure>
Brattleboro is a town of around 12,000 people in southern Vermont, near the borders of Connecticut and New Hampshire. Although the town is small in terms of geography and population, during my short visit, I saw many smart growth strategies that other towns and rural areas could try. The result of these policies and features make Brattleboro a great place for residents and visitors alike. In fact, our friends at Strong Towns named Brattleboro <a href="https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2023/7/19/lessons-from-this-years-strongest-town-brattleboro-vermont">the ‘Strongest Town’ of the year in 2023</a>.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]Brattleboro’s success may be due in part to a unique and impactful state incentive program. Since 1999, the State of Vermont has created and grown a set of programs to revitalize Vermont’s downtowns and to protect its historic settlement pattern of compact centers and rural landscapes. Collectively, the <a href="https://accd.vermont.gov/community-development/designation-programs">Designation Programs</a> guide development and investment priorities for revitalization by offering benefits like tax credits, grant funding, and easier permitting for housing in designated areas to municipalities and property owners. In turn, those benefits fund and fuel revitalization, growth, livability, infrastructure, and other essential work. Recently, <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/designation-2050-the-case-for-updating-vermonts-designation-program/">SGA worked with the State of Vermont to evaluate and improve the programs</a>, resulting in recommendations to fuel a new wave of community-driven and place-based investment, revitalization, and smart growth.[/alert]
Often, we come across a misconception that smart growth is for urban places, not rural ones. But Brattleboro&#8217;s success shows that this is just one of many myths about small towns in America that need to be laid to rest. Here are a few other small town myths that Brattleboro defies.
<h3>Myth: Is everyone always driving in rural America?</h3>
Because of high car dependence in rural areas, there’s an assumption that cars should be prioritized and towns shouldn’t worry about pedestrians. However, Brattleboro’s Main Street and other principal streets have multiple features that make them safe and pedestrian-friendly, resulting in the town avoiding any pedestrian fatalities for over a decade.
The speed limit of 25 miles per hour on streets and relatively narrow road designs mean that cars are not zooming through at high speeds. Numerous shops, cafes, restaurants, parks, and seating areas built in close proximity to one another encourage people to stroll, window-shop, and run errands without using a car. On an average day, one sees a mix of people out walking and moving about Brattleboro in a safe and comfortable way.
<figure id="attachment_85978" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85978" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85978 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Brattleboro-Vermont-small-towns-and-smart-growth-intersection-1024x768.jpg" alt="Pedestrians walk across a four-way intersection that includes diagonal crosswalks" width="1024" height="768" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85978" class="wp-caption-text">Pedestrians cross an intersection diagonally while traffic is stopped in all directions.</figcaption></figure>
Other pedestrian-friendly features include signalized <a href="https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/11/27/a-pedestrian-scramble-can-make-an-intersection-safer">pedestrian scramble intersections</a>. This means that pedestrians can cross in any direction they choose at an intersection (straight, left, right, diagonal, zig-zag). When the pedestrian sign comes on, an audible message announces “Walk sign is on for all crossings.” Cars are stopped in all directions and cannot turn right on red. Rather than having to watch for cars coming from different directions, pedestrians can cross in peace.
<h3>Myth: Can passenger rail and train stations support small towns?</h3>
<figure id="attachment_85979" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85979" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-85979" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Amtrak-in-Brattleboro-Vermont-small-towns-and-smart-growth-300x201.png" alt="An Amtrak train pulls into the station in Brattleboro" width="300" height="201" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85979" class="wp-caption-text">Current Brattleboro station <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26862404">(Wikimedia Commons)</a></figcaption></figure>
One of the main reasons my partner and I chose to travel to Brattleboro in the first place was that we could get there by train. From Washington D.C., we rode <a href="https://www.amtrak.com/vermonter-train">the Vermonter</a> which also serves many towns and cities along the way, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. What’s more, the Brattleboro train station is right in the center of town, just 300 feet from Main Street with the town’s food co-op, numerous restaurants, and stores within a few minutes walk.
But trains aren’t just a nice way for tourists to get around, they also connect people to jobs, family, and other important destinations. For towns, they can attract visitors, customers, and future residents seeking to reduce their car dependance.
Train travel in Brattleboro will soon get even better. Thanks to funding from the 2021 infrastructure law (the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or IIJA), the town recently began construction of <a href="https://www.commonsnews.org/issue/747/747new_train_station">a new station</a> with an ADA accessible high-level platform, waiting area, bike shelter, electric vehicle chargers, and restrooms.
<h3>Myth: Is transit feasible in rural places?</h3>
<figure id="attachment_85981" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85981" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-85981" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/MOOver-in-Brattleboro-Vermont-small-towns-and-smart-growth-public-transit-300x225.png" alt="Passengers ride in style on this MOOver bus decked out in black and white cow print" width="300" height="225" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85981" class="wp-caption-text">MOOver bus at the Brattleboro Transportation Center.</figcaption></figure>
Brattleboro has a public transit system called <a href="https://www.moover.com/">the MOOver</a> which offers both fixed-route service and door-to-door transportation for riders over sixty and people with disabilities. And yes, of course the buses are painted black or red and white in Holstein cow patterns. And that’s not the only cool thing about the MOOver. <a href="https://www.moover.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SEVT-2023-Annual-Report.pdf">Through a combination of federal, state, and local funding</a>, the MOOver is also completely free to ride!
<h3>Myth: Is it possible to manage parking in small towns?</h3>
Brattleboro requires payment for all on-street parking (2 hour limit) and the handful of lots around the town. These policies mean that Brattleboro is making efficient use of its space, generating funds for other uses, and not giving away valuable (and limited) downtown real estate for empty parking spaces. Recently, Brattleboro doubled down on their parking management, with <a href="https://www.commonsnews.org/issue/771/771parking_hikes">the town’s selectboard voting to raise rates</a> for parking and to charge for parking on Sunday (which was previously free).
<h3>Myth: Can small towns help combat the housing crisis?</h3>
Though this is a smart growth area I didn’t experience firsthand, Vermont currently has a crisis of housing access and affordability. <a href="https://vtdigger.org/2024/05/31/vermont-home-prices-spiked-more-than-any-other-state-last-year-while-sales-slowed-down/">Vermont home prices spiked more than any other state in 2023</a>, and the number of houses sold in the state declined to the lowest level since 2012. This means that houses are both hard to find and increasingly expensive in Vermont.
However, Brattleboro is one place that is working to <a href="https://www.commonsnews.org/issue/723/sboard_landuse">reduce housing barriers and create more options for affordable housing</a>. This includes numerous smart growth principles like increasing density creating a &#8220;missing middle housing&#8221; district. These strategies, which build on a supportive policy context that Smart Growth America helped promote including <a href="https://www.reformer.com/news/state/a-revised-h-687-remains-on-gov-scott-s-desk-will-he-veto/article_4ad70970-16cb-11ef-b2fd-afdcff230c15.html">recent bills S100 and S687</a>, can help Brattleboro and other small towns meet housing needs of the current population and attract new residents who want to relocate there.
<h3>What does it all mean?</h3>
Misconceptions about small towns hide what&#8217;s possible and do a disservice to all the innovative rural communities that are finding new ways to improve the quality of life for their residents. Brattleboro is a great illustration of how smart growth principles can and should be applied to towns and rural areas across the country. You can find even more examples of how smart growth helps advance rural development in our past report, <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/rural-roadmap/">An Active Roadmap: Best Practices for Rural Mobility.</a>

Small Towns

Vermont

Smart growth: Try that in a small town

Media

Equity Summit

The 2024 Equity Summit Recap Video

Smart Growth America (SGA) and its transportation program, Transportation for America (T4America), are looking to recruit an intern to support its technical assistance, research, and advocacy work.
<h3>Organizational overview</h3>
About Smart Growth America 
Smart Growth America envisions a country where no matter where you live, or who you are, you can enjoy living in a place that is healthy, prosperous, and resilient. We empower communities 
through technical assistance, advocacy, and thought leadership to realize this vision of 
livable places, healthy people, and shared prosperity.
About Transportation for America 
Transportation for America, the transportation program of Smart Growth America, is a national nonprofit made up of local, regional and state leaders who seek a transportation system that safely, affordably and conveniently connects people of all means and ability to jobs, services and opportunity through multiple modes of travel.
<h3>Position overview</h3>
The intern will be asked to work on a collection of transportation policy, research, and messaging projects aligned with their skills that will be fundamental to T4America’s extensive advocacy, thought leadership, and technical assistance portfolio. Specific topics of work that the intern may be involved with may include, but not limited to:
Policy Research and Development
Fundamental to T4America’s work is looking to better understand the legislative and regulatory framework underlying the design, implementation, and operation of the transportation system and how to reimagine it towards our three key principles. The intern will assist in analyzing legislative activity from the US Congress, prepare policy memos and briefs, draft legislative text, and engage in outreach and support to Congressional staff. Furthermore, as part of T4America’s technical assistance work, the intern will provide research support for clients to better understand their transportation challenges and how they can be addressed towards a sustainable, equitable outcome aligned with T4America’s three key principles.
Transportation Storytelling
Transportation is a complex system. Communicating about transportation and its importance in our everyday lives is daunting. T4America strives to demystify the federal transportation program and its intersections with implementation by state and local governments, framing it in a way that the average person can understand and discuss with their friends and neighbors. The intern will assist in crafting messaging, online tools, and visual concepts that effectively communicate the core points of T4America’s advocacy and thought leadership. The intern will also assist in the product deliverable layout and editorial process.
Policy Evaluation and Implementation
T4America regularly evaluates and makes recommendations on the drafting, adoption, and implementation of specific policies, especially in support of the National Complete Streets Coalition, CHARGE Coalition, and other federal policy roundtables. The intern will assist in the evaluation policies, such as Complete Streets policies from across the U.S. and work with staff to identify trends that would inform best practices and future advocacy efforts.
<h3>Knowledge and skills</h3>
Interns seeking to work with SGA / T4America should strive to have the following skills:
<ul>
<li>Working knowledge of and passion for transportation, land use, development, and urban planning topics</li>
<li>Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion</li>
<li>Strong research and writing skills, including experience with policy analysis and literature reviews, as well as in distilling that type of academic analysis into clear recommendations.</li>
<li>Strong oral and written communication skills</li>
<li>Ability to display data, research, and policy concepts in a clear and relevant manner</li>
<li>Organized and able to work independently after receiving instructions</li>
<li>Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office suite of tools or similar for document preparation (memos, presentations, etc)</li>
</ul>
SGA and T4America also strongly encourage interns to apply if they have the following skills:
<ul>
<li>Experience in digital storytelling tools</li>
<li>Python</li>
<li>ArcGIS</li>
<li>Proficient in visual graphic design editors (i.e. Photoshop or similar)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Educational background</h3>
Undergraduate or graduate students in urban planning, real estate development, visual communications, public policy, sociology, or related disciplines are encouraged to apply. An interest in land use and development or transportation policy and advocacy is key among intern applicants.
<h3>Compensation, schedule, and COVID protocols</h3>
Interns will be provided with a computer during their time with Smart Growth America. Interns will also be expected to commit between 15-20 hours a week for a minimum of 12 weeks (with the opportunity to have their internship extended beyond the 12 weeks). The intern will be paid a semi-monthly stipend throughout their tenure in the program at the hourly rate of $20 for undergraduate students and $22 for graduate students for a stipend not to exceed $5,280 for the 12-week period in Fall 2024 (with the potential for a Spring 2025 extension). All interns are expected to be insured by their school’s or personal health and/or liability insurance, as this internship program does not provide health or liability insurance coverage for interns.
SGA is based in Washington, DC, and operates on a hybrid work schedule. Staff are in the office Tuesday through Thursday, working in the office three days a week, while generally working remotely the rest of the week. Interns will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination and a booster.
<h3>How to apply</h3>
Please email <a href="mailto:jobs@smartgrowthamerica.org">jobs@smartgrowthamerica.org</a> with “T4America Intern” in the subject line, a resume, and a cover letter where you specifically address the following three questions:
<ol>
<li>What interests you about working for Transportation for America / Smart Growth America?</li>
<li>What key issues in transportation and/or land use and development will have the biggest impact on Americans, particularly low-income Americans and people of color, and why?</li>
<li>How did you hear of this internship opportunity?</li>
</ol>
<h3>Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion</h3>
SGA is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. Smart Growth America and Transportation for America are committed to building a diverse staff and strongly encourage applications from candidates of color. Employment and promotional opportunities are based on individual capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation/preference, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as established under law.

Jobs at SGA

Now hiring: Transportation for America intern

Flickr_Metro-Transit_Green-Line-TOD

Advancing equitable transit-oriented development requires all hands at the community level, but leadership at the state and federal level can also help propel change.


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="https://t4america.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Flickr_Metro-Transit_Green-Line-TOD.png"><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-34472" src="https://t4america.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Flickr_Metro-Transit_Green-Line-TOD-1024x682.png" alt="An eastbound Green Line train pulls into a station alongside apartment buildings." /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Development near the Raymond Avenue station in the Twin Cities. <a href="https://flic.kr/p/oJmCBG">(Source: Eric Wheeler, Metro Transit)</a></figcaption></figure>


&nbsp;
Public transportation and housing work in tandem. <a href="http://smartgrowthamerica.org/foot-traffic-ahead">People want to live in walkable areas</a> that are close to frequent transit stations to move around quickly. Equitable transit-oriented development (ETOD) helps meet this desire by maximizing the amount of residential, business and leisure spaces within walking distance of public transportation.


Locating public transit near everyday destinations promotes ridership and makes it easier for people to travel without needing a private vehicle. It’s a vital component to establishing well-connected communities and promoting economic growth. However, it’s difficult to build any form of transit within one mile of residential spaces.


On June 26th, 2024 the Future of Transportation Caucus hosted a congressional briefing focused on equitable transit-oriented development. Here are a few of the barriers to ETOD that came up during the briefing.


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Local legislation can restrict development</h3>


Principal Research Associate from the Urban Institute, Yonah Freemark explained during the briefing that many localities have land use policies that restrict dense and mixed use buildings near transit.


Additionally, zoning laws in many cities have been stagnant in updating their codes. Planning Manager for the City of Columbus, Alex Saursmith, highlighted this point with his own city, where the zoning code has not been updated in 70 years. Currently, only 6,000 housing units can be constructed every 10 years, despite Columbus being one of the fastest growing cities in the country.


ETOD is also more financially effective than supporting continued road-building by prioritizing development density. It better maintains and maximizes the benefits of existing infrastructure. As LOCUS Chair Alecia Hill explained, state legislators should have an economic financial incentive to promote equitable transit-oriented development. When a lack of housing supply coupled with a lack of transportation options drives up household costs, residents are the ones who pay the price.


