Smart growth news – February 8, 2012

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Tom Madrecki

National News:

It’s Up To The Cities To Bring America Back
Business Insider – February 2, 2012

But more than 60 million Americans toil in low-wage, low-skill service jobs in everything from food prep and retail sales to personal care. We can transform them into good, family sustaining jobs, the same way we made manufacturing jobs good jobs decades ago, by creatifying them— tapping the knowledge and creativity of workers as a source of productivity, which in turn will generate higher wages.

Why Planners Need to Take Agenda 21 Criticism More Seriously
The Atlantic Cities – February 7, 2012

It’d be easy to wholly dismiss the Agenda 21’ers, the nickname that’s stuck here in Texas for those who believe that a non-binding, 1992 United Nations action plan aimed at aiding world governments in pursuing sustainability is the source of a vast urban planning conspiracy. These individuals have interpreted the UN’s Agenda 21 as an international plot, implemented by a Town Hall near you, to herd humanity into habitation zones and save the rest for the animals at the behest of enviro-fascists and their bicycle advocate shock troops.

Alliance of business, labor on infrastructure begins to fray
The Hill – February 7, 2012

The Chamber executive said she couldn’t say whether the business group would oppose the overall bill if the Ways and Means Committee proposal survived.

US Transportation Secretary LaHood to Visit Siemens Light Rail Manufacturing Plant in Sacramento
Press Release – February 7, 2012

Siemens recently hired an additional 200 workers in Sacramento after winning a $466 million contract to build 70 electric locomotives for Amtrak’s Northeast and Keystone Corridor lines. Following his tour of the Siemens Plant, Secretary LaHood will deliver the keynote address at the “Next Generation Rail Supply Chain Forum,” where he will discuss how President Obama’s commitment to rail is spurring American innovation and creating quality American manufacturing jobs.

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Smart Growth America stands with Transportation for America in opposition to House energy and transportation bill

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Smart Growth America

Last week, the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, along with a companion measure eliminating dedicated funding for public transportation. James Corless, Director of Transportation for America, released the following statement:

“For more than three years, our coalition has worked hard for an updated federal transportation program that meets our needs in the 21st century; that creates jobs and lays the foundation for a rejuvenated economy; that balances the need to keep our highway system strong while augmenting it with other options. We still remain urgently committed to that goal.

“It is with deep disappointment, therefore, that we in the Transportation for America coalition find ourselves compelled to oppose the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act as advanced by House leadership. While we commend Chairman Mica (R-FL) for doing what he can to move a long-term transportation bill forward, the full legislation that is now heading to the floor of the House has significant fatal flaws.

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Smart Growth America honors California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg with 2012 Leadership Award

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Alex Dodds


When the State of California passed a mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lawmakers quickly realized that better transportation and land use policies were a necessary part of achieving their goals.

The resulting legislation, SB375, focuses on one particular part of greenhouse gas emissions: reducing how far people need to drive each day between work, school, errands and home. Enacted in 2008, SB375 integrates greenhouse gas reduction goals into California’s existing regional transportation planning process, and encourages planners to locate homes near jobs and create more transportation options. The result is a bill that not only fights climate change, but also gives towns across the state the power to make land use and transportation decisions that strengthen local economies, reduce sprawl, preserve farmland and spur business development.

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National Brownfields Coalition successfully advocates for federal brownfields program in FY 2012

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Evans Paull

For small towns, cleaning up a contaminated brownfield can seem like an insurmountable challenge. Rehabilitating former industrial sites, abandoned gas stations or other polluted land can be complicated and expensive – but transforming this land can have enormous benefits to both the environment and the economy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Brownfields Program helps communities of all sizes achieve these goals.

As Congress debated the federal budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, Smart Growth America’s National Brownfields Coalition ramped up a national campaign to support the EPA Brownfields Program in the FY 2012 appropriations process. Faced with $40 million in proposed cuts from the House of Representatives, the Coalition reached deep into its membership to generate support for this important federal program. The Coalition asked mayors and economic development directors across the country to contact their Members of Congress and successfully reached nearly three-quarters of the members of the Interior and Environment Appropriations subcommittees.

The result of these efforts was that $35 million of those proposed cuts were restored. Among the many efforts involved in achieving this goal, dozens of towns, elected officials, non-profits, companies and other organizations sent letters to their members of Congress supporting the EPA Brownfields Program in FY 2012 appropriations.

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Smart growth news – February 7, 2012

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Tom Madrecki

National News:

Is the U.N. Using Bike Paths to Achieve World Domination?
The Atlantic – February 7, 2012

Did you know that the United Nations is in cahoots with local land-use planners all over the country to rob you and your neighbors of your God-given right to your gun, your land, your water, your food, and your liberty? Did you know that there is a U.N. document, titled Agenda 21, that sets out the plan and that Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich already has declared that, if he were to become president, he would cut funding for any activity related to that U.N directive? Glenn Beck knows all about it, naturally, and so does the Tea Party.

Occupy This!
Huffington Post – February 6, 2012

At best, such poorly or rashly-formed opinions smack if not of ignorance then at least adolescence. Or to quote Vonnegut: “True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.”

Fearful of Agenda 21, an alleged U.N. plot, activists derail land-use planning
High Country News – February 6, 2012

In November, La Plata County Commissioner Kellie Hotter called local land-use planning “a blood sport.” She wasn’t kidding. Since last spring, as this southwestern Colorado county considered a new comprehensive land-use plan, carnage has piled up. By mid-December, casualties included a fired planning commissioner, a resigned county planning director and the plan itself — a 400-page document that took two years, $750,000 and 137 public meetings to produce.

