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At the heart of the American dream is the simple hope that each of us can live in a neighborhood that's healthy, prosperous, and resilient.
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People across the country are facing a widespread affordability crisis, especially when it comes to housing and transportation. Right now, Congress has a real opportunity to take meaningful action.
The House is actively negotiating a sweeping bipartisan housing package—the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act—that includes key provisions to reduce barriers to housing production, support zoning reform, and better connect housing to jobs, services, and transportation.
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15th Street w_ Bike Lanes

If the National Mall is “<a href="https://www.nps.gov/nama/index.htm#:~:text=America%E2%80%99s%20Front%20Yard%2C">America’s Front Yard</a>,” then we have to talk about a serious case of NIMFY (not in my front yard). The Trump administration is going to tear up a popular protected bike lane as early as next week. The 15th Street protected bike lanes run North-South through the heart of Washington, DC. For <a href="https://nacto.org/latest/two-way-cycle-track-15th-street-washington-d-c/">over a decade</a>, the 15th Street corridor has been a safe and convenient way for cyclists to travel throughout the city, accommodating residents and tourists alike. According to the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), it’s one of <a href="https://bikelanes.ddot.dc.gov/pages/15th-st-nw#:~:text=15th%20St%20NW%20Cycletrack%20is%20one%20of%20the%20District%27s%20highest%20ridership%20bike%20lanes">the city’s highest ridership bike lanes</a>. And bicycle counts along the route show huge increases in recent years:
<figure id="attachment_113464" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-113464" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Average-number-of-bikes-per-year.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-113464" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Average-number-of-bikes-per-year-1024x437.png" alt="Graph of bicycle counts rising on 15th Street in DC" width="1024" height="437" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Average-number-of-bikes-per-year-1024x437.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Average-number-of-bikes-per-year-300x128.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Average-number-of-bikes-per-year-768x328.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Average-number-of-bikes-per-year-1536x656.png 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Average-number-of-bikes-per-year.png 1976w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-113464" class="wp-caption-text">Bicycle counts on the 15th Street section slated for removal. Source: <a href="https://bikelanes.ddot.dc.gov/pages/manual-counts">DDOT</a></figcaption></figure>
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Nonetheless, the <a href="https://waba.org/2026/02/13/federal-meddling-on-15th-street/">Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA)</a> and other advocates are sounding the alarm that a significant portion of the bike lanes will be torn up very soon, specifically the portion south of Constitution Avenue. This segment, which crosses the National Mall and is under federal control, was built in 2021.
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<div style="flex: 1; min-width: 300px; text-align: center;"><img decoding="async" style="width: 100%; height: auto;" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/15th-Street-w_-Bike-Lanes-1024x721.png" />
15th Street with Bike Lanes
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15th Street before bike lanes (2019)
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I have not seen any justification for removing the bike lanes (if anyone else has, <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/contact-us/">please share it</a>). In fact, DDOT recently did an assessment of the project and found that it both led to increased bicycle use along the corridor and <a href="https://www.popville.com/2026/02/15th-street-protected-bike-lanes-safety/">significantly reduced roadway crashes and injuries</a>. DC residents are left, once again, scratching their heads at government decisions and wondering why it’s falling to them to stand up the fight.
<h2>Why is this happening?</h2>
The short answer: the Trump administration doesn’t like bike lanes. They’ve shown this through <a href="https://usa.streetsblog.org/2025/04/25/sean-duffy-yes-hes-the-us-dot-secretary-is-dead-wrong-about-bike-lanes">false claims, such as bike lanes cause congestion</a>, and even more seriously, by <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-transportation-infrastructure-grants-hostile-cars-37495f299378ac0980a3dea5b450e004">pulling back millions of dollars in funding for bicycle infrastructure</a> across the country. They are also seeking to do whatever they can to <a href="https://usa.streetsblog.org/2026/01/26/the-talk-of-d-c-rumors-flying-that-trump-wants-to-undo-bike-lanes-in-capital">remove bike lanes within DC itself</a>. This is in direct conflict with their claims of supporting safety and improving commutes. Protected bike lanes are well-documented for reducing fatalities, improving accessibility, and easing congestion. They’re even one of the federal government’s own <a href="https://highways.dot.gov/safety/proven-safety-countermeasures/bicycle-lanes">proven safety countermeasures</a>. President Trump and Secretary Duffy seem more concerned about getting headlines and causing outrage than saving lives. 
<h2>Another win for the “leadership” at DDOT</h2>
Over the past year, SGA has posted a couple of times about the troubling lack of leadership from DC on issues related to active transportation. The sun might be shining these days, but it wasn’t that long ago that people walking, biking, and rolling were <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/dcs-streets-are-for-carsgood-luck-everyone-else/">left out in the cold</a>, literally, as they waited for sidewalks, bus shelters, and other facilities to be cleared. While the federal government essentially has control over the National Mall, and working with them in this part of town has historically been challenging, this does not mean that city leadership and DDOT are blameless.
I will point out a couple of things. First, the project was installed as a <a href="https://www.nps.gov/nama/learn/news/new-bike-lane-coming-to-national-mall.htm#:~:text=District%20Department%20of%20Transportation%20(DDOT)%20in%20partnership%20with%20the%20National%20Park%20Service%20(NPS)">collaboration between DDOT and NPS</a>, so it’s not wild to think DDOT would have some role to play. Second, have they been aggressively pushing back against this project’s removal? If they’re doing it, I sure haven’t seen the evidence. While Thursday and Friday saw a flurry of activity in DC's bike advocacy community, trying to figure out how best to draw attention to this blatant government overreach and the rollback of safety, DDOT stayed quiet. Even an acknowledgment of the increased dangers this removal would pose would be welcome at this point. Let’s not forget that DDOT, on its own, has <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/bad-leadership-from-ddot-will-result-in-more-dangerous-streets/#:~:text=Furthermore%2C%20Director%20Kershbaum,aesthetically%20pleasing.">been removing bike lanes across the city</a> in recent years, so their dedication to protecting cyclists and pedestrians is already in doubt.
When the bike lanes were installed, the goal was to “<a href="https://www.nps.gov/nama/learn/news/new-bike-lane-coming-to-national-mall.htm#:~:text=This%20project%20will%20improve%20pedestrian%20safety%20for%20visitors%20to%20the%20National%20Mall%20and%20create%20a%20north%2Dsouth%20bicycle%20connection%20between%20the%20White%20House%2C%20National%20Mall%20and%20the%20Jefferson%20Memorial.">improve pedestrian safety...</a>” so I guess that removing them can be read as an effort to reduce pedestrian safety. Terrific!
<h2>What does this all mean?</h2>
This bike lane removal is bad news. First and foremost, it will make life harder and more dangerous for bicyclists and pedestrians, just as the <a href="https://nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/">Cherry Blossom Festival</a> kicks off, bringing tons of tourists to the area, and warmer spring weather arrives in DC. Symbolically, it is another sign of the Trump administration’s fight against anything that doesn’t have at least four tires and a steering wheel. It’s also another sad case of the DC government caving to the administration’s attempts to score political points at the expense of people’s lives.
With the way things are going, Destination DC (the city’s official marketing organization) might have to update <a href="https://washington.org/dc-neighborhoods/national-mall">its website</a> about the National Mall. Maybe a graphic counting the rising bike fatalities that will occur as a result of these actions, or a photo of the children forced to ride their bikes in the same lanes as oversized vehicles?
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Washington-DC.-org.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-113465" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Washington-DC.-org-1024x525.png" alt="" width="1024" height="525" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Washington-DC.-org-1024x525.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Washington-DC.-org-300x154.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Washington-DC.-org-768x394.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Washington-DC.-org-1536x787.png 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Washington-DC.-org.png 1973w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
As we have seen with the White House East Wing, when the Trump administration wants to do something, they just do it, often without regard for laws, expert opinion, or even common sense. So, unfortunately, if they are determined to tear up this popular bike lane, it may already be too late. Here are some suggestions:
<ul>
<li>Trump administration: Stop trying to turn bike lanes into a culture war issue. <a href="https://highways.dot.gov/safety/proven-safety-countermeasures/bicycle-lanes#:~:text=Converting%20traditional%20or%20flush%20buffered%20bicycle%20lanes%20to,2%2Dlane%20undivided%20collectors%20and%20local%20roads.6">Bike lanes are safe, effective</a>, and do not have negative impacts. Case closed.</li>
<li>DDOT and the DC city government: You should at the very least make a statement asserting that they disagree with the bike lane removal. Beyond this, however, I suggest they aggressively install new bike lanes across the city to protect and improve bicyclists and other vulnerable road users.</li>
<li>For those in the DC area: If you are in the DC area and want to show support, join <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hill-family-biking-protest-ride-to-save-15th-st-bike-lanes-tickets-1985538546241">the ride happening this weekend</a>.</li>
<li>For everyone else: <a href="https://waba.org/action-page/petition-save-the-15th-street-protected-bike-lane/">Sign WABA’s petition</a> calling on USDOT, FHWA, and NPS to halt the unilateral removal of the 15th Street bike lane.  </li>
</ul>