Transportation costs are the second largest expense category, behind housing, for most households. When households are already severely economically constrained, the costs of housing and transportation can be particularly difficult to meet. Renters that are cost-burdened or severely cost-burdened can spend greater than 30 or 50 percent, respectively, of their gross income on housing costs, according to <a href="https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/reports/files/Harvard_JCHS_Housing_Americas_Older_Adults_2023_Revised_040424.pdf">the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University</a>. <a href="https://www.bts.gov/data-spotlight/household-cost-transportation-it-affordable">The Bureau of Transportation Statistics</a> found that households with income lower than $25,000 who own at least one vehicle spent 38 percent of their after-tax income on transportation in 2022.


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Community voices are key</h3>


Community input is a foundational factor to rally support for more housing and transit. It’s important for citizens to have an opportunity to provide input early and see how their concerns will be addressed.


Sometimes, residents oppose new housing development for a variety of reasons, ranging from a fear of losing a community’s identity to a fear of increased traffic or reduced property values. Practitioners and legislators should listen and respond to these concerns. For example, they could point to research like <a href="https://socialecology.uci.edu/news/affordable-housing-decreases-crime-increases-property-values">this study from Livable Cities Lab</a> which showed that some property values increased when more housing was introduced. In addition, legislators working to adopt new zoning regulations would be wise to find their local allies and enlist their help in developing community support. Explaining how new housing development relates to the community’s values and goals can further strengthen the case for change.


As Saursmith explained during the briefing, areas that have seen high population growth are a major driving force to zoning reform, especially when those areas are economically disadvantaged. These places are in desperate need of more housing, especially mixed-use residentials within walking distance to transit. He notes that with noticeable population growth, innate political pressure grows to update local amendments that have become obsolete. Generally, political pressure on leaders is the start to policy-making change.


Labor perspectives are also vital to promoting ETOD, especially within the realm of unions. Executive Director of Good Jobs First, Greg LeRoy, explained that some unions have begun to embrace urban density, arguing that promoting density is not only beneficial for the environment, public health, and economic growth, but also innately <a href="https://shelterforce.org/2015/01/13/sprawl_vs-_unions/">pro-union and pro-jobs</a>.


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">More equitable, better connected communities</h3>


Updating zoning laws requires having local city council members and state leaders actively and loudly call for reform. Calling local representatives and campaigning for leadership that will advocate for updated zoning laws is part of the solution to allow for more housing. The other side of the issue to address focuses on the grassroots level. Tackling discourse in online spaces, attending city council meetings in promotion of more housing near transit, or canvassing on referendums are all opportunities to promote ETOD.


Even federal leaders like members in the Future of Transportation Caucus make waves to address housing and transit, helping to propel the conversation forward. In 2020, <a href="https://chuygarcia.house.gov/media/press-releases/representatives-garcia-watson-coleman-and-cohen-introduce-bill-to-promote-affordable-housing-and-equitable-transit-oriented-development">Representative Jesús Chuy García introduced a bill</a> to promote housing near transit and establish an office under DOT specifically for ETOD. These avenues all provide a chance to showcase the numerous economic, public health, and environmental benefits of constructing housing near transit.

Building housing near transit takes change at every level

07_COE-Blog-4

Land use and transportation are inherently intertwined. For example, even a strong network of bike lanes or sidewalks will not be used if people have to travel long distances to get from one destination to another. Although land use and transportation should be considered an inseparable pair, we often find that many people have difficulty connecting them. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-85950 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/07_COE-Blog-4-1024x576.png" alt="Center of Excellence: Advancing smart growth through transportation &amp; land use" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/07_COE-Blog-4-1024x576.png 1024w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/07_COE-Blog-4-300x169.png 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/07_COE-Blog-4-768x432.png 768w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/07_COE-Blog-4-1536x864.png 1536w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/07_COE-Blog-4.png 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> SGA, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hosted a series of six virtual sessions called the Center of Excellence. These sessions, held this year from March to June, covered a range of topics about the intersections of land use and transportation. Participants were primarily mayors, city council members, and staff from cities and towns across the country. Over the course of these sessions, participants heard expert perspectives on multiple topics that could apply in their respective communities. They also asked questions and shared their own experiences which generated fruitful discussions for the SGA team and the other participants. More details about the takeaways from each session are available below.
<h3>How land use policies can curtail transportation improvements (and vice versa)</h3>
<figure id="attachment_85934" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85934" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85934 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/NYC-Parks-Dept_Rain-garden-in-Queens-300x199.jpg" alt="Plants along a city curb help absorb rainwater" width="300" height="199" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/NYC-Parks-Dept_Rain-garden-in-Queens-300x199.jpg 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/NYC-Parks-Dept_Rain-garden-in-Queens-768x510.jpg 768w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/NYC-Parks-Dept_Rain-garden-in-Queens.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85934" class="wp-caption-text">NYC&#8217;s Green Infrastructure efforts help create vibrant and resilient landscapes, like this rain garden in Queens. Source: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nycwater/14490897207">NYC Water on Flickr</a></figcaption></figure>
Our first session was led by Mitchell Silver FAICP, Hon. ASLA, and Toccarra Nicole Thomas, AICP, who explained how state, regional, and local transportation and land use policy tools and roles interact. Cities and towns can have more coordinated and successful land use and transportation policies when they treat land use and transportation as inseparable. Possible actions include fostering collaboration between different departments to discuss common goals, merging departments, or implementing projects jointly to further facilitate coordination and communication. For example, in New York City, <a href="https://www.nycgovparks.org/greening/green-infrastructure">“Green Infrastructure”</a> is a citywide system of engineered landscapes that are vibrant and resilient. The project is accomplished through an inter-agency partnership that includes the Departments of Environmental Protection, Transportation, Parks &amp; Recreation, Design &amp; Construction, and more.
<h4>Resources:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.urbanthree.com/services/cost-of-service-analysis/">Urban3 Cost of Service Analysis and case studies.</a> These studies examine multiple aspects of land use (e.g., costs, revenue and their relation to infrastructure) to show how efficiently municipalities are using their land.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/10/19/value-per-acre-analysis-a-how-to-for-beginners">Strong Towns: Value Per Acre Analysis: A How-To for Beginners,</a> a step-by-step guide for calculating the productivity of different types of land use.</li>
<li><a href="https://ulidigitalmarketing.blob.core.windows.net/ulidcnc/2018/09/Mitchell-Silver-Presentation.pdf">Mitchell Silver: Six Best Practices for Creating a Comprehensive Plan,</a> a presentation by Mitchell Silver that covers basic concepts and relevant topics such as return on investment.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Engaging the community</h3>
In our second session, Charnelle Hicks, President of <a href="https://www.chplanning.com/">CHPlanning, Ltd.</a> and <a href="https://www.nspiregreen.com/">Nspiregreen</a>, explained that projects are stronger when community engagement is central to all development, planning, implementation, and evaluation processes. This session explored methods to include community voice and lived experience in transportation and land-use policies and plans. Possible methods for community engagement include meeting with the community where and when it is convenient for community members before, during, and after project completion to understand their needs and concerns. Planners and officials can also work with trusted community members, such as business owners, neighborhood association directors, or religious leaders to raise awareness of upcoming and ongoing projects. Employing members from the communities being served, either permanently or for the duration of projects, is another possible way to engage the community.
<h4>Resources:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2023-11/Promising%20Practices%20for%20Meaningful%20Public%20Involvement_2023Update_FINAL.pdf">USDOT: Promising Practices for Meaningful Public Involvement in Transportation Decision-Making</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.dot.state.mn.us/publicengagement/">Minnesota Department of Transportation: Public Engagement,</a> a website with numerous tools and resources from MDOT about how to engage the public in transportation decision making.</li>
<li><a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-Equity-Summit-Discussion-Guides.pdf">SGA: Community Engagement Fact Sheet,</a> a supplementary resource from SGA&#8217;s annual Equity Summit.</li>
</ul>

<figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-background" style="background-color: #f0f1f1;">
<blockquote>&#8220;You need to engage both your friends and enemies. If you have a meeting and everyone is completely aligned with your thinking, that&#8217;s not necessarily something to celebrate. It means you might have to work harder in your outreach.&#8221; —Charnelle Hicks, President of CHPlanning, Ltd. and Nspiregreen</blockquote>
</figure>

<h3>Enhancing community resilience</h3>
Our transportation system is outdated and at odds with the needs and priorities of communities such as addressing intersecting challenges such as housing costs, transportation access, and extreme weather events. Community-focused planning for multimodal transportation options can better support the intersecting challenges many communities face. In our third session, architect and city planner Kim Mitchell, who works with <a href="https://allendalestrong.org/">Allendale Strong</a>–a community organization in Shreveport, Louisiana, explained how transportation, land-use or other policies and plans influence community resiliency, including residential and commercial displacement. Possible actions to enhance community resilience include studies to understand how people get around and the destinations that matter to them, and creating spaces to allow communities to play significant roles in urban planning and development. Options can also be explored to reduce or reverse the negative impacts of divisive infrastructure projects which support only one mode of transportation but exacerbate existing challenges <a href="https://t4america.org/maps-tools/congestion-con/">such as congestion</a>.
<figure id="attachment_81887" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-81887" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://smartgrowthamerica.org/divided-by-design"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-81887 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Divided-by-Design-Cover-1-300x169.png" alt="Click here to learn more about Smart Growth America's Divided by Design report" width="300" height="169" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-81887" class="wp-caption-text">Divided by Design examines the past and continued inequities created by our transportation system</figcaption></figure>
<h4>Resources:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/program/divided-by-design/">SGA: Divided by Design,</a> a report showing how low-income communities and communities of color have been disproportionately harmed by transportation development.</li>
<li><a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/program/community-connectors-grants/">SGA: Community Connectors Program,</a> a program that supports leaders in small and mid-sized communities repair damage from divisive infrastructure.</li>
<li><a href="https://communityrenewal.us/">Community Renewal International,</a> a website with numerous stories, strategies, and resources on community resilience.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Fiscally sustainable transportation and land use in rural and frontier communities</h3>
The current model of urban growth is not only dangerous, it is fiscally inefficient. Dense Smart Growth is simply a more economic model. Members of the SGA Land Use and Development team explained how rural and frontier communities can develop and implement “fiscally sustainable” transportation and land-use policies and plans. Possible strategies to promote efficient land use and transportation methods include examining your municipality’s growth models, adopting density-focused approaches, working with local businesses to evaluate the effects of projects (and use those results to inform future efforts), and using <a href="https://benefits.completestreets.org/">SGA’s Benefits of Complete Streets Tool</a> to measure and project the impacts of Complete Streets interventions.
<h4>Resources:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/resources/fiscal-impact-analysis-policies-rural-communities-toolkit/">SGA: Fiscal Impact Analysis Policies in Rural Communities Toolkit,</a> a resource that guides local communities to create and implement Fiscal Impact Analysis Policies and provides case studies and model policies.</li>
<li><a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/resources/foot-traffic-ahead/">SGA: Foot Traffic Ahead,</a> a report that shows the economic benefits of walkable urbanism and provides recommendations on how to increase the supply and access to equitable, walkable urban communities.</li>
<li><a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/resources/evaluating-complete-streets-projects-a-guide-for-practitioners/">SGA: Safer Streets, Stronger Economies,</a> a study that shows the positive impacts of Complete Streets compared to conventional transportation projects.</li>
</ul>

<figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-background" style="background-color: #f0f1f1;">
<blockquote>&#8220;Density is a good thing. It may feel strange for smaller places, but it&#8217;s a positive, not just for the city, but for individual residents.&#8221; —Megan Wright, Smart Growth America Senior Associate of Economic Development</blockquote>
</figure>

<h3>Fostering collaboration across departments</h3>
<figure id="attachment_74918" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-74918" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/resources/zoned-in-economic-benefits-shared-prosperity-with-form-based-codes/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-74918 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ZonedIn_titlepage-300x231.png" alt="Click here to learn more about Zoned In" width="300" height="231" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ZonedIn_titlepage-300x231.png 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ZonedIn_titlepage-1024x790.png 1024w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ZonedIn_titlepage-768x592.png 768w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ZonedIn_titlepage.png 1057w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-74918" class="wp-caption-text">Zoned In: Economic Benefits and Shared Prosperity of Form-Based Codes</figcaption></figure>
Collaboration between departments is crucial to address the interconnected relationships between land use, economic development, and transportation. In our fifth session, led by Toccarra Nicole Thomas, AICP we examined how to foster collaboration between land use, housing, transportation, and economic development champions. A basic first step is to make sure different departments are meeting and communicating with one another. Recognizing shared interests and coordinating actions will yield numerous benefits.
<h4>Resources:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Economic-Benefits-of-FBCs-sRGB.pdf">SGA: Zoned In,</a> a report that measures the impact of form-based codes to encourage smart growth.</li>
<li><a href="https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/land-use-and-housing-research">National Institute for Transportation and Communities: The Transportation, Land Use and Housing Connection,</a> a summary of existing research on the relationships between transportation, land use, and housing.</li>
<li><a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/five-key-smart-growth-points-from-a-new-report-on-transit-station-area-development/">SGA: Five key smart growth points from a new report on transit station area development,</a> a short article that summarizes key findings of a new report about transit-oriented development.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Activating public spaces for walking, biking, and more</h3>
In our sixth session, Nate Storring explained that placemaking is a vital strategy to help make communities more enjoyable, vibrant, and healthy. However, design is just one ingredient of successful public spaces that we often rely on too heavily. Practitioners should observe and engage with the community to understand what uses and activities will be most valuable in their area. Quick-build projects can be fast, effective, and economic ways to pilot test interventions to demonstrate impacts.
<h4>Resources:</h4>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul>
<li><a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/program/national-complete-streets-coalition/quick-build-demonstration-projects/">SGA: Quick-Build Demonstration Projects,</a> an online hub of resources on quick-build projects, including case studies from across the country.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.pps.org/category/placemaking">Project for Public Spaces: Placemaking,</a> a website with articles and resources about placemaking.</li>
<li><a href="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/581110f944272e4a11871c01/638a1fe260f36b92be75784f_2022%20placemaking%20booklet.pdf">Project for Public Spaces: Placemaking: What If We Built Our Cities Around Places?</a> This guide outlines the principles and processes of placemaking.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

<figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-background" style="background-color: #f0f1f1;">
<blockquote>&#8220;Every place I&#8217;ve ever been, people say, &#8216;Well, the weather here isn&#8217;t conducive to public spaces.&#8217; Doesn&#8217;t matter if it&#8217;s a hot or a cold place, I&#8217;ve heard a million different excuses. But the fact is, if you can make the space comfortable, and you usually can, people will use the space.&#8221; —Nate Storring, Co-Executive Director of Project for Public Spaces</blockquote>
</figure>

The Center of Excellence allowed us to connect local decision makers with experts on multiple aspects of land use and transportation. But the information exchange went both ways. The virtual sessions also allowed us to hear about the issues, challenges, and successes they have had in their work. Based on these findings, SGA and the CDC can work to find solutions and build programming to help cities and towns understand and improve their work on land use and transportation.
<hr />
This project was made possible by cooperative agreement OT18-1802 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC. We thank the speakers who shared their time and knowledge and the participants who offered their insights into different issues facing their communities.