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Now hiring: Economic Development and Real Estate Policy Manager

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Smart Growth America

Smart Growth America seeks a full time Economic Development and Real Estate Policy Manager to oversee initiatives on economic development, real estate finance, and community redevelopment. This position is a member of Smart Growth America’s Policy and Research team. Primary duties include:

  • Managing and providing strategic direction for a suite of projects related to vacant property reclamation, economic development, tax and finance policy, brownfields redevelopment, and the revitalization of economically distressed cities;
  • Tracking and analyzing trends in community revitalization, real estate, and finance policy; writing reports, policy briefs, and blog posts; and representing SGA at conferences and workshops on the topic of smart growth and community redevelopment;
  • Cultivating and maintaining relationships with advocates, practitioners, and policy makers working on smart growth and redevelopment issues; and
  • Developing and managing program budgets and workplans, ensuring that program deliverables and deadlines are met.


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Now hiring: Outreach Fellow

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Smart Growth America

Smart Growth America is seeking a detail-oriented, outgoing, organized, intellectually curious person with a great sense of humor to serve as Outreach Fellow. The Fellow will work on several different projects and programs within the Government Affairs and Outreach team including: helping to build and develop a network of local elected officials – organizing meetings, drafting materials, tracking participation, etc.; growing the Sustainable Communities Network, a community of people all over the country interested in the federal Partnership for Sustainable Communities – drafting blog posts and newsletter content, assisting with publicizing webinars and other events, making or maintaining contact with people in the network, etc.; and helping to manage the Learning Network, an online network of federal grantees – curating website content, assisting with community management responsibilities, responding to questions from members of the Network, and more.

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Smart growth news – February 6, 2012

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Tom Madrecki

National News:

Activists Fight Green Projects, Seeing U.N. Plot
New York Times – February 3, 2012

Ilana Preuss, vice president of Smart Growth America, a national coalition of nonprofits that supports economic development while conserving open spaces and farmland, said, “The real danger is not that they will get rid of some piece of software from Iclei” but that “people will be too scared to have a conversation about local development. And that is an important conversation to be having.”

House GOP Takes Aim At Safe Routes To School, Mass Transit
Huffington Post – February 3, 2012

“The leadership of the House is looking to support highways. It seems that they’re not wanting to support bicycle, pedestrian or transit use,” said Deb Hubsmith, director of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. The decision was particularly disappointing, she said, because “one of the biggest problems facing America right now is childhood obesity.”

U.S. overbuilt in big houses, planners find
San Diego Union Tribune – February 2, 2012

America has too many big houses — 40 million, to be exact — because consumers are shifting preferences to condos, apartments and small homes, experts told the New Partners for Smart Growth Thursday, holding its 11th annual conference in San Diego through Sunday.

“Smart Growth” Experts Tout San Diego
NBC News – February 2, 2012

“San Diego is investing in the right things,” said Ilana Preuss, vice president of Washington D.C.-based Smart Growth America. “Looking at how you create whole neighborhoods where people can live near where they work, have jobs near shops and schools. We’ve found that that’s really a key to the economic development of the 21st century.”

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Bi-partisan support evident at Senate Environment and Public Works hearing

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Smart Growth America

Evans Paull, Executive Director of the National Brownfields Coalition, was among those who testified before Congress in October at a joint hearing of the Senate Full and Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics and Environmental Health entitled, “Oversight Hearing on the Brownfields Program – Cleaning Up and Rebuilding Communities.” Paull began his testimony:

I wanted to start today by calling your attention to brownfields community turn-around projects that have been carried out in some of the states that are represented on this Committee. There is a recurring theme that I want to stress. EPA brownfields funds, although modest in the larger picture of multimillion dollar redevelopment projects, are often the first funds in to help communities lay the groundwork for turning blighted contaminated properties into new community assets. It would be hard to overstate the importance of these critical resources – EPA funds essentially function to allay fears of the unknown, and then, once known, the funds work in concert with state and local resources to counter the extra costs of redeveloping brownfields. The payoffs from these modest investments in leveling the playing field are enormous, because it’s not just about cleaning up and redeveloping X, Y, and Z site. It’s also about enabling communities to re-position their economies, taking the failed industries of the past and retooling those sites to enable future growth and improved quality of life.

Paull was joined in by David Lloyd, Director of the EPA Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization; Mayor Mick Cornett of Oklahoma City; Elizabeth Spinelli, Executive Director of the Hudson County Economic Development Corporation; Aaron Scheff, Brownfields Program Manager at the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality; and Marjorie Weidenfeld Buckholtz, President of Environmental Consulting Solutions.

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Smart growth strategies in San Diego

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Alex Dodds

Investing in quality development and creating vibrant places where people want to live and work are among the themes at this year’s New Partners for Smart Growth conference in San Diego. Over 1,400 public officials, planners, developers and advocates are meeting this week to discuss better strategies for development – and the conference’s host city is a great example of that principle in action. From NBC San Diego:

“San Diego is investing in the right things,” said Ilana Preuss, vice president of Washington D.C.-based Smart Growth America. “Looking at how you create whole neighborhoods where people can live near where they work, have jobs near shops and schools. We’ve found that that’s really a key to the economic development of the 21st century.”

“Smart Growth” Experts Tout San Diego [NBC San Diego, February 2, 2012]

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