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Washington DC

Trump administration ready to kick bicyclists off of ‘America’s front yard’

Mayor Alan Tomson_Brownfields

This year, the National Brownfields Coalition has worked closely with both Majority and Minority staff members on the House Committee on Energy &amp; Commerce as Congress considers reauthorization of the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/about">Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Program</a>. For decades, the program has helped communities across the country clean up contaminated properties and redevelop them into productive community assets—<a href="https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/smart-growth-and-infill-brownfields-redevelopment">from new businesses and housing, to parks, public spaces, and other projects that strengthen local economies and improve quality of life</a>.
The EPA Brownfields Program is approaching a significant funding cliff. Supplemental funding provided through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is set to expire at the end of the law’s five-year funding window in 2026. Without congressional action, the program faces a projected annual shortfall of more than $150 million. This would mean fewer resources available for communities to assess and clean up contaminated sites, fewer redevelopment projects moving forward, and fewer opportunities for local governments to transform neglected properties into economic and environmental assets.
Over the past several months, the National Brownfields Coalition (NBC) has been actively engaged with congressional staff on both sides of the aisle, providing feedback on preliminary discussion drafts and sharing insights from practitioners and communities working on brownfields redevelopment across the country. As the Committee advances efforts to reauthorize the EPA Brownfields Program, NBC is working to ensure that the perspectives of local governments, redevelopment professionals, and community partners are reflected in the legislative process and that the program remains a strong and effective tool for community revitalization nationwide.
<h2>The EPA Brownfield Program</h2>
Cleaning up and revitalizing brownfields (such as abandoned gas stations, dry cleaners, factories, and other properties formerly used for industrial or commercial purposes) remains an often-overlooked but critically important form of community development and neighborhood revitalization. Addressing brownfield sites can transform environmental liabilities into community assets, strengthening neighborhoods and improving residents' quality of life.
Across the United States, <a href="https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/about">more than 450,000 brownfield sites</a> remain scattered across communities awaiting cleanup and reuse. Redeveloping these sites can reactivate land that has sat vacant for years or even decades, support new businesses, <a href="https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/pdf/10.1142/S1464333217500132">increase local tax revenue</a>, and reduce environmental and public health risks.
The federal Brownfields Program was formally established in 2002 through the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/summary-small-business-liability-relief-and-brownfields-revitalization-act">Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act</a>, signed into law by President George W. Bush, and administered by the EPA. The program was most recently reauthorized in 2018 through the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/2463">Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act</a>, which increased funding levels, expanded grant eligibility, and modernized the program.
The program has been remarkably successful. Since its creation, EPA Brownfields grants have helped assess and clean up <a href="https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/accomplishments#:~:text=Brownfields%20Accomplishments,State%20and%20Tribal%20Partner%20Accomplishments">hundreds of thousands of contaminated sites, making more than 4 million acres of land ready for reuse and leveraging more than $50 billion in redevelopment investment nationwide</a>.
More recently, the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/infrastructure-investment-and-jobs-act-historic-investment-brownfields">Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)</a>, signed by President Biden in 2021, infused over $1.5 billion into the program over five years. However, that funding boost will expire at the end of the current IIJA funding window in 2026. Without renewed investment from Congress, annual funding levels could fall back toward <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/oig/documents/_epaoig_20250723-25-p-0043_cert.pdf">pre-IIJA baseline appropriation levels of less than $100 million</a>—a dramatic funding cliff that would severely limit communities’ ability to continue redevelopment work.
This makes congressional reauthorization of the program—with sustained and increased funding—especially important to ensure that communities can continue addressing contaminated sites and advancing redevelopment projects.
<h2>NBC testifies as Congress considers proposals to reauthorize the Brownfields Program</h2>
As part of this legislative process, the House Committee on Energy &amp; Commerce recently released four discussion drafts of legislation intended to update and reauthorize the federal Brownfields Program.
The National Brownfields Coalition has been working with staff on both sides of the aisle to review and provide feedback on these proposals. On March 4, 2026, the Committee invited NBC to participate in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-3MpeXybvs">legislative hearing</a> where members of Congress reviewed the discussion drafts and heard testimony on how the program should evolve. 
Coalition ally <a href="https://daviswv.us/contact/">Mayor Alan Tomson of Davis, West Virginia</a>, testified before the Committee in support of reauthorizing the EPA Brownfields Program and increasing grant funding to help communities remediate and redevelop contaminated sites.
In his testimony, Mayor Tomson shared how the program has supported redevelopment in his small Appalachian community. One example he highlighted was the cleanup of an abandoned gas station site in Davis that now houses <a href="https://newheritagedistilling.com/">New Heritage Distilling</a> and the <a href="https://parsonsadvocate.com/news/pa-top-stories/headlines/big-timber-comes-to-davis/">Big Timber Logging Camp brewery</a>—thriving local businesses that contribute to the town’s growing tourism and outdoor recreation economy.
Mayor Tomson also raised concerns about provisions in the draft legislation that could allow private developers to directly access federal brownfields grant funding for large-scale industrial projects such as data centers, power plants, or other major infrastructure developments. 
He pointed to a proposal near his own community as an example: a massive data center complex planned just outside Davis on land adjacent to a brownfield and the county landfill. According to the proposal, the project would include a 1,600-megawatt power plant and large-scale diesel fuel storage to support what developers claim could become the world’s largest data center campus.
While projects of this scale may play an important role in the country’s broader infrastructure and economic strategy, the National Brownfields Coalition believes that limited federal brownfields funding should remain focused on helping local governments, nonprofits, and community-based entities address contaminated sites that would otherwise remain neglected. 
In many cases, private developers pursuing large infrastructure projects already have access to significant private capital. Allowing those projects to compete for EPA Brownfields grants could divert scarce public resources away from the small towns, rural communities, and under-resourced local governments that rely most heavily on these grants to move redevelopment projects forward.
<figure id="attachment_113400" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-113400" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/NBC-at-Brownfields-Hearing-scaled.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-113400" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/NBC-at-Brownfields-Hearing-1024x768.png" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/NBC-at-Brownfields-Hearing-1024x768.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/NBC-at-Brownfields-Hearing-300x225.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/NBC-at-Brownfields-Hearing-768x576.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/NBC-at-Brownfields-Hearing-1536x1152.png 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/NBC-at-Brownfields-Hearing-2048x1536.png 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-113400" class="wp-caption-text">The National Brownfields Coalition at the House Committee on Energy &amp; Commerce</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Why brownfields investment matters for communities</h2>
When done effectively, brownfields redevelopment unlocks opportunities that benefit both the public and private sectors while strengthening communities as a whole. Transforming contaminated sites into productive uses can support local job creation, expand tax bases, improve environmental conditions, and create new amenities for residents. 
These outcomes directly align with Smart Growth America’s mission to help communities create healthy, resilient, and economically vibrant places.
Brownfields redevelopment is also one of the policy areas that consistently receives strong bipartisan support at the federal level. Because the program delivers tangible benefits to communities across the country—urban, suburban, and rural alike—it represents a powerful opportunity for lawmakers to work together to advance policies that strengthen local economies and environments.
<h2>What comes next</h2>
Over the coming weeks and months, the National Brownfields Coalition will continue to work with both Majority and Minority staff on the House Committee on Energy &amp; Commerce to advocate for a clean reauthorization of the EPA Brownfields Program that maintains strong federal investment while avoiding provisions that could jeopardize bipartisan consensus.
Ensuring the continued success of the Brownfields Program will allow communities across the country to transform long-neglected sites into new opportunities for economic development, environmental improvement, and community revitalization.
With hundreds of thousands of brownfield sites still awaiting cleanup and reuse, the importance of sustaining and strengthening this program has never been clearer.