The Center of Excellence: Advancing smart growth through transportation &#038; land use

the-US-has-progress-to-make

The following guest post was written by Natalie Draisin, Director, North America Office &amp; United Nations Representative, FIA Foundation


The US prides itself on being a global leader. Yet there’s one way we’d rather not be leading—in the number of people dying on our roads. Across all income levels, among the countries with the largest populations, we’re the only one where deaths reached these historic highs.


<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter wp-image-85856 size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="960" height="540" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/the-US-has-progress-to-make.png" alt="The US has some of the highest road traffic fatalities among countries with the largest populations. Bar chart shows China -10% (green), Brazil -23% (green), India 2% (red), and USA 33% (red)" class="wp-image-85856" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/the-US-has-progress-to-make.png 960w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/the-US-has-progress-to-make-300x169.png 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/the-US-has-progress-to-make-768x432.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Since 2011, among the countries with the largest populations, the US is the worst performer in road traffic fatalities. Source: World Health Organization Global Status Report on Road Safety 2023 and FIA Foundation.</figcaption></figure>

 
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]This guest post is a supplement to the 2024 edition of Dangerous by Design, our landmark report on the alarming increase in people being struck and killed while walking, and how the way we design our streets is part of the problem. More than 7,500 people were struck and killed while walking in 2022, marking a 40-year high and a 75 percent increase since 2010.
[button type=&#8221;primary&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;/dangerous-by-design&#8221;]Read the full report here[/button]
[/alert] 


Compared to our high-income counterparts, our roads are still among the top five deadliest. Across all income levels, our roads are more fatal than some low- and middle-income countries, including Rwanda, Lebanon, and Serbia.


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/US-roads-most-fatal-in-North-America-1024x671.png" alt="US roads most fatal in North America, and among top five most fatal across high income countries with a road traffic fatality rate of 14 per 100k people" class="wp-image-85857"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The contrast between the US road traffic fatality rate and most other high-income countries is stark, inexcusable, and unacceptable. Source: World Health Organization Global Status Report on Road Safety 2023 and FIA Foundation.</figcaption></figure>


Admittedly, our patchwork of conflicting state laws poses particular challenges. As a country, we fail to meet any of the World Health Organization’s best practices: urban speed limit of 30mph with local authority power to modify; .05 BAC; motorcycle helmet law; mandatory seat-belt use, and a child restraint law. There is no excuse—just ask the families and friends of the 44,000 people who die on our roads annually.


But there is hope: DOT adopted an international best practice to save lives on roads, the safe systems approach. The approach is credited with <a href="https://www.wri.org/research/sustainable-and-safe-vision-and-guidance-zero-road-deaths">countries achieving the lowest fatality rates and the greatest reduction in fatality levels over the past 20 years</a>. As a trendsetter, the US can be a catalyst for all countries to adopt safe systems, <a href="https://www.wri.org/research/sustainable-and-safe-vision-and-guidance-zero-road-deaths">saving over a million lives annually</a>. What can we learn from countries that have gone first in adopting safe systems?


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">1. Don&#8217;t ask us to slow down, force us to slow down</h3>


<a href="https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/speed-campaign-speeding-fatalities-14-year-high">We have to slow down</a>. <a href="https://www.itdp.org/2023/06/17/road-safety-race-equity-us-cities/">High speeds divide our communities</a>, standing in the way of equity. <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/speed-management--a-road-safety-manual-for-decision-makers-and-practitioners.-2nd-edition">International best practice</a> shows that to save lives, we must cap speeds at 20mph where vulnerable road users and vehicles mix. This cut the fatality rate in half in Fortaleza, Brazil, and by 25 percent in Bogota, Colombia. Over fifty countries allow cities to control their own speed limits. Most of these countries are high-income, yet the US is notably absent among its peers with only a select few cities, like Washington, DC, Seattle, WA, and Minneapolis, MN, controlling their own speeds. New York City recently joined them with <a href="https://act.transalt.org/a/sammys-law">Sammy’s Law</a>, named for 12-year-old Sammy Cohen Eckstein, killed by a speeding driver steps from his Brooklyn home.


While speed limits are a start, they are not enough. Our wide, American roads lure drivers into a false sense of safety and invite us to speed. In addition to addressing street design, we can help drivers slow down through Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA), in-vehicle technology that prevents speeding. The European Union is mandating ISA in all new vehicles this year, because it works. When Transport for London equipped its fleet with ISA, <a href="https://content.tfl.gov.uk/analysis-of-the-effectiveness-of-retrofit-isa-technology-on-tfl-fleet-vehicles.docx#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20TfL%20started%20retrofitting,was%20completed%20in%20March%202022.">speeding violations dropped 62 percent</a>. Thanks to advocacy from Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets, ISA is coming to the US. The Washington, DC Council passed and funded its <a href="https://www.fiafoundation.org/news/first-us-intelligent-speed-assist-legislation-passed-supported-by-fia-foundation">first ISA mandate</a> for recidivist speeding drivers, and advocacy efforts are underway in New York to follow suit. California is poised to pass a bill that will require ISA in all new vehicles.


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">2. Start with youth, as crashes are the <a href="https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/all-injuries/deaths-by-demographics/deaths-by-age/data-details/">#1 cause of preventable death for ages 4-21</a></h3>


Speed management can be controversial, particularly in an election year. Scale up safe systems by starting with the most acceptable, and necessary place – schools. In <a href="https://www.roadsafetyngos.org/events/30-km-h-decree-in-tunisia/">Tunisia</a>, <a href="https://www.aip-foundation.org/celebrating-five-years-of-the-slow-zones-safe-zones-program-prioritizing-safe-school-zones-to-safeguard-every-childs-journey-to-school-across-vietnam/">Vietnam</a>, Moldova, <a href="https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LGMSV.pdf">Mexico</a>, and Zambia, what started as a small pilot grew into a national school zone law. These countries offer three lessons: 1) Start small, 2) Complement speed limits with infrastructure, and 3) <a href="https://www.who.int/campaigns/un-global-road-safety-week/2021/streets-for-life">20 mph is the way to go</a>, <a href="https://www.roadsafetyngos.org/toolkit/priority-interventions/30-km-h-zones/">proven to save lives around the world</a>.


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Before &amp; After: Speed limits do not suffice to slow down drivers. The US can learn from low-cost, quick-build safe systems interventions that guide safe behavior around African schools, proven by the CDC to reduce injuries. Source: AMEND and FIA Foundation.


Change doesn’t have to be expensive. In Puebla de Zaragoza, Mexico, ITDP used CDC’s free <a href="https://www.childhealthinitiative.org/media/791406/tct_toolkit_final_508.pdf">Traffic Conflict Technique Toolkit</a> to identify risky areas, and redesign infrastructure to prioritize pedestrians over cars. Bollards extended curbs and shortened crossing distances, and flower pots separated road users from vehicles. <a href="https://mexico.itdp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/03_Reporte_TCA.pdf">ITDP translated the toolkit</a> to fit the Latin American context, and found that <a href="https://mexico.itdp.org/download/analisis-de-conflictos-viales-metodologia-y-resultados-en-el-entorno-escolar-de-bine-puebla/?wpdmdl=2513&amp;refresh=665fe806d48871717561350">near misses around schools went down 69 percent</a> among 9,000 students, for $10,000 of infrastructure.


Moldova’s national law began with a pilot at three schools in Chisinau. <a href="https://www.easst.co.uk/30km-h-school-zones-made-mandatory-in-new-amendments-to-moldovas-national-road-traffic-regulation/">EASST</a> helped lower speed limits, implement low-cost traffic calming measures, and involve local school children. In Africa, the nonprofit organization Amend implements signs, sidewalks, and speed humps for about $25,000 per school. CDC found that in Tanzania, this reduced injury rates by 26 percent. In Zambia, <a href="https://www.fiafoundation.org/news/lusaka-zambia-receives-2023-vision-zero-for-youth-international-leadership-award-supported-by-fia-foundation#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWhat%20started%20as%20an%20effort,emulated%20by%20other%20cities%20worldwide.%E2%80%9D">Amend</a> led road safety efforts at two public schools, re-shaping streets, creating space for pedestrians, and reducing vehicle speeds. A citywide, then nationwide 20mph school speed zone law followed.


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">3. Harness the power of fleets &amp; the private sector</h3>


The private sector has a critical role to play in implementing safe systems, quickly and at scale. One USDOT Ally in Action, <a href="https://www.fia.com/fia-road-safety-index">the Index</a>, helps organizations realize safety benefits and incentives. The Index supports organizations in assessing and improving safety throughout their entire supply and/or value chain, assigning a star rating to promote safety leadership to stakeholders. The first of its kind, it enables transparency in an organization’s safety footprint, akin to a carbon footprint. The Index has been adopted by IKEA, TotalEnergies, Autoliv, the Swedish Transport Administration and FIA Clubs in France and Uruguay. It is time for US-based organizations to follow.


As a major purchaser of fleets, the private sector can also help fix the fact that the US doesn’t meet basic UN vehicle safety regulations. With massive buying power, and almost 20 percent of new vehicle sales in the US, fleets can put us on the right track. <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5fb4ea8933ae6c208c3dac41/t/633a9baa08415113fc21561c/1664785350523/GNCAP+fleet+guide+2022.pdf">The Global NCAP Fleet Buying Guide</a> provides recommendations that comply with UN safety standards.


<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter wp-image-85858 size-full"><img decoding="async" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/G20-countries-vehicle-safety-features.png" alt="G20 countries vehicle safety features. US has not adopted pedestrian safety regulations, motorcycle anti-lock braking systems, or intelligent speed assistance. The EU has adopted all three. Japan, UK, India, South Korea have adopted 2/3. Turkey, China, Brazil, and Australia have adopted 1/3." class="wp-image-85858"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The US is behind other G20 countries in adopting UN safety regulations. Source: Global NCAP and FIA Foundation.</figcaption></figure>


In the EU, fleets have helped scale drunk driving prevention technology. There, voluntary, fleet-based adoption of ignition interlocks in buses and coaches led to an EU mandate for ignition interlock capacity in all new vehicles. The US can leapfrog the EU. New technology from the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) is now available for fleets as a directed-breath, zero tolerance system that is non-intrusive, fast, and requires little-to-no maintenance. Widespread deployment of a completely passive system in consumer vehicles could follow in all new passenger vehicles through <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/comment/NHTSA-2022-0079-12678">the rulemaking process</a> currently being undertaken by the US Department of Transportation. If widely adopted in consumer vehicles, this could significantly reduce the more than 10,000 people who die each year in the US because of drunk driving.


Prioritizing safer vehicles today saves lives for decades to come. We use our vehicles for about 20 years before sending them to low- and middle-income countries, where 90 percent of deaths and injuries on roads occur. Advancing safety in the US puts a dent in the global public health crisis of 1.2 million deaths on roads.


In the meantime, we have work to do at home. We are at a crossroads where the value of human lives must be prioritized over the status quo. By embracing the principles of safe systems and learning from others, we can transform our streets into not only havens of safety, but places to thrive. The tools to forge this change—from Intelligent Speed Assist to 20 mph school zones and private sector engagement—are not just effective, they are a testament to what can be achieved with collective will and concerted action. It is time for the US to shift gears from being a laggard to a leader in road safety, not just for the benefit of our own citizens but as a beacon for global health and safety. The lives we save today will be the legacy we leave for generations to come.

Three ways we can catch up with global peers on traffic safety

Child-crosses-the-street

The following post was written by Dustin Robertson, Thriving Communities Program Manager, and Megan Wright, Senior Associate of Economic Development.
7,522 people were hit and killed while walking in 2022—an alarming increase that represents a 40-year high in preventable pedestrian deaths. Yet, at the local level, these deaths are often seen as individual instances, disguising the depth of the issue. Gaps in slow-to-update national datasets are part of the problem.
<figure id="attachment_85874" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85874" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85874 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Child-crosses-the-street-1024x682.png" alt="A child with a bright yellow backpack and dark brown, curly hair crosses the street" width="1024" height="682" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85874" class="wp-caption-text">Source: <a href="https://unsplash.com/@rourgant?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash">Roberto Ourgant</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/person-walking-on-pedestrian-lane-during-daytime-COO9m-JH5LQ?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure>
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]This post is a supplement to the 2024 edition of Dangerous by Design, our landmark report on the alarming increase in people being struck and killed while walking, and how the way we design our streets is part of the problem. More than 7,500 people were struck and killed while walking in 2022, marking a 40-year high and a 75 percent increase since 2010.
[button type=&#8221;primary&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;/dangerous-by-design&#8221;]Read the full report here[/button]
[/alert]
Part of the reason we must continue to publish new editions of <a href="http://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design">Dangerous by Design</a> is that people often experience the death of a person walking as a singular tragedy, unaware of the national trends. Lack of knowledge about the pedestrian safety crisis slows much-needed progress at the local, state, and national levels.
Federal reporting on traffic safety is essential to improving awareness of this ongoing, ever-heightening crisis. Unfortunately, federal data is slow to deliver and often fails to show the full extent of the issue.
<h3>Inconsistent race and demographic information</h3>
Gaps and inconsistencies in data on race and ethnicity can disguise national-level trends, making it very challenging for leaders to target resources and actions to the communities that most need them. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are often placed in the same category to display statistically significant results, which makes any differences in these two groups’ traffic fatality data difficult to identify.[efn_note]This practice then carries over into organizations (including SGA) who use the data for further analysis and storytelling.[/efn_note]
For another example, the race and ethnicity data on death certificates for American Indian and Alaska Native people often does not match their responses to the Current Population Survey (33 percent of the time). Until 2018, multiracial people were only identified by their first race listed. Such inconsistencies, when combined with other problems such as undercounting and underreporting lead to a data set of questionable quality.
Specific data that can be separated by race and ethnicity is a relatively new practice, only starting in the 1980s and 1990s, making historical trends in race-related fatalities difficult to identify.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]<a href="https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813188">A report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)</a> shows that while some states always collect data about race and ethnicity, others do not. States like Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and South Dakota included race and ethnicity data in essentially all years covered by the report.
On the other hand, states such as Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Pennyslvania, and New York showed significant gaps in reporting race and ethnicity data.[/alert]
<h3>Unintuitive datasets</h3>
Although NHTSA released their data in April, there is little effort to make it accessible. The agency produces some baseline <a href="https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813560">reports about overall trends</a>, but to dig deeper, users have to wade through <a href="https://www.nhtsa.gov/crash-data-systems/fatality-analysis-reporting-system">a complicated and confusing website</a> to find the right datasets.
Data included in their yearly releases is vast, containing dozens of variables that produce millions of individual data points, and the spreadsheet that contains it is not coded or named in intuitive ways. Any advocate or practitioner looking to make use of these datasets will need to invest a great deal of time and energy, and might require access to often expensive analysis software.
<h3>Data is out-of-date by the time it&#8217;s released</h3>
The way data is released, not just what information it contains, is also a major issue. The 2022 data was released in April 2024–a 16-month delay. The lag for 2021 data was about the same. <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/far-more-people-walking-were-struck-and-killed-in-2021-than-previously-predicted/">As we have pointed out in the past</a>, it is hard for safety and transportation agencies at almost any level to tackle the root causes of this epidemic when our picture of the crisis is always over 12 months out of date.
USDOT and NHTSA need to be more transparent about how they produce this data and explain exactly why it takes so long—so that Congress, states, and advocates can work with them to address those issues.
We can’t properly evaluate safety without better, more comprehensive, and timely data. <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/?p=85847&amp;preview=true">Learn more about out how traffic safety reporting should improve here.</a>

