Category: Local Leaders Council

Acres of preserved farmland and prairie are making Carlisle, IA a beautiful place to live, and that’s a key economic development strategy for Carlisle Mayor Ruth Randleman.

Carlisle is located just outside Des Moines, and like many suburbs across the country Carlisle is working to set itself apart as a great place to live, work and raise a family.

“We like to think that as we enhance our community, businesses will find it an attractive place to come,” explains Randleman, who is an Advisory Board Member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council. “Plus it will draw people for the workforce. If you watch growing, thriving communities, there’s always that vibrancy and quality of life that foster the businesses and then the businesses then foster that back for the citizens.”

Mayor Anthony Foxx at a press conference for the LYNX Light Rail line. Photo via.

Later today President Obama is expected to nominate Anthony R. Foxx, mayor of Charlotte, NC, as the next secretary of transportation. If confirmed Foxx would replace current secretary Ray LaHood, who announced in January that he would step down.

What might a mayor bring to this national position? And what projects in Charlotte might inform Foxx’s work if he becomes secretary?

Knoxville, Tennessee is refocusing development toward the city’s historic core and older neighborhoods, and the strategy is driving an economic turnaround for the city.

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero, a member of the Advisory Board of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, says the city has focused on “strong, safe neighborhoods; living green and working green; an energized downtown and job creation and retention” during her time in office. The approach is bringing new businesses and residents to downtown Knoxville.

Fourth of July in Carlisle, IA. Photo by the Carlisle Chamber of Commerce.

This post was originally published on The Tomorrow Plan Exchange, a community forum for discussing, sharing ideas, and imagining a more sustainable tomorrow for Greater Des Moines. The post was authored by Ruth Randleman, the Mayor of Carlisle, IA, a member of The Tomorrow Plan’s Steering Committee and an Advisory Board member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council.

As a member of The Tomorrow Plan Steering Committee, and as a mayor of a metropolitan area community that is addressing the issues required to move a community forward, I hope to add a perspective from an “on the ground” and “in the trenches” view on the often misunderstood and overused terms of “smart growth” and “sustainability.”

The small town of West Windsor, NJ is home to one of the busiest commuter rail stations in the country, and the town has plans to put that station at the heart of a new walkable neighborhood.

West Windsor is one of New Jersey’s 26 state-designated transit villages, meaning the town has shown a commitment to revitalizing and redeveloping the area around its transit stations into walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods with a strong residential component.

Main Street in downtown Franklin, TN. Photo via Flickr.

Franklin, TN’s historic Main Street is more than a pretty place. It exemplifies Franklin’s historic heritage and has become the heart of the city’s new economy.

“We like to say we’re a community that balances preservation with growth,” says Franklin Mayor Ken Moore. Moore is on the Advisory Board of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council, a nonpartisan group of municipal officials who share a passion for building great towns, cities, and communities. As a member of the Local Leaders Council, Moore is one of many elected leaders across the country using smart growth strategies to help their hometowns generate better return on taxpayer investment and compete in today’s economy.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Teton County, ID was exploding. Its population growth was the 12th fastest in the entire country, and new home growth was the 6th fastest.

“We saw a palatable change in 10 years,” said Teton County Commissioner Kathy Rinaldi, a member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council. “At one point we had 89 subdivisions in the approval process. It was complete insanity. And it was very quick, it was very slipshod. [Only] half the subdivisions were built out, some were never even started.”

Then, in the late 2000s, the national real estate bust brought development in Teton County to a grinding halt. Almost 7,000 subdivision lots were left vacant, and the construction industry – once the leading job sector in the county – was crippled. Runaway real estate speculation and a lack of development strategy both contributed to the bust.

Tacoma, WA Mayor Marilyn Strickland considers her city “the best kept secret in Washington State,” and smart growth strategies are helping make the city an even better place to live and work.

“Tacoma kind of got bypassed during the whole urban renewal phase of the late 60s and 70s, so as a result a lot of historic property did not get razed,” Strickland says. “So we have this beautiful stock of old warehouses and historic property.”