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Congress Considers reauthorizing the EPA Brownfields Program as funding cliff looms

Construction workers frame a multi-unit residential building, wo

The Senate voted Tuesday to advance the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, a sweeping bipartisan package aimed at tackling the nation’s housing shortage and the most ambitious federal housing effort in generations. But a late addition targeting institutional investors is raising concerns from housing advocates and free-market conservatives alike.
On Tuesday, March 10, the <a href="https://www.lw.com/en/insights/senate-advances-21st-century-road-to-housing-act">Senate voted to advance the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act</a>, an expansive, bipartisan housing package that includes smart growth provisions. The legislative package includes a majority of the provisions from the ROAD to Housing Act and the lower chamber’s 21st Century Housing Act. This bill is the most ambitious piece of federal housing legislation in generations and would be a key step forward in addressing the national housing shortage. However, the text also includes a new Trump Administration request that restricts large institutional investors from buying up single-family homes. Housing groups are ringing alarm bells about this provision’s potential impact on housing supply, while conservative lawmakers have voiced concerns about its clash with free-market ideology.
These key smart growth provisions in the bill would support missing middle, affordable, and infill housing, helping to build more housing at the right place, type, and price:
<ul>
<li>Unlocking Housing Supply Through Streamlined and Modernized Reviews Act (Section 208): This section modifies National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review for infill and small housing projects to reduce regulatory burdens and speed the development process.</li>
<li>Accelerating Home Building Act (Section 211): This section would help communities cut through red tape and open new pathways for development by supporting community-driven efforts to create pre-reviewed building designs.</li>
<li>Community Investment and Prosperity Act (Section 204): This section increases the Public Welfare Investment cap, which is intended to improve financial institutions’ capacity to invest in affordable housing.</li>
</ul>
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Unfortunately, the bill dropped the following smart growth provisions from the prior two bills:
<ul>
<li>The Housing Supply Frameworks Act (included in both the ROAD to Housing and Housing in the 21st Century Act), which would have directed HUD to create resources on zoning and best practices for local and state governments.</li>
<li>Build More Housing Near Transit Act (included in ROAD to Housing, but dropped in the Housing in the 21st Century Act), which provides incentives for housing along transit corridors.</li>
<li>Identifying Regulatory Barriers to Housing Supply Act (included in Housing in the 21st Century Act but not ROAD), which would require CDBG recipients to report to HUD on their progress towards adopting a series of pro-housing land use and zoning policies.</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/minority/scott-warren-release-21st-century-road-to-housing-act-legislative-package-to-boost-housing-supply-and-bring-down-costs">On March 2nd</a>, the Banking Committee released the text of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. This legislative package incorporates most of the Senate’s <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48732">ROAD to Housing Act</a> and housing provisions from the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6644">Housing for the 21st Century Act</a>. The new combined housing package aims to boost housing supply through improving existing programs and reducing regulatory burdens. The text includes 36 of the 40 original Senate provisions and six provisions from the House’s version of the housing bill.
The pushback that Congress is facing is not about which provisions were left in or removed, but instead a new provision that the Trump Administration has requested. Trump first called for <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/05/institutional-investor-ban-impact.html#:~:text=The%20Democratic%20proposal%20came%20after,homes%20or%20substantially%20renovate%20them.">banning institutional investors</a> from buying up single-family homes in early January. The Administration proposed that firms owning more than 100 single-family homes would be banned from buying additional properties. 21st Century ROAD’s Section 901, titled “Homes are for People, not Corporations,” includes significant restrictions on institutional investors, now defined as entities owning more than 350 homes. Section 901 largely focuses on single-family homes, defined as a home with two or fewer dwellings. Higher-density development, defined as three units and above, is exempt from the institutional purchase requirement and the 7-year disposal requirement. Notably, the provision’s disposal requirement would require institutional investors to sell single-family homes to individual buyers within 7 years, which would have a significant impact on the Build-to-Rent sector. This requirement could reduce interest in investment in Build to Rent, leading to reduced housing production, and if tenants were uninterested or unable to buy the properties, the provision could also lead to thousands of evictions.
Housing groups are calling for the provision to be removed or modified, given concerns about its impact on housing supply. <a href="https://www.nmhc.org/globalassets/advocacy/comment-letters/2026/2026-03-02-real-estate-industry-letter-to-the-senate-on-institutional-investment.pdf">Multiple groups representing the real estate industry sent a sign-on letter</a> to the Senate expressing concern about limiting investment in housing and the potential for the provision to undermine housing production. Other housing groups like YIMBY Action are calling on Senate Banking Democrats to implement a very narrow amendment to Section 901 to protect the construction of Build-to-Rent developments. The amendment would limit Section 901’s dispositions requirement to areas where investors own 5% or more of the single-family housing stock, while maintaining the ban on investors buying existing properties. In areas where institutional investors collectively have a 5% investor market share, the bill’s 7-year disposition requirement would still apply. Housing advocates have noted that Build-to-Rent contributes to housing supply: <a href="https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mje/2025/05/16/building-the-future-housing-market-a-look-into-build-to-rent/">In 2024, the BTR market produced 39,000 single-family rental properties</a> (nearly 6 times as many as before the pandemic).
Beyond the advocacy organizations’ concerns with a portion of the Senate bill, the lower chamber is also voicing disapproval of the package. House Financial Services Chair French Hill said that the Senate bill needs to be altered to reflect the House’s needs and priorities. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/13/housing-deal-faces-new-hurdle-as-trump-pushes-investor-ban-00779021">Republicans in the House are already expressing opposition</a> to the so-called institutional investor ban, citing potential market volatility and concern about a departure from free-market ideology.
The Senate’s bipartisan housing package is positioned for final passage in the upper chamber next week. So far, the bill has overwhelmingly advanced through the Senate, but it could collapse by the time it reaches the House due to Republican opposition alone. The Senate still has a small window to revise the provision to address concerns both inside and outside of Congress in order to promote smart growth housing policies and make progress towards addressing our housing shortage.