NHTSA

What national data doesn&#8217;t tell us about pedestrian deaths

Minnesota-intersections

When we design our roads for the speed of vehicles, we sacrifice safety and comfort for everyone, including people who primarily travel behind a wheel.
<figure id="attachment_85876" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85876" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85876 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Minnesota-intersections-1024x682.png" alt="Cars line up behind crosswalks at a freshly painted Minnesota intersection. A motorcyclist is able to turn left without facing oncoming traffic." width="1024" height="682" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85876" class="wp-caption-text">Source: <a href="https://unsplash.com/@joshhild?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash">Josh Hild</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/cars-on-road-during-daytime-nJXCc1naUNM?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure>
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]This post is a supplement to the 2024 edition of Dangerous by Design, our landmark report on the alarming increase in people being struck and killed while walking, and how the way we design our streets is part of the problem. More than 7,500 people were struck and killed while walking in 2022, marking a 40-year high and a 75 percent increase since 2010.
[button type=&#8221;primary&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;/dangerous-by-design&#8221;]Read the full report here[/button]
[/alert]
We have all seen the flashy car commercials. They paint a picture of glamor, freedom, and adventure. Families getting to work and school, friends taking trips, and communities bustling with activity. Cars don’t deliver on these promises. Reality looks much different. Our streets are dangerous by design for all modes and are not sustainable for individuals or communities. While we are seeing gains in safety for people inside vehicles, our transportation system continues to place unfair burdens on drivers and fails to provide them with the support to truly meet their transportation needs.
<h3>Streets send drivers mixed messages</h3>
Reduced speed limits, signs reminding motorists to share the road, these things all tell drivers that it’s important to create a safe environment. Yet our streets are designed to prioritize speed and allow for, if not encourage, unsafe driving behavior. When the inevitable catastrophe happens, the discussion is often focused on individual behavior and not why fatalities repeatedly occur at particular intersections or on certain types of roads.
<h3>The high cost of everyday travel</h3>
For those able to do so, many people may choose car ownership as a primary means of transportation. This choice comes with increasingly large costs including purchase, maintenance, insurance, and other related charges. Not only does this place an ongoing toll on a household’s budget, but it requires a financial safety net when something goes wrong.
<h3>We are all one flat tire away from being a pedestrian</h3>
Car dependency provides little to no security. A crash or maintenance issue can immediately put a person in a place of needing transportation options that don’t exist. When people age or experience a disability, driving may no longer be the option it once was. When our transportation system fails to support alternative modes, these people are left with little to no options to meet their daily needs.
As long as we continue to prioritize speed over safety and measure success by the number of cars traveling through communities, our transportation system will continue to fail all of us. It is in the best interest of everyone, including those who primarily rely on cars as means of travel, to have the courage to make big, systemic changes around transportation.

Everyone benefits from safety over speed. Yes, even drivers.

2-peds-cross-street-in-chicago

We’ve always said that “you measure what you treasure” and the limited, incomplete data about the deaths of people walking suggest that it’s simply not a crisis that our nation cares about. But that doesn’t need to be the end of the story. Here are some specific recommendations to bring things out of the dark ages and into the modern age, while making it clear that reducing these deaths is a top priority for transportation agencies at all levels.
<figure id="attachment_85875" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85875" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85875 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2-peds-cross-street-in-chicago-1024x682.png" alt="Two men in business attire cross the street" width="1024" height="682" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85875" class="wp-caption-text">Source: <a href="https://unsplash.com/@sawyerbengtson?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash">Sawyer Bengtson</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/two-man-crossing-at-pedestrian-lane-NFyn7uZ_0x8?utm_content=creditCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure>
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]This post is a supplement to the 2024 edition of Dangerous by Design, our landmark report on the alarming increase in people being struck and killed while walking, and how the way we design our streets is part of the problem. More than 7,500 people were struck and killed while walking in 2022, marking a 40-year high and a 75 percent increase since 2010.
[button type=&#8221;primary&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;/dangerous-by-design&#8221;]Read the full report here[/button]
[/alert]
The findings in Dangerous by Design are limited by the data that are publicly available. The best available data lacks clarity, scalability, representation, and is incomplete. The data in DBD is pulled from FARS, which stands for the <a href="https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data/fatality-analysis-reporting-system-fars">Fatality Analysis Reporting System</a>. This data is released on a yearly basis containing data from two years prior (meaning, we used 2022 data for the 2024 release of our report). Not only is this data not current, it also fails to break down the number of pedestrian fatalities by race (prior to 2019 for this specific variable), age, income, and other socioeconomic variables. The biggest advantage of FARS data is that it’s geolocational, meaning that we can pinpoint where the most pedestrian-related traffic fatalities are occurring. Any additional context needs to be supplemented with other sources like census data.
<h3>Big picture improvements</h3>
Overall, <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/crash-reporting/">crash reports should not be the only form of pedestrian safety data</a> that is widely available at a national level. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S221414051730052X">Inadequate data systems</a> maintained by most states limit quality assurance measures and allow inaccurate data to make it into national datasets. Ideally, the data released by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) each year would be current (i.e, including the current year instead of lagging behind by 16-18 months ), and it would include additional variables to contextualize pedestrian fatality data. <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/?p=85845&amp;preview=true">We wrote more about the limits of federal data reporting here.</a>
Strengthened data sets could also include:
<h3>Localized traffic volume data</h3>
<a href="https://datasmart.hks.harvard.edu/news/article/can-better-data-make-zero-traffic-deaths-a-reality-1138">One of the biggest constraints for pedestrian safety interventions</a> is knowing how many vehicles are on the road. Many pedestrian safety interventions are halted before they get off the ground, with local policymakers citing negative impacts on traffic flow. By normalizing injury rates based on traffic volume, municipalities can better understand which street designs are truly dangerous, as opposed to those that only appear in high-traffic areas.
<h3>More information on injuries and injury severity</h3>
There is no national dataset on <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-020-09513-8">injuries to people walking or rolling</a> that is reliable and comprehensive. Since traffic-related injury data is tracked independently by local police departments and compiled at the state level, all with different recording methods and organizational categories, this data is very difficult to aggregate. Since FARS data can’t track traffic-related injuries at a national scale, the system uses an algorithm to estimate the number of injuries based on the total number of fatalities it has, which, as mentioned earlier, come with its own caveats. Additionally, many traffic-related injuries are not recorded if they are not severe (the definition of “severe” varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction), and individuals that are treated at emergency rooms or hospitals are often not recorded. This means that individuals that were involved in crashes that waited to get treatment, say, for a concussion or lingering back injury, are not tracked in FARS data either. There is also no dataset that tracks the number of long-term side effects or injuries that people involved in traffic violence experience. Though ER treatment and other hospital data may be able to fill in some of these gaps, this data is neither comprehensive nor publicly available due to privacy concerns.
<a href="https://www.itf-oecd.org/pedestrian-safety-urban-space-and-health-0">A 2011 estimate from the International Transportation Forum</a> shows that about 75 percent of pedestrian injuries result from pedestrians being injured while tripping or stumbling on poorly maintained sidewalks and poorly designed streets. In 2020 alone, there were an <a href="https://www.bts.gov/content/injured-persons-transportation-mode">estimated 54,769 pedestrians injured in traffic crashes</a>. Only about 12 percent of these were fatal injuries, suggesting that injury data is just as important, if not more important, to measure whether street design improvements create less injury risk for all users.
<h3>More details about road design</h3>
Crash reports provide limited information about where accidents happen and what the conditions and infrastructure look like. They should include <a href="https://journalistsresource.org/politics-and-government/pedestrian-safety-crosswalks-research/">crosswalk placement</a> (if any), intersection design, lighting, and visibility measures. This is especially important to track the <a href="https://usa.streetsblog.org/2024/04/19/disabled-people-are-dying-in-americas-crosswalks-but-were-not-counting-them">relative accessibility of streets</a> based on design elements. As of now, pedestrians with different abilities (those who are blind, wheelchair users, those with mobility devices) are lumped together in the vague, overarching group of “vulnerable road users.” To actively address the fatality epidemic among the disability community, these road users need to have their own datasets.
<h3>Data on fatalities that occur on private property</h3>
Not accounting for deaths or injuries on privately-owned lands (like parking lots) dramatically underrepresents the severity of the pedestrian safety crisis in the U.S. Much of this information exists in proprietary datasets like confidential police reports, hospital, and other health records, making it inaccessible to the public. Putting more detailed data like this behind paywalls and labeling it as proprietary limits the ability of both advocates and practitioners to implement solutions that really work and address the root cause of the problem.
On a macro scale, data collection and analysis <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S221414051730052X">should be focused on people walking, not the vehicle</a>. Federal data ignores the motivation of the pedestrian; where and why they were choosing to move the way they were. How we define pedestrians also has an effect on the number of people who are counted in pedestrian death counts. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S221414051730052X">The discrepancies</a> between the state and federal pedestrian fatality and injury data collection systems causes confusion when compiling data. The different definitions used in recording and reporting fatalities versus those used by planners and transportation engineers creates a distorted impression of the relative risk of walking as a mode of transportation. This is more than likely to lead to policies that do not support pedestrian safety investments.

How pedestrian crash data needs to change

DBD-briefing

On July 9th, 2024, Smart Growth America and partners engaged the Future of Transportation Caucus and the Office of Senator John Fetterman on the importance of creating a transportation system that is safe for all users. This briefing also provided SGA staff with the platform to present data from our recent report, Dangerous by Design 2024, to congressional offices. 
<figure id="attachment_85818" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85818" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85818 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DBD-briefing-1024x768.jpeg" alt="A panel sits before congressional staffers inside the US Capitol. A presentation on the right shows the words &quot;Dangerous by Design&quot;" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DBD-briefing-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DBD-briefing-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DBD-briefing-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DBD-briefing-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DBD-briefing.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85818" class="wp-caption-text">Panelists Heidi Simon, Jessica Cicchino, Mayor Matt Tuerk, and Mindy Badin listen to Representative Cohen&#8217;s opening statement.</figcaption></figure>
Despite significant safety improvements for motorists, <a href="http://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design">there has been a 75 percent increase in pedestrian fatalities since 2010</a>, with over 7,500 people killed while walking in 2022. This acute safety crisis is due in part to roadway design that prioritizes vehicle speed over the safety of all road users. Research has shown additional changes, including technological and vehicular design changes, could improve pedestrian safety. Ultimately, significant culture change—and unprecedented funding targeted at transportation safety—will be necessary to prioritize the safety of all road users over the speed of a few.
In a briefing supported by the office of Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) and the Future of Transportation Caucus on Capitol Hill, SGA’s Director of Thriving Communities, Heidi Simon, used data from <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/dangerous-by-design/">Dangerous by Design 2024</a> to demonstrate the increased safety risks for people walking in the US. She was joined by panelists Jessica Cicchino, Senior Vice President of Research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety; Mayor Matt Tuerk of Allentown, Pennsylvania; and Mindy Badin, an advocate from Families for Safe Streets.
<h3>Designing a better future</h3>
Four years ago, Mindy Badin’s son, Brett, was dropped off at a bus stop on the side of a busy six-lane highway, a long way from the nearest crosswalk. While attempting to cross the street, Brett was struck by a vehicle and ultimately passed away. Today, the bus stop remains along a dangerous route for pedestrians with no safety improvements. With ever-rising rates of pedestrian fatalities, stories like Brett’s are far too frequent, and they emphasize the need for legislators to address dangerous road design.
An opening statement given at the briefing by Representative Steve Cohen (TN-9)—who represents a portion of <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/memphis-dangerous-by-design-video/">Memphis, the most dangerous metro area in the country</a>—highlighted the importance of street safety legislation such as the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7082/text">Complete Streets Act</a>, reintroduced this year by Congressmen Cohen and Auchincloss (MA-4) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA). Additional legislation includes the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/3246">Building Safer Streets Act</a>, introduced by Senator John Fetterman. These bills offer paths forward in the implementation of street design changes that would make our roadways safer for people walking.
The briefing concluded that roadway design changes initiated by local organizations and supported by federal dollars are key to resolving a nationwide safety issue that has unique effects on every community in the country. Federal grant programs, such as the Safe Streets &amp; Roads For All (SS4A) program, provide funding avenues to communities that are already making these changes.
<h3>Pedestrian fatality data on congressional districts</h3>
At the briefing, Heidi Simon previewed the next release in our series of <a href="http://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design">Dangerous by Design analysis</a> ranking the most deadly congressional districts (to be released next week). We hope that members of Congress take a close look at these numbers and take action to protect the most vulnerable road users in their districts. We also urge advocates to use the data to hold their representatives accountable to the needed safety changes on our streets.

