After the ordinance: Implementing Complete Streets strategies in New Orleans

Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans, LA
Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans after Complete Streets improvements. Photo by Jennifer Ruley.

With one of the best Complete Streets policies in the nation and champions for multimodal transportation on the City Council and public agencies, New Orleans, LA is taking concrete steps to build a post-Katrina transportation network that’s safer, more equitable and more fully connected than before.

The city’s most recent addition to its list of accomplishments is it’s new Complete Streets Advisory Committee. This month the City finalized the membership of the new Committee, which will make sure public agencies and processes work together to create a transportation system that works for all residents, no matter how they get around. The Committee’s first tasks include reviewing local subdivision regulations and deciding how to measure the success of Complete Streets implementation.

Complete Streets Local Leaders Council

Take Action: Help Valley, Alabama redevelop their textile mills

When the Langdale and Riverdale textile mills closed in the 1990’s, the residents of Valley, Alabama, not only lost a major employer. They lost part of their heritage.

For years the mills have stood as a reminder of what the town lost. Residents, however, saw potential for transforming the historic buildings into a vibrant, walkable neighborhood. The City agreed—but industrial contamination stood in their way.

Now, a federal brownfields grant is helping Valley clean up the land and achieve their vision, and a bill in Congress could help towns like Valley achieve similar goals.

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Completing Our Streets: The revolution begins with a meeting

Brownsboro Rd before and after
Bill Deatherage, of the Kentucky Council of the Blind, walking along Louisville, KY’s Brownsboro Road before and after sidewalk construction. Photo by Anne M. McMahon.

This post is the fourth in a twice-monthly series of excerpts from Completing Our Streets: The Transition to Safe and Inclusive Transportation Networks, the new book from Island Press by Barbara McCann, founder of the National Complete Streets Coalition. The book discusses the keys to the movement’s success, and how places and practitioners in the United States are tackling the challenges of putting a new transportation paradigm into daily practice.

All National Complete Streets Coalition Platinum Partners and those who upgrade to the next Partnership level will receive a signed copy of Completing Our Streets. Become a Coalition Partner today!

From Chapter 4: Process Over Projects: Changing How Decisions are Made

The disconnected sidewalks, marooned bus stops, curb ramps to nowhere, and other gaps in transportation infrastructure are usually a reflection of gaps in the processes used for planning, design, and construction. In many jurisdictions, no one has thought about how to balance the needs of more than one mode, or how to get the details right on small-scale nonmotorized infrastructure, or how to coordinate transportation planning with the surrounding neighborhood. Another gap is human. The people navigating that landscape by foot or wheelchair were likely not in the room when the decisions were made.

Complete Streets Local Leaders Council

Peter Harnik on creating great urban parks for cities

Urban parks can increase property values, enhance neighborhood identity and provide access to open space within a neighborhood. More and more communities are finding creative ways to integrate parks into urban environments, and Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council recently caught up with expert Peter Harnik to learn more about this smart growth strategy.

“We look at parks not just from the perspective of a great park, but how the park can interact with the city and make it great,” says Harnik, who is the Director of the Trust for Public Land’s Center for City Park Excellence and member of Smart Growth America Board of Directors. The video interview is part of our Local Leaders Council’s “Meet the Experts” video series, which provides information for local leaders interested in learning more about smart growth strategies.

Local Leaders Council

Mayor Jonathan Rothschild on the revival of downtown Tucson, AZ

The Sun Link streetcar line is a catalyst for investment in downtown Tucson. Photo via the City of Tucson.
The Sun Link streetcar line is a catalyst for investment in downtown Tucson. Photo via the City of Tucson.

Downtown Tucson, AZ is undergoing a revival, and smart growth strategies are a major factor behind it according to Mayor Jonathan Rothschild.

Rothschild, a native Tucsonan and a member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, has experienced firsthand the rapid growth of greater Tucson over the past 50 years. “When I was born, there were 50,000 people in this community. Today there are over one million. We’ve grown at a remarkable rate,” says Rothschild.

Local Leaders Council

Ben Bakkenta on regional transportation planning in Washington

Ben Bakkenta is a Program Manager for the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) in the Seattle Metropolitan Region. PSRC is spearheading the innovative Growing Transit Communities project to bridge the gap between the broad transit visions for the region and the implementation of projects at the local level. The project focuses on existing and future … Continued

Local Leaders Council

Join LOCUS next week for an event on the future of walkable urban development

LOCUS President Christopher Leinberger speaking at a previous ULI event.
LOCUS President Christopher Leinberger speaking at last year’s event.

Real estate professionals, advocates and academics are invited to join LOCUS, the George Washington University Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis and ULI Washington for a day-long event exploring how to develop walkable urban projects and how to implement the strategies for place management in walkable urban places.

LOCUS