21st Century ROAD to Housing advances in Senate but could face a major obstacle in the House

Champions Institute Map_2026

Smart Growth America is excited to announce the 2026 Champions Institute cohort. 14 local elected officials from 11 states will participate in this year’s program, where they’ll gain the tools and skills they need to develop time-bound <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/active-communities-tool/php/planning-guide/index.html">Active People, Healthy Nation ActionSM Plans</a> that promote safe environments for physical activity in their communities. This year’s cohort marks an important milestone: more than 100 Champions have now participated in the Institute since it began in 2020.
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Champions-Institute-Map_2026.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-113351" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Champions-Institute-Map_2026-1024x576.png" alt="Map showcasing the locations of the 2026 Champions Institute Participants" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Champions-Institute-Map_2026-1024x576.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Champions-Institute-Map_2026-300x169.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Champions-Institute-Map_2026-768x432.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Champions-Institute-Map_2026-1536x864.png 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Champions-Institute-Map_2026.png 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Local elected officials, from mayors to city councilors to tribal chairpeople, can play a big role in improving a community’s environment so that it works better for the people who live there. <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/services/grants/champions-institute/">Smart Growth America’s Champions Institute</a> helps train these leaders to become effective champions for Complete Streets, active transportation networks, downtown revitalization, and many other strategies for building healthy communities. Over the next four months, this cohort will engage in virtual sessions, peer learning, and one-on-one coaching to gain the knowledge and resources needed to support plans, policies, and funding in pursuit of these goals.
<h3>The 2026 Champions Institute participants are:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Councilmember Ambar Marquis | Clarksville, TN</li>
<li>Mayor Coletta Perry | Crafton, PA</li>
<li>Councilmember David Schloegel | Jamestown, ND</li>
<li>Councilmember Deborah Winstead | Pelham, NY</li>
<li>Councilmember Jacque Sample | Columbia, MO</li>
<li>Councilmember Jennie Chamberlain | Hanover, NH</li>
<li>Legislator Josh Leviker | Lewis County, NY</li>
<li>Mayor Linda Short | Mayersville, MS</li>
<li>Councilmember Nichole Rogers | Albuquerque, NM</li>
<li>Legislator Reed Cleland | Cortland County, NY</li>
<li>Councilmember Steele Reynolds | Shawnee, KS</li>
<li>Councilmember Sukh Kaur | San Antonio, TX</li>
<li>Councilmember Tiffany Burgess | Beaverton, MI</li>
<li>Councilmember Valerie Carroll | Columbia, MO</li>
</ul>
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Now in its fifth year, the Champions Institute has grown into a network of over 100 local elected officials committed to advancing safer transportation options and more resilient, livable communities.
We can’t wait to get to know this year’s participants and see what great things they’ll accomplish!
<hr />
This program is made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Cooperative Agreement CDC-RFA-PW-24-0080). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC. These efforts are part of the CDC’s <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/active-people-healthy-nation/php/about/index.html">Active People, Healthy NationSM</a> Initiative that is working to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027.

Announcing the 2026 Champions Institute cohort

Aerial drone view urban sprawl in suburban Dallas, Texas during

Counties across the country are grappling with housing shortages that threaten economic growth and community stability. Solutions Sprint #3 wrapped up the <a href="https://www.naco.org/program/counties-housing-solutions">Counties for Housing Solutions</a>, a fast-paced technical assistance program funded by the Gates Foundation and delivered in partnership with the National Association of Counties. Through the program, elected officials, planners, and stakeholders from eight counties learned how zoning reforms can unlock affordable housing and support economic development.
Counties can play an important role in increasing housing supply. They frequently control large areas of unincorporated land, influence infrastructure investments, and manage development rules that determine where and how housing gets built. When counties modernize zoning and land-use policies, they can unlock new housing opportunities while strengthening local economies.
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions-Map_3-Sprints.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-113364 aligncenter" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions-Map_3-Sprints-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions-Map_3-Sprints-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions-Map_3-Sprints-300x169.jpg 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions-Map_3-Sprints-768x432.jpg 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions-Map_3-Sprints-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions-Map_3-Sprints.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
<h2>Counties can facilitate housing supply at the right place, type, and price</h2>
Over the course of the Counties for Housing Solutions Sprints, county staff and elected officials learned how to facilitate and nurture the right type of housing in the right places at the right price to improve economic growth and shape the future of their communities. While <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/counties-for-housing-solutions-building-a-path-to-affordable-housing/">Sprint 1</a> and <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/unlocking-economic-development-in-counties-across-america/">Sprint 2</a> focused on the full development process for counties, Sprint 3 was focused on zoning for affordable housing. By the end of Sprint 3, counties walked away with tangible next steps, including model ordinance language, strategies for modernizing zoning codes, and tools to evaluate how existing regulations are shaping local housing supply.
[alert type="info']<a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/resources/guide-for-developing-housing-on-county-owned-land/">Read the Guide for Developing Affordable Housing on County-Owned Lands here.</a>[/alert]
Each participating county explored how these zoning strategies could be applied locally and began developing approaches tailored to their own housing challenges. The participating counties in Sprint 3 are: San Joaquin County, California; St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana; Taos County, New Mexico; Big Horn County, Montana; Miami-Dade County, Florida; Montgomery County, Maryland; and Greenbrier County, West Virginia. and Rice County, Minnesota. Each county walked away with a development strategy tailored to its local housing challenges, identifying practical solutions and outlining how these approaches can be deployed using the tools and resources counties already control.
Sprint 3 drilled down on zoning interventions that can support affordable housing:
<ul>
<li>What are the rules? Introduction to zoning for housing and economic property: Exploring how zoning shapes housing markets and affordability</li>
<li>Overcoming roadblocks: Qualitative tools to understand zoning barriers and identify reform opportunities: Discussing qualitative approaches to understanding the barriers to housing.</li>
<li>Measuring zoning’s impact on housing supply: How to quantitatively analyze zoning’s constraints on housing supply: Exploring where and how quantitative analysis can identify where zoning constrains housing development.</li>
<li>First mover advantage: How to streamline permitting to fast-track housing development: Cohort members learned how to accelerate housing development by eliminating and reducing permitting complexity while aligning zoning tools with practical delivery strategies.</li>
<li>Putting it all together: from concept to adoption: Cohort members discussed the practical realities of relying on in-house staff vs. hiring consultants to modernize their zoning for housing</li>
<li>Create real impact via long-term planning: Design and deploy systems to measure the impacts of zoning reforms on housing supply</li>
</ul>
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<h2>
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions_Sprint-3.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-113363 aligncenter" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions_Sprint-3-1024x512.png" alt="" width="1024" height="512" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions_Sprint-3-1024x512.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions_Sprint-3-300x150.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions_Sprint-3-768x384.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions_Sprint-3-1536x768.png 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Counties-for-Housing-Solutions_Sprint-3.png 1999w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a></h2>
<h2>Key themes from Sprint 3</h2>
Housing is often overlooked in favor of flashier economic development strategies. But communities cannot focus only on job growth and job retention. Housing must be treated as a core economic development activity. Ensuring the right type of housing in the right places helps retain workers, attract jobs, and keep dollars circulating locally.
Throughout the sprint discussions, several themes consistently emerged from county leaders and housing experts.
<ul>
<li>Counties wield serious leverage when it comes to attracting development, especially when they use county-owned land to slash upfront land costs and tip the scales on feasibility.</li>
<li>Form-based codes are the closest thing we have to an affordable housing silver bullet, since they unlock underused parcels and set clear, predictable rules that still leave room for creativity and scale.</li>
<li>Infill development paired with equitable procurement that backs small and local builders is a cheat code for meeting housing demand without sprawling outward.</li>
<li>Zoning for infrastructure is a power move: it can lure growth where you want it and shut it down where the land needs protection.</li>
<li>Planned unit developments can advance affordable housing, but only if you negotiate hard and tread carefully.</li>
<li>And here’s the quiet truth: telling the story of your wins is the unsung hero of zoning reform and housing production. If you don’t control the narrative, someone else will</li>
</ul>
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The Counties for Housing Solutions program is designed to support counties in understanding how they can influence housing development. With the right strategies, counties can align zoning, land policy, and economic development to unlock housing and support local economic growth. Expanding this work to more counties across the country could play a meaningful role in addressing the nation’s housing shortage.
&nbsp;