Federal advocacy

Congressional briefing illustrates the rising danger of roadway design for pedestrians

Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit

In urban planning and development, transit station areas are the unsung heroes shaping our cities. By examining the period from the Great Recession of 2007-2009 through the global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2023, a recent report offers invaluable insights on how transit-oriented development can transform our urban landscapes.
<figure id="attachment_85788" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85788" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85788 size-full" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit.png" alt="A t-bound rail car in Phoenix, Arizona reaches a stop by a sidewalk filled with people walking and biking" width="1600" height="1066" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit.png 1600w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit-300x200.png 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit-1024x682.png 1024w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit-768x512.png 768w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit-1536x1023.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85788" class="wp-caption-text">Credit: Jared Murray (Unsplash)</figcaption></figure>
The detailed report <a href="https://ppms.trec.pdx.edu/media/project_files/1253_report.pdf">Transit Station Area Development and Demographic Outcomes</a> by Arthur C. Nelson and Robert Hibberd dives deep into how transit stations influence job growth, household dynamics, commuting patterns, real estate values, and gentrification. This is a goldmine for smart growth advocates because it aligns perfectly with creating sustainable, vibrant, and economically dynamic communities. Here are five key takeaways from the report that every smart growth enthusiast should know.
<h4>1. Transit station areas attract significant job growth</h4>
Let&#8217;s kick things off with one of the most exciting findings: transit station areas are job magnets. Despite covering less than 1 percent of urbanized land, these areas managed to attract over 20 percent of new regional jobs. Light rail transit (LRT) stations alone added nearly 1 million new jobs within an 800-meter radius. This is huge for smart growth because it shows how strategically placing transit stations can concentrate economic activities, cut down urban sprawl, and promote efficient land use. By clustering jobs near transit, cities can boost accessibility, slash commuting times, and reduce transportation costs, paving the way for more sustainable and lively communities. It&#8217;s a win-win for economic vitality and environmental stewardship.
<h4>2. Transit-oriented development promotes household diversity</h4>
Next up, the report highlights that transit station areas aren&#8217;t just job hubs—they&#8217;re also hotbeds of household diversity. These areas have seen a significant rise in households, especially among non-white residents and younger people under 65. This diversity is a cornerstone of smart growth as it helps create inclusive communities that reflect a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. By attracting various household types, including families with kids, single professionals, and older adults, transit-oriented development ensures that neighborhoods stay dynamic and adaptable to changing demographics. This diversity fosters vibrant, resilient communities where different needs are met, reducing segregation and promoting social equity—all core tenets of smart growth.
<h4>3. The closer people live to transit, the less distance they need to drive</h4>
Here&#8217;s a big win for the environment: households near transit stations significantly reduce the distances they travel, measured in vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) or vehicle miles traveled (VMT), depending on which part of the world you’re in. The closer people live to transit, the lower their annual VKT, which translates to reduced transportation costs and lower greenhouse gas emissions. For smart growth advocates, this underscores the environmental benefits of transit-oriented development. Less reliance on cars means lower traffic congestion, improved air quality, and safer, more walkable neighborhoods. Promoting sustainable transportation options and reducing the ecological footprint of urban areas aligns perfectly with smart growth principles. Encouraging development near transit stations is a smart move that promotes the efficient use of resources and healthier living environments.
<h4>4. Proximity to transit stations can impact real estate values and gentrification dynamics</h4>
The report provides a nuanced look at how transit station proximity affects real estate values and gentrification. While median household incomes in LRT and streetcar transit (SCT) station areas rose faster than in their regions, indicating potential gentrification, this wasn&#8217;t consistent across all transit types. Bus rapid transit (BRT) station areas showed minimal signs of gentrification.
Understanding these dynamics is crucial for smart growth because it highlights the complex relationship between transit-oriented development and housing affordability. Smart growth aims to create equitable communities where everyone benefits from development.
Our 2023 edition of <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/foot-traffic-ahead-2023/">Foot Traffic Ahead</a> found that premiums in commercial rents, multifamily rental rates, and for-sale home prices in dense, walkable environments continues to show a real estate market and consumer preference for walkable urbanism over drivable alternatives. While the market continues to seek well-connected, walkable neighborhoods, the demand for these areas far exceeds supply, underscoring the need for policy reform that prioritizes mixed-use, mixed-income housing near transit.
Policymakers can use these insights to design interventions like affordable housing mandates and inclusive zoning laws to mitigate adverse gentrification effects. This ensures that transit-oriented development supports social equity and economic diversity, preventing the displacement of lower-income residents.
<h4>5. The importance of policy approaches to mitigate gentrification</h4>
Lastly, the report stresses the need for proactive policies to address gentrification pressures near transit stations. As transit-oriented development becomes more desirable, the risk of displacing lower-income residents increases. The authors suggest several policy measures, including affordable housing requirements, community land trusts, and zoning reforms that promote mixed-income development. These strategies are vital for smart growth advocates who strive to balance economic development with social equity. By implementing policies that protect vulnerable populations, cities can ensure that the benefits of transit-oriented development are widely shared. This approach not only preserves the social fabric of communities but also supports the creation of inclusive, diverse neighborhoods, which are fundamental principles of smart growth.
<h4>Conclusion</h4>
The Transit Station Area Development and Demographic Outcomes report is a treasure trove of insights for smart growth enthusiasts. It highlights how strategic transit-oriented development can create more sustainable, inclusive, and economically vibrant communities. By focusing on job growth, household diversity, reduced transportation impacts, and the careful management of gentrification, we can build cities that are not only more livable but also more equitable. As we move towards a future where urban development must meet the challenges of environmental sustainability and social equity, the lessons from this report offer a clear roadmap. In the end, smart growth isn&#8217;t just about planning for the future—it&#8217;s about creating a better present, one transit station at a time.

Housing

Transit-oriented development

Five key smart growth points from a new report on transit station area development

image-3

The following article was written by Stewart Schwartz, SGA Board Member and Executive Director of the <a href="https://smartergrowth.net/">Coalition for Smarter Growth</a>


The smart growth movement creates communities that are equitable, resilient, and well-connected to essential destinations no matter how you choose to get around. While Smart Growth America both operates at the federal level and locally in communities across the country, our partnerships with locally serving organizations and advocates to advance smart growth goals are essential to making communities work better for the folks who live there. Recently, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, an SGA partner, released their <a href="https://smartergrowth.net/blueprint/">Blueprint for a Better Region</a> for the Washington, DC metropolitan area—a stellar example of the important work being done on the ground, one that can be replicated in communities across the country.
<figure id="attachment_85763" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85763" style="width: 1425px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85763 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/image-3.png" alt="A man in a gray jacket walks down a shaded sidewalk surrounded by red brick apartment buildings" width="1425" height="950" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85763" class="wp-caption-text">Image provided by the Coalition for Smarter Growth</figcaption></figure> 



The Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG) recently released its updated <a href="https://smartergrowth.net/blueprint/">Blueprint for a Better Region</a> for the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The Blueprint highlights the challenges felt within the DC region and across the country: high housing costs, renewed sprawl, and traffic after the pandemic, economic and racial segregation, and climate change. It promotes a vision of walkable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the region to grow.
[button type=&#8221;info&#8221; block=&#8221;true&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;https://smartergrowth.net/blueprint/&#8221;]Watch a video about the Blueprint[/button]


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">New challenges—and opportunities</h3>


In parts of our region, as in communities across the country continued policies that promote sprawl and the huge shift to work-from-home during and after the pandemic have hurt downtown DC and Metrorail ridership, increased growth pressures in rural areas at the edge of suburbia, and potentially increased existing racial and economic segregation. Meanwhile, housing costs remain high amid unmet demand for housing in walkable urban places.


Dangerous road design is also an ever-pressing issue throughout the country, <a href="http://smartgrowthamerica.org/dangerous-by-design">with pedestrian fatalities reaching a 40-year high in 2022</a>. The DC region is failing all five of its road safety targets, with particularly alarming increases in deaths and serious injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists. Further, some jurisdictions continue massive highway and arterial road expansion (900 new lane miles planned), fueling more sprawl and traffic.


These challenges sparked CSG to produce its new Blueprint for a Better Region. CSG organizes its Blueprint under three pillars that could inform approaches nationwide:


<ol>
<li>Create inclusive, vibrant communities</li>


<li>Provide housing for all</li>


<li>Offer more sustainable transportation choices</li>
</ol>

 
<figure id="attachment_85762" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85762" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-85762" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/image-300x225.png" alt="A number of people walks down a shaded street lined with shops and patio seating" width="300" height="225" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85762" class="wp-caption-text">Credit: Hugh Kenny, CSG/PEC</figcaption></figure>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Inclusive, vibrant communities</h3>


Walkable, bikeable, transit-oriented communities provide easy access to jobs, services, retail, and community gathering spaces. This creates opportunities for connection and requires shorter and fewer car trips—reducing household transportation costs and greenhouse gas emissions. DC region households in TOD areas generate one-third the GHG emissions from transportation as those in the sprawling suburbs (see CNT’s <a href="https://htaindex.cnt.org/">H+T index</a> for your city’s GHG emissions data).


The Blueprint calls for directing new homes and businesses to existing communities with access to transit; ensuring those communities are compact, walkable, bike-friendly, and mixed-use; and preserving rural farms, forests, and natural areas.


<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"></figure>


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Convenient, sustainable transportation choices</h3>

 
<figure id="attachment_85760" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85760" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85760 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/image-2-e1720021596236-300x201.png" alt="A blue DC metro bus travels down a two-land street with crosswalks. Yellow, orange, and red apartment buildings line theright side of the street." width="300" height="201" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/image-2-e1720021596236-300x201.png 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/image-2-e1720021596236-768x514.png 768w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/image-2-e1720021596236.png 935w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85760" class="wp-caption-text">Credit: Beyond DC</figcaption></figure>
The Blueprint calls for investing in public transit that is frequent, reliable, and convenient; making walking and biking comfortable and connected; and shifting from expanding highways and arterial roads. By focusing on moving people instead of cars, the region will provide more affordable and equitable access to opportunities, reduce how much people have to drive, improve health, and slash climate pollution. CSG’s vision is a network of walkable communities tied to the DC region’s transit system—Metrorail, a new Purple Line light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit, and other frequent bus corridors.


For example, TransitCenter’s updated Transportation Equity Dashboard shows that <a href="https://smartergrowth.net/resources/reports/report-dc-metro-area-transit-access-stories/">improvements in DC region transit service</a> over 2022-2024 increased regional job access by 17 percent—40,000 additional jobs accessible by transit. With further investment by our local and state governments, Metro’s proposed Better Bus Visionary Network would save riders 20,000 hours in travel time every weekday.


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Past smart growth successes</h3>


CSG released its first Blueprint in 2002. The vision it offered and CSG’s advocacy in the following years helped win the DC region’s long-term commitment to transit-oriented development (TOD).


<ul>
<li>The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments <a href="https://www.mwcog.org/documents/2010/01/28/region-forward-vision/">Region Forward vision plan</a> and subsequent reports and adopted policies prioritize a transit-oriented future.</li>


<li>LOCUS founder Chris Leinberger with Dr. Tracy Hadden Loh features the DC region’s walkable urban places in their report <a href="https://chrisleinberger.com/walkup-d-c-2016#ef18c7db-a838-499e-af0f-61e0845f88e1">The WalkUP Wake Up Call: DC 2016</a>.</li>


<li>In 2019, the region adopted <a href="https://www.mwcog.org/documents/2019/09/10/the-future-of-housing-in-greater-washington/">housing targets</a> to increase production to accommodate demand here (rather than in the exurbs), boost affordable housing, and locate 75 percent of all new units in walkable activity centers or near transit stations.</li>
</ul>


These changes illustrate that effective, local-level advocacy can lead to strong results, offering lessons for other regions and communities where smart growth principles haven’t yet taken root.


<h3 class="wp-block-heading">In summary</h3>


The Blueprint vision for the DC region depends on sustainable land use patterns, walkable communities, housing close to jobs, services, and transit, and a well-funded, frequent, and reliable transit network. The region, under the <a href="https://dmvmoves.org/">#DMVMoves</a> initiative, is in the process of creating an updated transit vision plan and studying how to implement long-term, dedicated funding for its transit system. CSG and partners are at the table for these discussions.


Be sure to check out the Blueprint for a Better region <a href="https://smartergrowth.net/blueprint/">video</a> and recent <a href="https://smartergrowth.net/regional-federal/event-materials-blueprint-launch-webinar/?emci=8808e2cc-2d33-ef11-86d2-6045bdd9e096&amp;emdi=3ffe87c1-6235-ef11-86d2-6045bdd9e096&amp;ceid=99070">webinar presentation</a>. And if you live in the DC area, click the button to take the pledge to become a Smart Growth Champion. Shaping a more sustainable world requires all of us.

smart growth

Transportation

A Blueprint for a Better Region

Screenshot-2024-06-25-at-2.54.34 PM

LOCUS, SGA’s coalition of triple-bottom-line real estate developers and investors, is proud to announce three new priorities. Created in partnership with the LOCUS steering committee, these new priorities will guide the future of LOCUS’s advocacy efforts.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-85721" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-25-at-2.54.34 PM-1024x367.png" alt="Collection of three graphics showing LOCUS's new priorities: Deliver more housing near transit jobs and resources, support communities by creating access to diverse housing options and development types, and strengthen opportunities for public-private partnerships and new financing mechanisms" width="1024" height="367" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-25-at-2.54.34 PM-1024x367.png 1024w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-25-at-2.54.34 PM-300x108.png 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-25-at-2.54.34 PM-768x275.png 768w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-25-at-2.54.34 PM-1536x551.png 1536w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-25-at-2.54.34 PM.png 1752w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
<a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/program/locus/">LOCUS</a> is a long-time leader in advocacy efforts to advance transit-oriented development and leveraging infrastructure investment to support housing and community development. The LOCUS steering committee, whose years of industry experience delivering best-in-class walkable and transit-oriented development projects, supported the creation of a new set of programmatic priorities to guide the coalition’s future.
These new priorities are at the core of our work and push us toward LOCUS’s ultimate goal of affordable, sustainable, and equitable communities.
<h3>1. Deliver more housing near transit</h3>
Equitable, Transit-Oriented Development is at the forefront of our advocacy efforts. Integrating housing development with transit infrastructure will help communities bolster their economies and build environmental resilience, all while supporting urban growth and improving the overall quality of life for all residents.
To learn more about delivering more housing, please take a look at this <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/LOCUS_REHAB-Impact-story.pdf">REHAB Impact story.</a> This bill created a federal tax credit to support redeveloping old (but non-historic) buildings near public transportation.
<h3>2. Support communities by creating access to diverse housing options and development types</h3>
At LOCUS, we want to see legislation that encourages mixed-use developments, affordable housing initiatives, and environmentally friendly designs that foster a vibrant and balanced environment.
Smart Growth America launched a <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/new-zoning-reform-technical-assistance-program-in-massachusetts/">technical assistance program</a> to support equitable development and housing attainability in Massachusetts. This program provided community-based organizations with the resources to gain diverse, sustainable affordable housing.
<h3>3. Strengthen opportunities for public-private partnerships:</h3>
By leveraging resources and expertise from both public and private sectors, we can accelerate housing development, improve affordability, and enhance infrastructure by meeting diverse community needs through collaborative investment and management strategies.
Leveraging public-private partnerships and engaging local community partners is needed to achieve equitable TOD. Developers, policymakers, politicians, and practitioners can use <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Equity-Forum-ETOD_Creative-Approaches-to-Funding.pdf">this discussion guide</a> for ideas on how to develop creative financing tools.
<a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/program/locus/locus-priorities/">Take a look at our priorities page to learn more.</a>

