Category: Members and Main

On the campus of Montevallo, AL. Photo by Larry Miller, via Flickr.

This is a guest post written by Ryan Parker, of our coalition partner Conservation Alabama.

Montevallo, AL is preserving its unique blend of college culture and country charm by making intentional decisions about expansion and development.

The small town of 6,000 residents in the heart of Alabama has a vibrant downtown, a Greenway National Recreational Trail, three beautiful parks, an art gallery, and Alabama’s only public liberal arts college, the University of Montevallo.

Over the last several years the City and the University have worked together on projects to make downtown Montevallo an even better place to live and work. “The very best colleges in the country, most of them have lively, attractive downtowns,” said John Stewart III, president of the University of Montevallo. “We literally want Main Street and the campus to blend into one plan.”

The Watermark restaurant in The Gulch district in Nashville. The Gulch generated far more revenue per unit than the two other development scenarios. Photo by The Gulch.

Tennessee taxpayers could save money by using smarter development strategies, according to new research published by Smart Growth America.

Fiscal impact analyses of three development scenarios in Nashville-Davidson County, TN (PDF) examines the public costs and benefits of three development scenarios in Nashville-Davidson County: The Gulch, a smart growth oriented development project; Lennox Village, a New Urbanist-style development in a ‘greenfield’ location; and Bradford Hills, a conventional suburban residential subdivision outside of the city.

Federal decisions about development, infrastructure and transportation impact communities across the country, and no one has a better understanding of how those decisions play out than the members of Smart Growth America’s national coalition.

Coalition members from across the country came together last week in Washington, DC to ask members of Congress to support the federal programs that are helping communities across the country achieve their economic development goals.

The following post was crossposted on the U.S. Green Building Council’s blog.

The biggest real estate investor in the United States isn’t Donald Trump, and it’s not a private equity firm.

Spending or committing roughly $450 billion a year, the federal government is by far and away the largest investor in real estate in the country. This spending spans 50 federal programs at half a dozen agencies, and includes everything from loans and loan guarantees to tax credits to low-income housing grants. If you include the quasi-governmental enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the amount of money the government spends each year on real estate is even larger.

Join Smart Growth America’s President Geoff Anderson, the Coalition for Smarter Growth and the Montgomery County Sierra Club next week for a panel and discussion about transit, bicycle, pedestrian, and smart growth solutions in Montgomery County, MD. Get the latest updates on Montgomery transit projects and join fellow advocates for discussion about smart growth issues in the county.

Aerial photos of New Jersey coastline in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Photo by DVIDSHUB via Flickr.

Three months after Superstorm Sandy crippled coastal communities along the East Coast, Congress passed a $50.5 billion package on Monday to aid victims of the storm and accelerate re-building efforts.

The largest portion of the spending bill includes $16 billion for the Housing and Urban Development Department’s Community Development Block Grants program (CDBG). Of that, about $12.1 billion will be shared among communities directly affected by Sandy as well as those from other federally declared disasters in 2011-2013.

Next week, the 12th annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference kicks off in America’s heartland—Kansas City, Missouri. The three-day conference will explore sensible strategies for helping communities arcoss the country create healthy, convenient, equitable and livable cities and towns for all. This year, the conference will include over 90 sessions and close to 400 total speakers across multiple disciplines including elected officials, state and federal agency leaders; professionals in planning and transportation; realtors, developers and many others committed to building sustainable communities nationwide.

Smart Growth America’s staff will among the many speakers talking about best practices in implementing smart growth strategies – covering everything from local policies to federal legislation about Complete Streets, public transportation, economic development, effective communications and more. Join us at one of our several sessions.

We’re doing a special blog series highlighting some of Smart Growth America’s favorite accomplishments from 2012. This is the seventh of twelve installments.

In 2012 Smart Growth America went to, worked with and spoke in dozens of towns across the country. It was great to meet the people in those places, and to learn how they’re using smart growth strategies to make their hometown better.