Counties for Housing Solutions

County

Counties for Housing Solutions: How zoning reform can unlock housing and economic development

Technical assistance

Michigan State Legislature

With most states in the midst of their 2026 legislative sessions, housing and zoning are taking center stage for policymakers across the country. Building on momentum from <a href="https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2025/09/15/state-legislatures-make-bipartisan-breakthroughs-on-policies-that-promote-housing">previous years</a>, much of this year’s state-level zoning legislation focuses on eliminating overly restrictive zoning regulations to build more housing of various types in better-connected locations.
<figure id="attachment_113358" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-113358" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Town-Homes_Charlotte_via-Axios.webp"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-113358" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Town-Homes_Charlotte_via-Axios-300x169.webp" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Town-Homes_Charlotte_via-Axios-300x169.webp 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Town-Homes_Charlotte_via-Axios-1024x576.webp 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Town-Homes_Charlotte_via-Axios-768x432.webp 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Town-Homes_Charlotte_via-Axios-1536x864.webp 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Town-Homes_Charlotte_via-Axios.webp 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-113358" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Credit: Axios</figcaption></figure>
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While each state is different, they are all feeling the effects of a national housing shortage of<a href="https://www.zillow.com/research/housing-deficit-35317/"> 4.7 million homes</a>, which has had <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/economy/the-state-of-housing-in-america">widespread impacts</a> on households and economies. Many states have targeted restrictive zoning regulations to boost housing development and begin addressing this shortage.
Zoning regulations, which are typically handled by individual town, city, and county governments, have increasingly come under scrutiny in state legislatures as the impacts of the housing crisis worsen. In catalyzing housing production across larger areas, state-level reforms can more efficiently address housing shortages than reforms in individual localities. State legislatures, which govern larger populations and areas, may also have a clearer understanding of the cumulative impacts of local zoning regulations on households and the economy. And depending on the legal relationship between the state and local governments (Dillon or Home Rule), the state can simply step into the process to make changes at the local level.
Although it’s too early in most legislative sessions this year to know which bills will become law, proposed legislation shows where state legislators’ priorities are. As in previous years, many bills focus on supporting a range of housing types and prioritizing well-connected locations, tackling housing shortages from multiple directions. At Smart Growth America, we see interventions <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/resources/the-smart-growth-approach-more-homes-in-the-right-places-at-the-right-price/">targeting housing type, place, and price</a> as the most important opportunities to increase housing supply and support a wider range of homes in the communities people actually want to live in, ensuring they are better connected to jobs, services, and other daily needs.
<h2>Bills to permit more housing types</h2>
Much of this year’s state legislative action focuses on undoing restrictions that limit the types of housing that can be built. In many communities, local zoning regulations limit housing in residentially zoned areas to detached single-family homes on large lots. This type of housing takes up a lot of space, making it harder to build enough housing to meet demand.
Allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in these single-family-only areas is one way to unlock more housing, gently increasing density with smaller (and thus cheaper) homes. With an ADU, homeowners can provide housing to family or friends or earn extra income by renting the unit. This year, Georgia’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1166/2025">HB 1166</a>, Florida’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/FL/bill/S0048/2026">SB 48</a>, Michigan’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/MI/bill/HB5585/2025">HB 5585</a>, and Idaho’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/ID/bill/S1277/2026">SB 1277</a> would undo bans on ADUs, building off the success of states like California, where ADUs represent <a href="https://ahcd.assembly.ca.gov/system/files/2025-03/adu-handbook-update.pdf">more than 20%</a> of housing permits (based on 2023 data).
Some state legislative proposals this year also focus on promoting the development of missing middle housing, which includes townhomes, duplexes, cottage clusters, and other attached single-family or small multi-family buildings. Pennsylvania’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/PA/bill/HB2185/2025">HB 2185</a>, Michigan’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/MI/bill/HB5584/2025">HB 5584</a>, and Idaho’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/ID/bill/S1280/2026">SB 1280</a> would allow missing middle housing types in some single-family-only areas. These bills would be only the most recent in a string of state-level missing middle reforms, beginning with <a href="https://www.sightline.org/2025/06/04/oregons-zoning-reforms-are-working-but-they-need-some-upgrades/">Oregon’s</a> in 2019.
To address restrictive development standards, Idaho’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/ID/bill/S1279/2026">SB 1279</a>, Colorado’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/CO/bill/HB1114/2026">HB 1114</a>, Michigan’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/MI/bill/HB5530/2025">HB 5530</a>, and Virginia’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/VA/bill/HB1212/2026">HB 1212</a> would establish limits on lot size, lot coverage, setback, and other design requirements, making it easier to build smaller homes on smaller lots. Florida’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/FL/bill/S0948/2026">SB 948</a>, Connecticut’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/CT/bill/SB00151/2026">SB 151</a>, and Maryland’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/MD/bill/SB36/2026">SB 36</a> would pair missing middle and design-requirement reforms, more broadly unlocking housing supply.
<figure id="attachment_113357" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-113357" style="width: 993px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/AP-PhotoAl-Goldis.webp"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-113357" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/AP-PhotoAl-Goldis.webp" alt="An image of the Michigan State Legislature" width="993" height="659" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/AP-PhotoAl-Goldis.webp 993w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/AP-PhotoAl-Goldis-300x199.webp 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/AP-PhotoAl-Goldis-768x510.webp 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 993px) 100vw, 993px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-113357" class="wp-caption-text">Michigan State Legislature. Photo Credit: AP Photo / Al Goldis</figcaption></figure>
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<h2>Bills to allow more housing in the right places</h2>
Many zoning codes are use-based, separating residential neighborhoods from businesses and offices, often with the expectation that people can and will drive between them. Some of this year’s proposed bills instead focus on pairing housing with jobs, businesses, and amenities, including public transit, while reducing or eliminating parking requirements. Integrating residential and commercial uses will naturally create communities where amenities and jobs are close to housing, as was the case in many U.S. communities built before the advent of modern zoning. In addition to providing more housing, these policies would have the added benefit of increasing foot traffic for businesses and giving people more options for getting around.
Florida’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/FL/text/S1342/id/3370369">SB 1342</a>, Maryland’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/MD/bill/SB389/2026">SB 389</a>, and Illinois’ <a href="https://legiscan.com/IL/bill/SB3212/2025">SB 3212</a> would promote housing development near public transportation infrastructure, leveraging public investments in transit and giving people more choices in how they get around. These follow the successes of similar efforts in <a href="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/multi-family-zoning-requirement-for-mbta-communities">Massachusetts</a>, and, more recently, <a href="https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/next-stop-for-washington-housing-more-construction-near-transit/">Washington</a> and <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/with-sb-79-california-makes-transit-oriented-development-law/">California</a>.
Maryland’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/MD/bill/SB829/2026">SB 829</a>, Virginia’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/VA/bill/HB816/2026">HB 816</a>, and Washington’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/WA/bill/SB6026/2025">SB 6026</a> would allow mixed-use development, bringing together housing and businesses like restaurants and grocery stores. These reforms can increase housing production (by opening up areas zoned for commercial uses to housing) and make it easier for people to access jobs and businesses by walking, biking, or taking transit.
Virginia’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/VA/bill/HB888/2026">HB 888</a>, Pennsylvania’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/PA/bill/HB2155/2025">HB 2155</a>, and Michigan’s <a href="https://legiscan.com/MI/bill/HB5582/2025">HB 5582</a> all focus on parking minimums. Most local zoning codes require a certain, often arbitrary, number of parking units per home, which makes it difficult to build smaller homes on smaller lots, since parking would take up too much space. It also increases costs to build missing middle or large multifamily housing, where parking would need to either be in a large lot, a garage, or underground. These bills would limit these parking minimums, making it easier to build these types of housing in areas where less parking is needed, and more people get around by walking, biking, or taking transit.
Although these bills are still just proposals, it’s clear that across the country, states see zoning reform as an important avenue for addressing the housing crisis and helping more people afford housing that suits their needs. Smart Growth America advocates for many of the <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/regulatory-reform-solutions-for-type-place-price/">zoning reforms</a> that these bills employ, with the goal of unlocking <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/resources/the-smart-growth-approach-more-homes-in-the-right-places-at-the-right-price/">more housing of various types and in the right places</a>.