Introducing the new LOCUS Programmatic Priorities

Kalamazoo-Case-Study

Kalamazoo, Michigan, is dealing with a problem seen in a number of cities across the US: a state highway running through the downtown as a “couplet,” two parallel one-way streets. These two wide and fast state-owned routes cut through a downtown neighborhood full of parks, restaurants, and museums near Western Michigan University. Six lanes with no visual friction from oncoming traffic encouraged high speeds–a dangerous situation for people who hope to enjoy downtown on foot. Kalamazoo is taking big steps to reverse past car-centric decisions and improve safety for everyone by regaining ownership over state routes and converting them back to two-way streets.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]As part of the Dangerous by Design Technical Assistance program, participant Nolan Bergstrom from the City of Kalamazoo, authored a case study on Kalamazoo&#8217;s most dangerous road, West Michigan Avenue.  Nolan also published a storymap on the history of Kalamazoo&#8217;s transportation networks.
[button type=&#8221;primary&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/champion-spotlight-kalamazoo-mi/&#8221;] Read the case study [/button] 
[/alert]
<h3>How is Downtown Kalamazoo moving in the right direction?</h3>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Jurisdictional transfer: In 2019, Kalamazoo <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2019/01/kalamazoo-accepts-control-of-state-trunklines-spanning-city.html">regained ownership</a> of state routes through the city, including sections of Stadium Drive, Westnedge Avenue, Park Street, Michikal Street, Michigan Avenue, and Kalamazoo Avenue. The agreement puts the city in charge of the maintenance and design of these routes, which will no longer function as state highways. This means Kalamazoo can now implement the street improvements previously proposed for downtown without the approval of Michigan DOT (MDOT). For residents, this means that they have a more direct connection to the changes being made, with opportunities to have their concerns addressed by their local government, which was not happening from the state.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Street design projects: The jurisdictional transfer was enabled by the city’s long-term strategic plan, <a href="https://www.imaginekalamazoo.com/#gsc.tab=0">Imagine Kalamazoo 2025</a>. The vision of this plan includes a conversion of the downtown grid back into two-way streets and slowing traffic, which the city is able to implement with control of its roads. The Street Network Design Project, completed in 2020, affirmed that the community wants the downtown road network to be redesigned to slow vehicular speeds and improve connectivity for people walking and biking in the neighborhood. In addition to the two-way conversion, the plan includes reducing the number of vehicle lanes, adding pedestrian crossings, and installing bike facilities.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Community engagement: The planning process for the strategic plan and related safety improvements involved extensive community engagement through workshops, surveys, walk audits, and other forms of outreach and participation. With every new streetscape project, the city conducts more <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57582dcbf85082d2ca1fb7f0/t/631a7133aed7e72a623c5997/1662677300524/PPP%2BBook.pdf">public participation</a> to confirm the community’s desire to continue with Imagine Kalamazoo and to conduct more detailed planning for the work to be done.</li>
</ul>
<h4>What’s next for these improvement projects?</h4>
Construction for these safety improvement projects is underway, starting with Kalamazoo Avenue and Michikal Street. Surface treatments have already been installed to reduce lanes, narrow lane widths, and provide bike facilities on Westnedge Avenue, Park Street, and Michigan Avenue. <a href="https://www.kalamazoocity.org/Community/Projects/2023/Planning/Traffic-Calming-Safe-Streets-for-All">Pilot projects</a> funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation Safe Streets and Roads for All program are being implemented in 2024.
<a href="https://www.kalamazoocity.org/Community/Projects/2024/HSIP-Vulnerable-Road-User-Safety-Projects">Highway Safety Improvement Program</a> funds from MDOT and <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/reconnecting-communities-pilot-project-for-kalamazoo-and-michigan-avenues/">Reconnecting Communities Pilot</a> funds from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will support these ongoing efforts for Downtown Kalamazoo. While the funds are much needed to support change, the IIJA money is received through MDOT. This results in ongoing negotiations on design and other issues between the city and state DOT even though the facilities are under city control.
Thank you to Nolan Bergstrom, Dennis Randolph, and Christina Anderson for their contributions to this case study.

Kalamazoo

Michigan

DOT Coordination Case Study: Kalamazoo and Michigan

Seattle-Case-Study

The most dangerous road in Seattle, Washington, is State Route 99, Aurora Avenue N. 19 people were killed while walking on Aurora Ave N between 2008 and 2022, on just 7.6 miles of road. 14 of these deaths occurred between 2018 and 2022, which is 15% of all pedestrian fatalities in Seattle during that time. The downtown portion of Rte 99 was recently buried–the highway that used to cut through the downtown now tunnels underneath it. However, when the highway resurfaces in the Queen Ann and Westlake neighborhoods, a mixed-use area just north of Downtown, people walking still have to navigate wide lanes, inadequate pedestrian facilities, and high speeds to cross the street or access the bus routes. Though Aurora Ave N is owned by the state DOT, the city is responsible for day-to-day maintenance and operations, so the city and state have worked together closely for years on improving this corridor. There are many ongoing plans and campaigns to improve the safety of the road through design, and it will take continued collaboration and strong partnership between the city, the state, and local stakeholders to make these plans a reality.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]As part of the Dangerous by Design Technical Assistance program, participant Natalie Lubsen from Seattle, authored a case study on Seattle&#8217;s most dangerous road, State Route 99.
[button type=&#8221;primary&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/champion-spotlight-seattle-wa/&#8221;] Read the case study [/button] 
[/alert]
<h3>How is Aurora Ave moving in the right direction?</h3>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Long-term visioning: The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and King County Metro are currently in the third phase of a multi-year <a href="https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/current-projects/aurora-ave-project">Aurora Ave Project</a>, planning for safety improvements to the corridor. This study breaks Aurora Ave into five segments and includes community engagement through surveys and design workshops to incorporate local needs into the proposed design. Part of this work is funded by a Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Pedestrian and Bicycle Program grant, and WSDOT is a key partner in the planning process. WSDOT owns the route, but Seattle is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance and operations, so this project is only one part of a long-term partnership between the city and the state.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Local advocacy: <a href="https://www.got99problems.org/about-us">Aurora Reimagined Coalition</a> is a partnership of neighbors, advocates, businesses, and public agencies that works extensively to envision a people-centric future for Aurora Ave. The coalition provides invaluable lived experience to incorporate into the city-led planning processes, conducts supplemental community surveys, and pushes for designs that meet the needs of <a href="https://www.got99problems.org/blog/year-3-of-the-aurora-ave-redesign">all users on the entire corridor</a>. For example, when SDOT released new design ideas for a community survey, the Coalition encouraged residents to <a href="https://www.theurbanist.org/2024/03/23/op-ed-heres-how-we-can-fix-aurora-avenue-from-people-who-might-know-how/">ask for more</a>, requesting designs that prioritize active transportation and transit.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Short-term safety improvements: SDOT is not waiting for the long-term planning to address immediately known safety concerns. SDOT is implementing some shorter-term strategies, including No Turn on Red signs and <a href="https://highways.dot.gov/media/11841#:~:text=An%20LPI%20gives%20pedestrians%20a,%2D%20or%20right%2D%20turning%20vehicles.">pedestrian leading interval</a> signals at all signalized intersections, and these strategies will inform WSDOT’s improvements to similar roads across the state. The <a href="https://housedemocrats.wa.gov/blog/2022/02/08/move-ahead-washington/">2022 Move Ahead Washington</a> transportation funding package includes a set aside for a demonstration project on Aurora Ave, but the funds have <a href="https://www.theurbanist.org/2023/05/03/state-transportation-budget-passes-over-aurora-avenue-safety-project/">not been released</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h4>What’s needed to continue improving?</h4>
There is a long way to go before the entire corridor is reconstructed. As Aurora Reimagined Coalition, Transportation Choices Coalition, and many others are aware, it will take long-term collaboration, engagement, and funding to complete and implement these plans. A project of this size needs to continue through many elections and rounds of funding, which requires ongoing pressure from residents and advocates for safety to be prioritized on Rte 99.
Thank you to Natalie Lubsen and Dongho Chang for their contributions to this case study.

Seattle

Washington

DOT Coordination Case Study: Seattle and Washington

Sun flare

Co-authored by<a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/about-us/our-staff/joseph-mendonca/"> Joseph Mendonca</a>
Millions of people across the U.S. now experience extreme heat every year—facing threats to their health, well-being, and financial security. As climate change is only making extreme heat even worse, inaction cannot be an option and communities must work together to mitigate its effects. Through strategic land use and by using a smart growth approach, the built environment can help alleviate the burden of extreme heat, especially in historically disinvested communities dealing with its worst effects.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-85586 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/34942490542_8dff6e52e9_o-copy-2-1-1024x731.jpg" alt=" width="1024" height="731" />
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]
What is extreme heat? 
An extreme heat event, <a href="https://community.fema.gov/ProtectiveActions/s/article/Extreme-Heat-What">as defined by FEMA</a>, is a period in which temperatures are “excessively hot” compared to the norm for that region and time of year. The body normally cools itself down through sweating, releasing its excess heat into the surrounding air as sweat evaporates. But when temperatures exceed the body’s ability to cool itself, or if the air is humid enough to prevent sweat from evaporating fast enough, normal body processes and organ functioning can be affected. This <a href="https://www.weather.gov/ffc/heat2">manifests as heat-related illnesses</a>, like heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which, if not addressed immediately, can be fatal. Those most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses (the elderly, children, and those with pre-existing conditions) and those most exposed to outdoor conditions (outdoor workers, pedestrians and bicyclists, the unhoused, and those without consistent access to AC) are especially impacted.
The National Weather Service uses the heat index (which considers both temperature and humidity) to issue alerts when outside conditions can be harmful to human health. Depending on location, alert procedures begin at around 105°-110°F, although heat-related illnesses can even occur before that.
[/alert]
<h3>How climate change drives extreme heat events</h3>
Extreme heat events already cause more fatalities than <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/extreme-heat-is-deadlier-than-hurricanes-floods-and-tornadoes-combined/">hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes combined</a>. And the trends are clear: every year in the past decade <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/01/12/climate-change-hottest-year-record-2023">ranks in the top ten hottest years</a> on record, including 2023, where every single month from June through December <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/09/climate/2023-warmest-year-record.html">broke records</a> for high temperatures. From <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/16/us/phoenix-arizona-heat-firefighters.html">Phoenix</a> to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/28/er-extreme-heat-new-york-city-00108816">New York</a> to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/08/14/pacific-northwest-heatwave-oregon-washington/">Portland</a> to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/21/us/miami-heat-summer-weather.html">Miami</a>, extreme heat, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/07/25/heat-wave-us-europe-climate-change/">largely driven by climate change</a>, is endangering lives, straining resources, and damaging critical infrastructure. With climate change-fueled extreme heat already impacting communities across the U.S., residents, planners, and community leaders must urgently <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/smart-growth-for-climate-adaptation/">prepare</a> for the impacts of extreme heat events that are more common, more severe, and more deadly.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;] 
ATL Rising: Building resilience in the face of extreme heat 
Over the past year, SGA has partnered with the Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE) to learn from community members, advocates, policy leaders, and researchers in Atlanta, Georgia about their experiences with extreme heat and how they want to see it addressed. We interviewed residents and compiled their testimonies to raise awareness on how communities can better prepare for and stay safe during extreme heat events and to help inform policy and advocacy efforts in the region. <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/climate-change-health-and-equity-the-effects-of-extreme-heat-in-atlanta/">Watch the video and learn more here.</a> 
[/alert]
<h3>How conventional zoning and discriminatory land use policies amplify extreme heat inequities</h3>
The majority of built development in the U.S. is dictated by a regulatory framework of local zoning ordinances, master plans, and neighborhood plans which have often not been comprehensively updated in decades. These outdated systems prioritize separated land uses, large lot single-family development, and auto-oriented development, contributing to the nation’s severe lack of safe, stable, affordable housing and infrastructure. This conventional approach to land use also amplifies the effects of climate change and extreme heat by promoting <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/resources/driving-down-emissions/">sprawling development</a> that requires drivers to take more and longer trips and leads to increased vehicle emissions, pavement and concrete production, impervious surface runoff, and other negative externalities.
Conventional zoning and discriminatory land use regulations of the past—including Euclidean zoning, redlining, urban renewal, and restrictive lending—have created and reinforced patterns of inequality. By imposing restrictions on the types of housing and the density of development, zoning has played a significant role in perpetuating segregation and racism, maintaining wealth and income disparities, and limiting minority communities’ access to resources and climate-resilient infrastructure. Systems of oppression across the country have also led to chronic disinvestment in communities of color; parks, street trees, and other green infrastructure in these areas were often dismantled and allowed to fall into disrepair. These green spaces would normally absorb sunlight and heat, provide shade, and release water vapor into their surroundings, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/09/18/world/asia/singapore-heat.html">cooling down ambient temperatures</a>. But when paved over with asphalt or removed for construction, none of these benefits reach the communities most impacted. And because asphalt and concrete absorb and reradiate more sunlight and heat, they can form a heat island where temperatures are increased by over 8°F.
These same under-resourced communities, again due to systemic disinvestment, are more likely to have older buildings and housing stock. This means that energy-inefficient infrastructure, like inadequate insulation, outdated cooling systems, and poor ventilation, forces households to devote much of their income to paying their electricity bills. This energy burden already affects these households, but when temperatures rise, households respond by using their A.C. more to remain safe and comfortable in their own homes. That means that when an extreme heat event occurs, some of these households face impossible choices with dire consequences—including, sometimes,<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/11/business/heat-waves-power-shutoffs/index.html"> losing access to electricity entirely.</a>
<h3>How health is impacted by extreme heat</h3>
While extreme heat is the U.S.’s most deadly weather event, its impacts are not as visible as other natural hazards like hurricanes or floods, which means that people are sometimes not aware of the danger until it’s too late. Called the “silent killer,” extreme heat can cause illnesses like heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and heat cramps when people are overexposed to high temperatures.
Although extreme heat poses a danger to many Americans, it’s especially harmful for older folks, children, outdoor workers, the unhoused, and those with pre-existing conditions like heart disease or asthma. In many places, that means that Black, Brown, and low-income communities are <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/10/1192993265/how-heat-makes-health-inequity-worse-hitting-people-with-risks-like-diabetes-har">bearing the brunt</a> of the impacts of extreme heat. Across the country, communities of color, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/24/climate/racism-redlining-cities-global-warming.html">often in the aforementioned redlined areas,</a> are 8% more likely to live in areas where extreme temperature-related deaths will dramatically increase due to climate change; areas where Black communities reside are <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-report-shows-disproportionate-impacts-climate-change-socially-vulnerable">40% more likely</a> to see drastically more extreme temperature-related deaths.
<h3>How to approach extreme heat with smart growth</h3>
Extreme heat is affecting <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/ap-analysis-finds-2023-set-record-us-heat-110714340">more people than ever</a>, and the built environment must help alleviate the danger it poses. Local governments should lean on land use regulation like reformed zoning codes to boost climate resilience, helping protect communities from extreme heat. Reformed zoning supports the creation of diverse housing types, increased affordable housing, and infill development that can encourage more walkable and transit-oriented communities. This dense, mixed-use development reduces the need for car travel and minimizes exposure to heat-trapping surfaces and automobile-related air pollution. Implementing zoning solutions like <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/how-form-based-codes-can-help-reshape-a-city/">form-based codes,</a> eliminating parking minimums that create asphalted, heat-amplifying parking lots, and strategically reducing setbacks and density restrictions so that buildings can provide shade also help <a href="https://housingmatters.urban.org/research-summary/how-can-localities-use-zoning-protect-against-climate-change">mitigate the effects of extreme heat.</a> And because <a href="https://rmi.org/why-state-land-use-reform-should-be-a-priority-climate-lever-for-america/">land use regulation and zoning</a> that centers more housing production in less car-dependent places reduces overall carbon emissions (which contribute to extreme heat), it is one of the best ways that local and state governments can take action today.
With support from programs that promote heat mitigation efforts, often facilitated by governments and utility companies, households, too, can take steps to help mitigate the effects that extreme heat can have on both their health and their financial situation. Several measures to make homes more equipped for extreme heat include leveraging weatherization assistance programs, offering rebates to install cooling systems, and ensuring building codes are updated to include requirements for heat-resilient design and construction, while offering financial assistance programs to do so. But these programs must be maintained, expanded, and, if they don’t yet exist, created. Initiatives like <a href="https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/hud_no_24_088">directives at the federal level, grants disbursed to communities</a>, and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/miami-heat-officer-profile-jane-gilbert-rcna142783">appointments of Chief Heat Officers</a> at the local level help build institutional capacity to better respond to this environmental hazard.
Nature-based solutions, like street trees, green roofs, parks, and other green spaces are an important part of helping cool down the local built environment—and boosting climate resilience <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/complete-streets-are-a-climate-solution/#:~:text=Complete%20Streets%20help%20communities%20adapt%20to%20a%20changing%20climate">in other ways too. </a>Changes to physical infrastructure, like using lighter-colored and <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90779134/1-million-square-feet-of-la-roads-are-being-covered-with-solar-reflective-paint">solar-reflective paints</a>, integrating cool pavements, and installing shading structures at bus stops and train stations can also provide cooling benefits. Governments and other organizations can establish <a href="https://nchh.org/information-and-evidence/learn-about-healthy-housing/emergencies/extreme-heat/cooling-centers-by-state/">cooling centers,</a> misters, and splash parks to provide residents refuge from the heat. Some of these strategies will be covered in further detail in future blog posts.
Regardless of the form that extreme heat mitigation takes in the built environment, efforts must center the experiences of those who are affected by it, especially those from communities impacted by discriminatory land use policies of the past. By utilizing the knowledge of these community members, policymakers can help ensure that mitigation is both effective and equitable. Comprehensive, community-driven efforts are what’s needed to help support healthy, prosperous, and resilient communities.

How to beat the heat: A built environment approach

Screenshot-2024-06-20-at-10.44.49 AM

Co-authored by<a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/about-us/our-staff/joseph-mendonca/"> Joseph Mendonca</a>
Together with the Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE), Smart Growth America has been raising awareness about the compounding effects of climate change, including the interactions between extreme heat, the built environment, pre-existing health conditions, and social inequalities in Atlanta, Georgia. In southwest Atlanta, PSE and SGA interviewed residents, activists, and climate policy leaders to learn from their experiences with the dangers of extreme heat and to hear about their communities’ needs for policy and advocacy strategies that create safer and more accessible infrastructure.
In 2023, Atlanta experienced the <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/its-official-atlanta-had-its-second-hottest-year-on-record-in-2023/WMEUZ6XVA5DONBRGENUANP2IPM/">second-hottest year</a> in near a century. With the heat index routinely straying into triple digits over the summer, school activities <a href="https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2023/08/14/atlanta-public-schools-moves-all-outdoor-activities-indoors-extreme-heat/">were forced inside</a>, Zoo Atlanta <a href="https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/heatwave-forces-zoo-atlanta-close-early-animal-welfare/85-20681f87-b013-4927-8576-59e09e38a59d">closed early</a> to maintain animal welfare, households <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/atlantans-feel-pinch-of-extreme-heat-rate-hikes-in-their-power-bills/OLNP2NZ4HBAJBKDRMSGG73LYWY/">struggled with high power bills</a>, and <a href="https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2023/07/27/temps-rise-firefighters-deal-with-different-kind-heat/">firefighters</a>, <a href="https://www.wabe.org/construction-workers-cope-with-dangerous-heat-as-temperatures-rise/">construction workers,</a> and other outdoor workers strove to protect themselves from heat-related illnesses. These extreme heat events, and others like them, are becoming increasingly common and worsening systemic inequities. In Atlanta, there is a clear need for policies and programs that equitably address this threat, including <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/how-to-beat-the-heat-a-built-environment-approach/">smart growth initiatives</a> that redress the legacies of redlining and other racist land use policies.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]
What is extreme heat? 
An extreme heat event, <a href="https://community.fema.gov/ProtectiveActions/s/article/Extreme-Heat-What">as defined by FEMA,</a> is a period in which temperatures are “excessively hot” compared to the norm for that region and time of year. The body normally cools itself down through sweating, releasing its excess heat into the surrounding air as sweat evaporates. But when temperatures exceed the body’s ability to cool itself, or if the air is humid enough to prevent sweat from evaporating fast enough, normal body processes and organ functioning can be affected. This <a href="https://www.weather.gov/ffc/heat2">manifests as heat-related illnesses</a>, like heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which, if not addressed immediately, can be fatal. Those most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses (the elderly, children, and those with pre-existing conditions) and those most exposed to outdoor conditions (outdoor workers, pedestrians and bicyclists, the unhoused, and those without consistent access to AC) are especially impacted.
The National Weather Service uses the heat index (which considers both temperature and humidity) to issue alerts when outside conditions can be harmful to human health. Depending on location, alert procedures begin at around 105°-110°F, although heat-related illnesses can even occur before that.
[/alert]
To help inform policy and advocacy efforts in Atlanta, Smart Growth America partnered with the <a href="https://psequity.org/">Partnership for Southern Equity</a> (PSE) to learn from community members, advocates, policy leaders, and researchers about their experiences with extreme heat and how they want to see it addressed. Supported by the Kresge Foundation’s <a href="https://kresge.org/initiative/climate-change-health-and-equity-cche/">Climate Change, Health, and Equity (</a>CCHE) initiative, the project is part of a larger collaboration that aims to advance racial equity and mitigate the effects of climate change in Atlanta. In 2022, PSE and SGA produced <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/growing-a-clean-economy-a-collaborative-climate-change-health-equity-project-by-sga-and-the-partnership-for-southern-equity/">a report and factsheets</a> on strategies to achieve energy equity, to develop a less carbon-intensive economy, and to train a growing green workforce. Over the past year, PSE formed a Community Advisory Board (CAB) with members drawn from southwest Atlanta to hear directly from residents on their top-of-mind climate- and health-related issues affecting their everyday life. Hearing that extreme heat and energy burdens were key concerns, we continued our work with a narrative-based approach, compiling testimonies from residents on their lived experiences with extreme heat to raise awareness on how communities can better prepare for and stay safe during extreme heat events.
The video, “ATL Rising: Building resilience in the face of extreme heat,” is centered on these resident testimonies and on strategies for policies and infrastructure that are more prepared for the challenges extreme heat brings.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="ATL Rising: Building resilience in the face of extreme heat" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_zbK-7YLGhY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The video highlights how extreme heat is causing an energy burden and illnesses like heat exhaustion and difficulty breathing when Atlanta community members are overexposed to high temperatures, and how Atlanta is representative of larger systemic issues, including racist land use policies, chronic disinvestment, and environmental injustices. To address extreme heat, advocates and policy makers must have a clear understanding of these impacts and must learn from community members about their needs and wants for a safe, prosperous, and healthy Atlanta.
<blockquote>“Recently and historically, people are leaving their homes at unsafe temperatures.” — Chandra Farley, Chief Sustainability Officer, Atlanta Office of Sustainability</blockquote>
For households in Atlanta that are already experiencing the effects of extreme heat, there are steps they can take right now to help mitigate the effects they have on both their health and their financial situation. From taking advantage of programs to support their home’s energy efficiency to knowing how to identify and help those struggling with heat-related illnesses, community members can also play a role in making their community more resilient to heat.
<h3>Partner Initiatives</h3>
After engaging in this project, the Community Advisory Board (CAB) has taken steps to pursue funding to employ tangible infrastructure solutions in their communities to address extreme heat. If granted, they will be able to partner with local businesses to install public water stations, as well as create a digital resource hub that will direct residents to nearby cooling stations and other resources intended to help Atlanta residents stay cool during extremely hot days. In addition, the CAB has been drafting policy recommendations focusing on subsidizing the weatherization of homes for people of color.
The CAB has also helped develop the following infographics that aim to educate the public on common heat-related illnesses, tips for staying cool inside the home, and programs available to assist in lowering energy bills:
<ol>
<li><a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Extreme-Heat-Infographic.pdf">Staying safe in the heat</a></li>
<li><a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Energy-Burden-Infographic.pdf">Handling high energy costs from heat</a></li>
</ol>
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;] 
Save the date! 
Join the Partnership for Southern Equity on Wednesday, July 24, 2024 for a video screening event and discussion on extreme heat, climate change, and equitable infrastructure. The screening will take place at the PSE office (<a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/TVuLk3rBJs55ik8Q7">667 Fairburn Rd NW, Atlanta, GA</a>) from 6:00—8:00 PM EST. [/alert]
SGA and PSE are thankful to <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=the+kresge+foundation+cche&amp;rlz=1C5GCEM_en&amp;oq=the+kresge+foundation+cche&amp;gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQIRgKGKABMgkIAhAhGAoYoAEyCQgDECEYChigATIJCAQQIRgKGKABMgkIBRAhGAoYoAHSAQg1MjczajBqN6gCALACAA&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8">The Kresge Foundation,</a> which has been instrumental in advancing our CCHE work.

Climate Change, Health, and Equity: The Effects of Extreme Heat in Atlanta

after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog

The state DOTs in California and North Carolina have found innovative ways to manage and maintain Complete Streets projects.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]From November 2022 to May 2023, Smart Growth America worked with the State Smart Transportation Initiative to host a series of four virtual workshops for staff at state departments of transportation (DOTs) to discuss challenges and strategies for implementing Complete Streets on state-owned rural roads. This work was completed in partnership with CDC’s Active People, Healthy Nation℠ Initiative. <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/?page_id=85474&amp;preview=true">Learn more here.</a>[/alert]
<figure id="attachment_85531" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85531" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85531 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog-1024x768.jpeg" alt="A cyclist travels down fresh, black asphalt, nearing a short crosswalk with a ped crossing sign." width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/after-ped-crossing-massachusetts-frcog.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85531" class="wp-caption-text"><a href="https://frcog.org/project/complete-streets-funding-program-assistance-to-towns/">(Franklin Regional Council of Governments)</a></figcaption></figure>
<h4>California</h4>
California’s <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1">Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017</a> (SB 1), required all SHOPP projects to incorporate Complete Streets elements, wherever feasible. That meant creating an inventory base with consistent data collection to effectively track and incorporate these elements. In 2018, Caltrans began data collection through a survey of existing Complete Streets assets including sidewalks, bikeways, and crosswalks. The push to survey existing assets acted as a starting point for the agency to track and develop targets for existing and future assets. The initial survey exposed additional features that will later be incorporated, like bus shelters, pedestrian lighting, street trees, and shade structures.
In 2020, a one-time funding reservation of $100 million was set aside for the SHOPP to construct and maintain Complete Streets facilities based on the existing inventory. One year later, the agency created targets for each district to track both the new and existing Complete Streets assets as part of <a href="https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/esta/documents/dp-37-complete-streets-a11y.pdf">Director’s Policy 37</a>, which created a new program for highway maintenance projects.
Complete Streets tracking forms were developed in 2022 so that performance targets could be effectively implemented and measured. The forms require coordination between engineers and Complete Streets coordinators to guide highway maintenance projects, train new roles and scopes, and to inform future updates.
Now, Caltrans offers several different maintenance options. For maintenance agreements in general, some local agencies pay and maintain with vested interest while others sign delegated maintenance agreements where Caltrans pays for the project and local agencies maintain. Regardless of the type of maintenance agreement, Caltrans emphasizes the need for local partners and community members to be involved early and often in the maintenance agreement process in order for the agreement to be strong and effective.
Caltrans is currently creating working groups to pull knowledge and skills for guidance material, focusing on strategies to increase funding for CS features. Updated maintenance manuals need to be revised to incorporate Complete Streets elements in official guidance. For example, CS is already incorporated as part of bridge projects where the scope is feasible. Caltrans continues to work towards an asset inventory approach while increasing staff capacity, materials, and equipment with updated guidance.
<h4>North Carolina</h4>
The North Carolina DOT convenes interdisciplinary working groups to address asset management and maintenance challenges. The workgroups play an important role within the Complete Streets review process to address main barriers and strategies to incorporate the maintenance of Complete Streets facilities throughout the project planning, design, and implementation process.
A main challenge the workgroups identified was inconsistent coordination between scheduled maintenance activities and local plans. To improve communication, NCDOT developed draft guidance to identify Complete Streets opportunities throughout the highway maintenance improvement process. The goal of the guidance is to better facilitate conversation and convening between different divisions and sectors on these issues to create sustainable impact. This also improves the chances for successful funding of Complete Streets facilities if they are flagged early in the project planning process. The guidance and communication between the flagged maintenance opportunities includes costs, alternatives, and options with required documentation and reporting through to project completion.
The NCDOT also aimed to address maintenance issues related to Complete Streets elements in unincorporated areas. An analysis with <a href="https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4d99643ea1354c0e9e8ad27243983bc4">their latent demand tool</a> determined the effects of the state taking over unincorporated areas&#8217; maintenance responsibilities. The tool, <a href="https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=4d99643ea1354c0e9e8ad27243983bc4">the Complete Streets Activity Estimation Tool</a>, was used to analyze pedestrian and bicycle network infrastructure data to evaluate and estimate the latent demand in areas categorized as low, medium, or high activity areas. The analysis was in accordance with planned and existing multimodal facilities for the next ten-year funding cycle. This resulted in internal policy discussions to make changes to the municipal code, discussions on maintenance agreements for earlier planning and to address funding issues, and working with local municipalities to enter agreements for facilities in unincorporated areas that they expect will later be in their jurisdiction as populations grow.
<hr />
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided support for this project under cooperative agreement OT18-1802 supporting the Active People, Healthy NationSM Initiative, a national initiative led by the CDC to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027. Learn more: <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1718998511475000&amp;usg=AOvVaw16N_4_FDEPaQ4ERM0oCoAz">https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html</a>. The findings and conclusions in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