ADUs

Housing Location

housing type

Missing Middle Housing

State Law

zoning

Zoning Reform

On zoning and housing, states continue to take charge

impact columbus 2

Through ZEST, Smart Growth America is equipping community leaders across the country with the tools to turn complex land-use policy into real health and equity outcomes. Here are key takeaways from our inaugural cohort and what they mean for advancing zoning reform locally.
Zoning is often treated as a technical exercise—a set of regulations that govern height limits, use tables, and parking requirements. In reality, zoning functions as a public health framework. It shapes community exposure to clean air, access to affordable housing, the design of well-connected, walkable neighborhoods, proximity to safe and reliable public transit, and access to job opportunities.
Smart Growth America’s <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/services/grants/zoning-for-equitable-solutions-and-thriving-communities-zest/">Zoning for Equitable Solutions and Thriving Communities (ZEST)</a> program centers this connection. The inaugural cohort of this program brought together community-based organizations from across the country to strengthen their capacity to advance local health outcomes through land use and zoning reform.
<h2>The 2025-26 Cohort</h2>
Smart Growth America brought together 19 community-based organizations (CBOs) from across the country. From rural North and South Carolinas, to the industrial legacy cities of Buffalo and Baltimore, and from suburban-majority pockets outside the Virginia state capital of Richmond, to major metropolises of Chicago, Los Angeles, and Houston, each CBO represented places across the United States facing distinct land use challenges but united by a shared goal: advancing healthier, more equitable communities through policy change.
<h2>What ZEST provided</h2>
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/impact-columbus-2-1.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-113312" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/impact-columbus-2-1-1024x410.png" alt="" width="1024" height="410" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/impact-columbus-2-1-1024x410.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/impact-columbus-2-1-300x120.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/impact-columbus-2-1-768x307.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/impact-columbus-2-1.png 1500w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Over a period of six months, SGA developed and delivered tailored technical assistance to translate complex land-use systems into practical advocacy tools. While each organization had unique goals, the support generally fell into three core categories: policy analysis, data and visualization, and education and advocacy tools.
<ol>
<li>Technical zoning and policy analysis 
SGA developed ordinance reviews, policy briefs, and issue-specific memos exploring topics such as industrial land use and environmental health, equitable transit-oriented development, anti-displacement strategies, food access, and the reuse of FEMA buyout properties. In some communities, this included targeted zoning code reviews to identify regulatory barriers; in others, it involved peer-city case studies and model policy examples to inform reform efforts.</li>
<li>Data, Mapping, and Quantitative Research 
Several organizations received spatial analyses, socioeconomic data summaries, and visual mapping tools to strengthen their advocacy efforts. This work included minimum parking requirement cost modeling, StoryMap-style regional analyses, FEMA parcel assessments, and statistical studies linking zoning patterns to housing availability.</li>
<li>Education, Communication, and Advocacy Tools 
Beyond analysis, SGA prioritized building long-term local capacity. Deliverables included train-the-trainer toolkits, community-facing summaries, plain-language zoning explainers, qualitative interview findings, storytelling resources, and advocacy roadmaps. These materials strengthen organizational efforts to translate technical findings into accessible, actionable messaging tailored to their communities.</li>
</ol>
<h2>Sharing lessons and learning across communities</h2>
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20251120-DSC_2517.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-113308" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20251120-DSC_2517-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="682" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20251120-DSC_2517-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20251120-DSC_2517-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20251120-DSC_2517-768x512.jpg 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20251120-DSC_2517-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20251120-DSC_2517.jpg 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
<h3>Virtual Peer Learning:</h3>
In October 2025, SGA convened all 19 ZEST organizations for a virtual peer learning session focused on local advocacy planning. The session created space for participants to connect, share lived experiences from zoning reform efforts, and workshop the best path forward to move ideas into action. Despite representing diverse geographies and challenges, participants identified a shared truth: effective advocacy depends on thoughtful, audience-specific communication. 
Breakout discussions emphasized that language choices shape outcomes. Overuse of jargon can create confusion rather than credibility, and successful messaging requires clear problem statements that resonate across audiences. Participants highlighted the importance of connecting policy to lived experience, focusing on outcomes rather than technical mechanics, and ending every message with a specific, actionable ask.
<h3>In-Person Convening:</h3>
Over two days in November 2025, 16 ZEST community-based organizations gathered in Baltimore to exchange ideas, share challenges, and deepen their understanding of how zoning decisions shape health, opportunity, and quality of life.
The convening highlighted the many entry points for connecting land use and health equity—from public health frameworks and lived-experience storytelling to arts-driven engagement and collaborative workshops.
<a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/zoning-for-health-equity-turning-insights-into-action/">Read the full convening recap here. </a>
<h2>Key Takeaways</h2>
<ol>
<li>Zoning functions as a public health tool. 
Land-use policy shapes housing stability, exposure to pollution, climate resilience, transportation costs, and access to opportunity. When communities reframe zoning reform as a public health strategy, they elevate it from a technical exercise to a priority for community well-being.</li>
<li>Advancing health equity—and zoning reform—requires a range of strategies. 
Land-use decisions impact health outcomes through industrial siting, parking mandates, school boundaries, housing policy, and much more. No single strategy will work everywhere, but communities can selectively combine and tailor multiple approaches that fit their unique histories, conditions, and political realities. </li>
<li>Technical literacy and clear communication drive advocacy power. 
When community-based organizations understand zoning language and processes, they move from uncertainty to action. Ordinance reviews, spatial analysis, and strong data visualization translate complex regulations into practical reform strategies. But knowledge alone is not enough; advocates must also communicate clearly and effectively. By tailoring messages to specific audiences and using storytelling, visuals, and accessible language, organizations can make zoning reform understandable and actionable.</li>
<li>Community knowledge and local leadership drive lasting change. 
Zoning codes shape daily life; the people most affected by land-use decisions must define the problems and guide the solutions. As federal support fluctuates, community-based organizations and local governments lead the charge. Lasting reform begins locally, where leaders understand lived realities and act with urgency.</li>
<li>Coalitions strengthen systems change. 
Exclusionary zoning and health inequities stem from interconnected systems. Cross-sector partnerships—spanning public health, housing, environmental justice, faith communities, and regional advocacy—generate the momentum needed to shift those systems.</li>
</ol>

Health Equity

ZEST

Connecting health and land use: Reflections from the inaugural ZEST cohort

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Smart Growth America has been selected to lead a cohort of four cities in a Delaware State Housing Authority program to modernize municipal zoning and land-use policies aimed at increasing the supply of affordable housing.
<a href="https://www.destatehousing.com/planning-assistance/">The Zoning and Land Use Reform Pilot Program</a>, created through the passage of Delaware Senate Joint Resolution 8 (SJR8), will enable nine jurisdictions to receive free technical assistance from three planning consultants, with the goals of encouraging a greater variety of housing types, promoting compact, mixed-use development, and addressing housing affordability challenges. Smart Growth America was selected as one of three planning consultants to support participating jurisdictions through this competitive pilot program.
Through this program, Smart Growth America will support Bridgeville, Georgetown, Milford, and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in advancing pre-selected targeted zoning solutions, including expanding missing middle and ADUs, enabling compact, higher-density housing, reducing regulatory barriers such as excessive parking requirements, and creating tools to support affordable and workforce housing.
“At Smart Growth America, we know that outdated zoning rules too often stand between communities and the prosperity they’re working to build for everyone who lives there,” said Toccarra Nicole Thomas, Assistant Vice President of Housing and Development at Smart Growth America. “We’re excited to partner with communities across Delaware to help expand housing options and strengthen local economies by modernizing zoning to meet today’s needs. We applaud the Delaware State Housing Authority and state leaders for advancing this effort, and we can’t wait to get started.”
This work builds on Smart Growth America’s Center for Zoning Solutions' efforts to remove regulatory barriers to more housing in the right places at the right price and to support communities in aligning zoning with today’s housing needs.
To learn more, visit: <a href="https://www.destatehousing.com/planning-assistance/">https://www.destatehousing.com/planning-assistance/ </a>

Delaware

Technical Assistance

Smart Growth America selected to advance zoning reform in four Delaware communities

Bethel, AK

As global temperatures rise, we must change how we approach planning and building transportation infrastructure. Typhoon Halong displaced over a thousand Alaskans last fall, a devastating piece of a much bigger picture of how climate change is affecting the northernmost state. What happens in Alaska poses questions for us all to consider as we adapt our transportation approaches to our changing climate.
Over a thousand Alaskans across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta were displaced by storm remnants from Typhoon Halong in <a href="https://www.kyuk.org/public-safety/2025-11-15/what-we-know-about-recovery-a-month-after-ex-typhoon-halong">October 2025</a>. Some communities were nearly entirely evacuated to Anchorage, Bethel, and nearby villages. The storm caused severe damage to homes, businesses, and essential infrastructure, on top of the existing threats climate change brings to these coastal tundra areas. People lost their homes, the places they grew up, and even their histories, such as the <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-storm-battered-western-alaska-scattering-thousands-of-indigenous-artifacts-across-the-sand-180987606/">Yup’ik artifacts</a> in Quinhagak that washed to sea. Many communities now face the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/12/15/nx-s1-5596136/alaska-storm-native-climate-change">impossible choice</a> between returning and rebuilding their village or relocating it entirely. There is no easy answer here.
Smart Growth America visited Bethel, Anchorage, and three other Alaskan cities in 2024, helping local residents, tribal councils, and the state envision a transportation system that works for everyone, regardless of the size of their community or how they travel. Complete Streets, the approach to building and maintaining safe streets for people of all ages and abilities, can be applied to communities of all sizes and climates, even in the coldest parts of the country. We were met with amazing kindness and hospitality across Alaska, including from the Association of Village Council Presidents staff, who showed us around the villages between Bethel and Napakiak. Everyone we worked with brought great creativity in imagining how to improve mobility and access in their communities. What we saw was not just an extraordinarily wide range of transportation needs, from snow machines and the <a href="https://www.kyuk.org/public-safety/2025-02-06/reestablished-kuskokwim-ice-road-brings-lots-of-traffic-to-lower-river">Kuskokwim Ice Road</a> in the winter to pedestrian boardwalks and four-wheelers in the summer, but the urgent need to future-proof how we move for the changing climate.
Most of Alaska is <a href="https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=ecosystems.permafrost">permafrost</a>, soil that is frozen year-round a few inches to a few feet below the surface. As global temperatures rise, the permafrost is <a href="https://www.thearcticinstitute.org/permafrost-thaw-warming-world-arctic-institute-permafrost-series-fall-winter-2020/">thawing</a>, causing structural instability for all sorts of infrastructure, enormous disruption to existing cultures and habitats, and the release of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/permafrost-climate-change-research-alberta-9.7025747">yet unknown</a> amounts of additional carbon. We saw <a href="https://dot.alaska.gov/stwddes/research/assets/pdf/erdc-crrel-tr-14-1.pdf">thermosyphons</a> along Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway in Bethel, which reduce the damage from the thawing permafrost by using the cold air temperature to keep the ground frozen and stable. Though effective, this technology and other strategies to fight permafrost thaw cannot entirely prevent the soil from shifting. How can infrastructure be maintained when the ground is buckling underneath us?
During our conversations with Bethel leaders, the Association of Village Council Presidents, and the state, the need for improved data and tracking technology emerged as one of the Y-K Delta’s urgent safety priorities. Data on transportation safety, particularly pedestrian fatality data, need <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/how-pedestrian-crash-data-needs-to-change/">improvement</a> across the U.S. The impacts of <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/data-suggest-a-decrease-in-roadway-deaths-but-big-questions-remain/">federal cuts</a> to both agency budgets and staff on the reliability of pedestrian data are yet to be seen. In Bethel, we heard a clear need for sonar for offshore search-and-rescue, crash, and fall data from villages and trails, and for all of this information to be incorporated into the state database for use in funding decisions. As storm severity increases and as weather is increasingly unpredictable, how can we prioritize data to paint a full and accurate picture of these impacts?
Bethel is the regional hub for the Y-K Delta. The airport serves large flights to Anchorage and numerous small connections to villages across the Delta. If someone from a village in the region needs to travel to the Lower 48 or go to the hospital, they’ll travel to Bethel. In an emergency, or during an evacuation like the one conducted after the devastation of the typhoon remnants, people must go to Bethel. Our work directly faced the question of what it looks like to design roads for people in crisis—if you’re at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital for a family emergency, the last thing you want to worry about is how to safely navigate the roads. Now imagine that crisis scaled up: what would it look like for our transportation system to support our own climate refugees?
We are <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/digest/1.5-goal-threshold-research">on track to exceed</a> the 1.5 degrees C warming limit that countries around the world agreed to in the Paris Climate Agreement to help avoid the worst impacts of climate change. We cannot give up on the work to curb our emissions, even as we know the impacts of these extreme weather events are going to continue to get worse. Planning for a changing climate is <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/housing-for-havens-report/">what we do</a>—and what we must do urgently—with Alaska showing us what the future has in store.
We can’t keep designing our roads for the past, re-using car-centric tools <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/resources/driving-down-emissions/">we know don’t work</a>. Complete Streets and community-centered transportation planning are key to designing our built environment for the changing climate. Smart Growth America will continue working with communities of all sizes and geographies to face these difficult questions and to find the answers together.
Learn more about support for Alaskan communities from the <a href="https://www.avcp.org/western-alaska-disaster-relief-resources-for-evacuees/">Association of Village Council Presidents</a> and the <a href="https://alaskacf.org/western-alaska-relief">Alaska Community Foundation</a>.