California

Highways

North Carolina

State DOTs

Completing Rural Highways: Maintaining assets in California and North Carolina

Placer-County-Public-Works-California-State-Route-28-road-diet

Whenever an agency plans to develop new community assets—whether it is a road, utility, or sidewalk—they must have systems such as funding and coordination for regular maintenance in place to preserve them in the long term. Often, especially in the case of sidewalks and other facilities that fall outside the roadway, some of those maintenance responsibilities fall on local authorities. Having those systems in place and a concrete plan to coordinate with local agencies can preemptively address unique challenges related to Complete Streets projects. Smart Growth America and the State Smart Transportation Initiative worked with practitioners to illustrate how their peers have found ways to overcome these obstacles to asset maintenance and sustainability.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]From November 2022 to May 2023, Smart Growth America worked with the State Smart Transportation Initiative to host a series of four virtual workshops for staff at state departments of transportation (DOTs) to discuss challenges and strategies for implementing Complete Streets on state-owned rural roads. This work was completed in partnership with CDC’s Active People, Healthy Nation℠ Initiative. <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/?page_id=85474&amp;preview=true">Learn more here.</a>[/alert]
<figure id="attachment_85534" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85534" style="width: 912px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85534 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Placer-County-Public-Works-California-State-Route-28-road-diet-1024x604.png" alt="A four-lane road was reduced to three lanes to accommodate a wider sidewalk" width="912" height="538" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Placer-County-Public-Works-California-State-Route-28-road-diet-1024x604.png 1024w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Placer-County-Public-Works-California-State-Route-28-road-diet-300x177.png 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Placer-County-Public-Works-California-State-Route-28-road-diet-768x453.png 768w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Placer-County-Public-Works-California-State-Route-28-road-diet-1536x906.png 1536w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Placer-County-Public-Works-California-State-Route-28-road-diet-2048x1208.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 912px) 100vw, 912px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85534" class="wp-caption-text"><a href="https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/transportation-planning/documents/f0020350-activeca-final-plan-2017-05-18-a11y.pdf">(Placer County Public Works)</a></figcaption></figure>
<h3>Challenges to managing and maintaining assets</h3>
<h4>1. New facilities can be challenging to track.</h4>
State agencies regularly track bridge and pavement conditions through advanced asset management systems, but they are not always set up to track assets like sidewalks, bike lanes, and curb ramps. Doing this often requires more data collection procedures, new performance measures and rating systems, and prioritization methods, according to <a href="https://doi.org/10.7922/G2XW4H3Q">a report from UC Berkeley</a>.
<h4>2. The state DOT may not be prepared to maintain facilities within the roadway.</h4>
While local authorities are often responsible for maintaining new sidewalks and other features outside the roadway, Complete Streets can include features within the roadway—parking, bike lanes, refugee islands, and protective barriers—that present new challenges for cleaning and snow removal. Keeping a protected bike lane clear of snow, for example, can require specialized plows, which must then be distributed across the state near those facilities. Other features can be easily damaged by plows and maintenance vehicles, or cause damage to the vehicles themselves. This requires preparation and funding on behalf of the state DOT and coordination with the state DOT during the project planning process.
<h4>3. Local agencies may not be prepared to maintain facilities outside the roadway.</h4>
When it comes to maintaining facilities outside the roadway, local authorities are presented with similar challenges, among others. Limited funding for asset maintenance is one obvious barrier. Maintenance agreements between state and local agencies are another. This includes not only the challenges of enforcing those agreements between agencies, but also ensuring the agreements cover logistical details like where plowed snow should be stored.
<h3>How agencies are managing and maintaining assets</h3>
<h4>1. Plan for new assets.</h4>
State agencies should be prepared to expand their existing asset management programs to include a range of Complete Streets facilities, along with rating systems and maintenance procedures. A comprehensive database with information on assets and features such as pavement markings, post delineators, and coordinates of bike and pedestrian facilities can produce a consolidated maintenance schedule that indicates current safety information.
Early discussions with local authorities on project scopes and service agreements also help to avoid confusion on the timeline and payments, and build stronger partnerships. For example, North Carolina DOT started to flag Complete Streets elements throughout its planning for maintenance projects with local stakeholders to increase the chances that Complete Streets assets will be awarded funding.
<h4>2. Be prepared to take on new responsibilities.</h4>
Some agencies have had success in taking on or assigning new maintenance responsibilities by establishing interdisciplinary teams that can establish consistent processes and provide routine feedback. For example, North Carolina DOT formed a work group to form a strategy for local maintenance requirements. This resulted in new, clearly defined policies for the state to take over certain maintenance commitments in unincorporated municipalities.
Changes in how facilities are designed can also make maintenance easier and make projects more viable. Some agencies have found that while protected facilities are generally safer for users, they can be more challenging or costly to maintain, thus introducing new safety concerns or local pushback. This has led some states to modify the design of facilities to make implementation more feasible. One agency, for example, sometimes opts for rumble strips or wider buffers in cases where local governments do not have the capacity to take on maintenance.
<h4>3. Support local agencies.</h4>
Just as early and ongoing coordination with local agencies can help in the planning and funding of Complete Streets projects, it can also be critical to ensuring that new facilities will be reliably maintained. This is especially true when local agencies are required to assume responsibility for those facilities, as is often the case. Good coordination can result in facilities that are designed with maintenance in mind from the beginning of the project, stronger and clearer maintenance agreements, and additional state maintenance support for local agencies, including assistance in scoping out costs.
While state agencies sometimes design facilities in the roadway so they are easier to clean, plow, or maintain, they can also design off-road facilities to minimize maintenance needs. Several agencies, for example, pour thicker sidewalks to prevent damage from snow-clearing and other maintenance equipment. These agreements can sometimes include additional funds for things like drainage, signals, striping, and ADA-compliant ramps.
Limited staff capacity can also be a major issue in maintaining Complete Streets facilities, at both the state and local level. State agencies can establish service agreements with contractors and work with local agencies to establish their own agreements. We heard from workshop participants that limited staff capacity can be a challenge in both large and small communities, but for different reasons. Whereas smaller communities have less staff capacity, larger communities often have more facilities to maintain.
<h3>Learn more</h3>
State DOTs in California and North Carolina have found innovative ways to manage and maintain Complete Streets projects. <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/completing-rural-highways-maintaining-assets-in-california-and-north-carolina/">Read our case studies to find out how.</a>
[button type=&#8221;info&#8221; block=&#8221;true&#8221; size=&#8221;lg&#8221; link=&#8221;https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/completing-rural-highways-maintaining-assets-in-california-and-north-carolina/&#8221;]Managing and maintaining assets in California and North Carolina[/button]
<hr />
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided support for this project under cooperative agreement OT18-1802 supporting the Active People, Healthy NationSM Initiative, a national initiative led by the CDC to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027. Learn more: <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1718998511475000&amp;usg=AOvVaw16N_4_FDEPaQ4ERM0oCoAz">https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html</a>. The findings and conclusions in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Completing Rural Highways: Managing and maintaining assets

walkbike-nc-crosswalk

Even with a strong commitment to Complete Streets principles, many state agencies and their local partners lack dedicated and consistent funding streams to add the necessary elements to existing road projects. Rural infrastructure can be particularly difficult to fund, costing more per capita, so adding new elements is often seen by state and local agencies as a burden. Smart Growth America and the State Smart Transportation Initiative worked with practitioners to illustrate how their peers have found ways to overcome these obstacles.
[alert type=&#8221;info&#8221;]From November 2022 to May 2023, Smart Growth America worked with the State Smart Transportation Initiative to host a series of four virtual workshops for staff at state departments of transportation (DOTs) to discuss challenges and strategies for implementing Complete Streets on state-owned rural roads. This work was completed in partnership with CDC’s Active People, Healthy Nation℠ Initiative. <a href="https://sga-vpb-frontend.vercel.app/?page_id=85474&amp;preview=true">Learn more here.</a>[/alert]
<figure id="attachment_85525" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85525" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85525 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/walkbike-nc-crosswalk-1024x475.jpeg" alt="Pedestrians use a marked crosswalk to cross two vehicle lanes separated by a median." width="1024" height="475" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/walkbike-nc-crosswalk-1024x475.jpeg 1024w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/walkbike-nc-crosswalk-300x139.jpeg 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/walkbike-nc-crosswalk-768x356.jpeg 768w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/walkbike-nc-crosswalk.jpeg 1102w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85525" class="wp-caption-text"><a href="https://www.ncdot.gov/bikeped/walkbikenc/pillars-of-plan/safety/default.aspx">(WalkBike NC)</a></figcaption></figure>
<h3>Challenges to funding projects</h3>
<h4>1. Funding for rural roads is already stretched thin.</h4>
Many agencies are already faced with a backlog of rural highway projects, where consistent funding is often a challenge. While rural roads are typically critical for moving goods and people, they cost more per capita than roads in densely populated areas and local governments often have limited resources to contribute. This includes funding for capital investments like sidewalks, but also funding to maintain those sidewalks once they are built, which often falls on the local agencies.
<h4>2. Complete Streets features increase project costs for rural areas.</h4>
Complete Street projects need not always be more expensive, especially on large urban roadways that can be right-sized to accommodate people walking and biking.[efn_note]<a href="https://doi.org/10.3141/2393-15">One study</a> found the additional costs of Complete Streets elements are minor, compared to normal fluctuations in construction costs.[/efn_note] In rural areas, however, these projects are more likely to require additional pavement, sidewalks where none exist, new pavement markings, and modern traffic control devices.
<h3>How agencies are funding projects</h3>
<h4>1. Think long term.</h4>
Complete Streets projects often come with a strong sense of urgency, especially when momentum has been built by investments from local officials, community members, and business leaders. But, like any major infrastructure project, they take time to plan, design, and pay for. By coordinating with local agencies in advance, state agencies can know where there is interest in Complete Streets projects for when funding becomes available and work to ensure there are strong plans in place. This helps state agencies be prepared when a road comes due for repaving or reconstruction, and if new funding sources become available. State and local agencies can also pursue available planning grants in the near-term to be eligible for additional funding sources—for example, collecting crash data to be eligible for the <a href="https://highways.dot.gov/safety/hsip">Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP)</a>.
Long-term planning also helps agencies approach projects in phases—tackling different sections of a corridor in sequence, or separating different components of a project, like pavement and sidewalks. This has the potential added benefit of tapping into different funding sources. In the interim, inexpensive quick-build projects can help meet immediate needs, while helping to build support and address potential concerns.
<h4>2. Seize every funding opportunity.</h4>
When dealing with both internal and federal funding streams, it can be tempting to fit each road project into a pot of money. However, each funding stream is limited and comes with certain constraints—i.e., shoulders may be covered but not sidewalks. Combining different funds can take additional work to coordinate, but also can make Complete Streets projects much more viable. Routine funds for resurfacing, restoration, and rehabilitation (aka, 3Rs) are often a logical starting point for any road project. They can then be combined with federal grants, safety programs, active transportation funds, and other flexible funding sources to make Complete Streets a reality.
<h4>3. Partner with local agencies.</h4>
State agencies can work with local agencies to leverage additional funds for certain components of a Complete Streets project and help share the costs. For example, many local entities can apply for the <a href="https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/ta.cfm">federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP)</a>, which is administered by state agencies through a competitive process. State DOTs can also support local agencies in applying to other federal programs like <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/grants/SS4A">Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A)</a> and tribal grants.
Both Caltrans and the North Carolina DOT have begun coordinating closely with local agencies in advance of potential Complete Streets projects to identify funding opportunities and work toward securing the necessary funding for projects to advance.
<figure id="attachment_85528" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85528" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-85528 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Happy-Camp-Complete-Streets-project-before-1024x513.png" alt="A group of children crosses a large intersection partially blocked by a white pick up truck with the logo &quot;Happy Camp&quot;" width="1024" height="513" srcset="https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Happy-Camp-Complete-Streets-project-before-1024x513.png 1024w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Happy-Camp-Complete-Streets-project-before-300x150.png 300w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Happy-Camp-Complete-Streets-project-before-768x385.png 768w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Happy-Camp-Complete-Streets-project-before-1536x770.png 1536w, https://sgavpbcms.3lanemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Happy-Camp-Complete-Streets-project-before-2048x1027.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85528" class="wp-caption-text">Intersection in Happy Camp, before Complete Streets project <a href="https://svsapa.org/images/svs_2023_speaker_series/2023_07_28_ss_tquigley.pdf">(Sacramento Valley Section)</a></figcaption></figure>
<h3>Finding funding in California</h3>
Caltrans districts each review their 10-year portfolios regularly to assess long-term Complete Streets needs and try matching available funding sources to projects. This includes their main State Highway Operation and Protection Program (SHOPP), TAP, Reconnecting Communities, and other state or federal discretionary funds. This process usually involves close coordination with local stakeholders and sometimes also requires projects to be completed in phases using different funding sources.
In one instance, Caltrans awarded roughly $10 million in TAP funds to the Karuk Tribe in <a href="https://www.siskiyoudaily.com/story/news/2021/02/26/happy-camp-gets-pedestrian-bike-street-project/6836267002/">Happy Camp</a> for bike lanes, sidewalks, accessibility enhancements, and lighting along State Route 96. After years of public engagement and several failed funding attempts, Caltrans worked with the Karuk Tribe to find a way to work within established policies and systems to provide support. The funds were essentially turned back over to Caltrans for the project. It also required Caltrans to enter a <a href="https://sgf.senate.ca.gov/sites/sgf.senate.ca.gov/files/GWTFinalversion2.pdf">joint power agreement</a> with the tribe to avoid bureaucratic processes that may inadvertently pressure the tribe into waiving its sovereign immunity, as is often the case in state or federally-funded tribal development projects.
This example illustrates the importance of understanding unique cultural contexts, challenges, and processes when working with communities who have received or are seeking funding for a new project and developing effective relationships with local communities that share decision-making power to generate creative solutions.
<hr />
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided support for this project under cooperative agreement OT18-1802 supporting the Active People, Healthy NationSM Initiative, a national initiative led by the CDC to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027. Learn more: <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1718998511475000&amp;usg=AOvVaw16N_4_FDEPaQ4ERM0oCoAz">https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/activepeoplehealthynation/index.html</a>. The findings and conclusions in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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