Alaska

Climate Change

federal funding

Transportation for a changing climate: Questions from Alaska

Aerial view of a bus in the bus lane - Cleveland, Ohio

High-quality transit is essential to making Complete Streets work, expanding access, and giving people real options beyond driving. Building the communities we want will require decisive leadership and sustained investment in transit, safer streets, and transportation choices that connect people to everyday destinations.
The type of communities we want to immerse ourselves in do not happen by accident. A connected sidewalk network requires dedicated funding. Housing near schools, jobs, and other key destinations is likely the result of updating a zoning code. Activating spaces for people to come together to create memories may mean relaxing some permitting restrictions. A state-of-the-art transit system will require the same overhaul of how we fund, plan for, and regulate it. Without this commitment to transit, the communities we want to live in and those the <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/programs-and-coalitions/national-complete-streets-coalition/">National Complete Streets Coalition</a> works so hard to create will never be fully realized.
<figure id="attachment_85790" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-85790" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit-2.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-85790" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit-2-300x200.png" alt="A t-bound rail car in Phoenix, Arizona reaches a stop by a sidewalk filled with people walking and biking" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit-2-300x200.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit-2-1024x682.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit-2-768x512.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit-2-1536x1023.png 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jared-Murray-Arizona-transit-2.png 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-85790" class="wp-caption-text">Credit: Jared Murray (Unsplash)</figcaption></figure>
Transit is a key part of a successful Complete Streets strategy in communities of all sizes. It can increase the distance someone is able to travel without a vehicle, turning a too-long walk or bike ride into a manageable trip. It can also provide a non-driving option for those who are unable to drive or choose not to. One of the most common concerns we hear about implementing Complete Streets is “but the traffic!” Despite the fact that research regularly shows that adding elements such as bike lanes or dedicated pedestrian crossings does not significantly increase travel time, change is hard. But regular and reliable transit can provide alternatives to driving, reducing the number of vehicles on roads and creating opportunities to reprioritize public space for people. Whether it’s a fully fledged bus network in a major city or consistent on-demand transit in a small town, transit should be integrated into any implementation of Complete Streets.
A new report from Transportation for America, <a href="https://t4america.org/resource/world-class-transit/">World-Class American Transit</a>, explores just what would be needed to make this kind of transit a reality. In the report overview, T4America describes the “moonshot” needed to achieve a comparable level of transit service in the United States to what’s already enjoyed in so many global cities. While the price tag is hefty ($4.6 trillion across all levels of government over a twenty-year timeline), the report clearly demonstrates that this is an investment in the future of our country and how we achieve our vision for a new chapter in transportation. It’s also an investment in Complete Streets, allowing places to reinvest and reprioritize funds that might otherwise have been devoted to highways. This report challenges the status quo, as the National Complete Streets Coalition regularly does through its own programming, research, and advocacy.
Safe, healthy, and active places do not happen without dedicated investment and commitment to a vision. In the same way that communities need to continuously commit and recommit to Complete Streets through revised policies, improved project prioritization, and stronger accountability measures, communities across the country need to take this moment to think about how they might recommit to transit. We need the federal government, alongside local and state-level transportation leaders, to make the serious investment called for in the new World-Class American Transit report to help us achieve the Complete Streets vision.
[alert type="info"]
<h3>World-Class American Transit</h3>
Transportation for America's new report, World-Class American Transit, details the level of investment needed to create world-class transit service in each of the 452 U.S. urbanized areas with populations over 50,000. These communities are home to more than 230 million people, representing nearly 65 percent of the U.S. population. [button type="primary" size="lg" link="https://t4america.org/resource/world-class-transit/"] Read the report [/button][/alert]
&nbsp;

Transit

The communities we want won’t happen without world-class transit

Little Rock, AR Street Painting

We love supporting quick-build demonstration projects, but it’s not every day we get to install one ourselves! With the guidance of <a href="https://www.betterblock.org/">Better Block</a>, the SGA team and this year’s Community Connectors participants got to try our hands at rolling out the tape, pouring the paint, and getting our hands dirty while reimagining a street in Little Rock, AR.
This iteration of <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-center/three-communities-selected-to-learn-about-and-design-quick-build-demonstration-projects/&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1770917191778600&amp;usg=AOvVaw1qWCK1CAOG2bSKTdIm_IUm">Community Connectors</a> is supporting three teams to repair dangerous and divisive arterial roads with quick-build demonstration projects. One of the many low-cost strategies teams can use to improve safety and make a street more reflective of the surrounding community is to install asphalt art. This beautiful and fun approach to traffic calming has many well-documented benefits, but if you haven’t tried painting a road before, you may not know where to start. To gain some hands-on experience and make progress towards their own demonstration project designs, five members of each Community Connectors team joined us for a two-day workshop hosted by Little Rock, one of this year’s teams.
<figure id="attachment_109723" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-109723" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image4.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-109723" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image4-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image4-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image4-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image4.jpg 1999w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-109723" class="wp-caption-text">Photo Courtesy of Better Block</figcaption></figure>
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Dreamland Ballroom on West 9th Street is a historic performance venue, graced by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Today, the Ballroom stands out as one of the few remaining buildings on W 9th St that has withstood the area’s devastation from urban renewal and the construction of I-630 through the heart of this historic Black Main Street. Little Rock’s Community Connectors team’s project is focused on this district, with the Ballroom at one end of the corridor and the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center at the other. The Little Rock team and the owners of the Ballroom graciously hosted the Akron, OH, and Historic East Towson, MD, teams for the two-day workshop in January, providing a perfect venue for our activities.
<a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image1.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-109720" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image1-1024x683.png" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image1-1024x683.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image1-300x200.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image1-768x512.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/image1.png 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Before any of our flights landed in Little Rock, the Better Block team designed a short-term mural for our cohort to install on the portion of West 9th Street right outside Dreamland Ballroom. We had two goals for this mural: to serve as part of the Little Rock project overall and to build some new skills and confidence in the Community Connectors cohort as they design their own longer-term demonstration projects.
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Motifs from the Ballroom stage were used as the design for the geometric mural, bringing the history of the building to everyone who passed by the street. Better Block sorted out permitting with the city (a relatively easy process, as Public Works often permits murals), procured the necessary materials, and coordinated the road closure for the time it would take to install the mural. When the temperature unexpectedly dropped the day of the workshop, the team knew paint would take longer than normal to dry. They quickly reached out to the city to extend the road closure for an extra day to give the paint time to set. With the additional 24 hours secured, Better Block was confident the mural would be ready in time, even with the cold weather. The ease of this process showed the city’s familiarity with permitting murals, provided a good model for city staff from other teams attending the workshop, and demonstrated the creativity required of those leading a mural.
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While SGA, Stantec, and the Community Connectors program participants conducted a walk audit of the W 9th St corridor, Better Block taped the outlines for most of the mural, leaving the last few details for the group to practice. One group of participants even got to set up the complicated crosswalk design—which was a lot more detailed than the rest of the mural—and the results were fantastic.
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Typically, volunteers would be tasked only with painting after the design was fully outlined. At this workshop, installing the tape and observing how Better Block organized all of the logistics of installation built enormous confidence in these three teams, perhaps encouraging them to more readily add similar components to their own demonstration projects. Teaching the process, not the outcome, is central to our approach with Community Connectors, and the workshop is the best example of our ethos in action.
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It took us the remainder of the afternoon to paint the street. Many hands make light work, and time flies when you’re having fun—all that is true. More than anything, getting to use our hands and make a change to the street together was such a fun, unique experience. For people whose work focuses on the built environment, most of our days are still spent at a desk. Getting to do something immediately and tangibly rewarding was invigorating and really made this workshop memorable for everyone.
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he next morning, the paint was completely dry. Between practicing collecting data with traffic counts and a radar gun, and before digging into project design work, we finished the mural with the most fun step of all: peeling up the tape. The carefully-placed outlines came up with a satisfying ssssshhhhhhhkkkkkkk and revealed a beautiful, well-defined geometric design. With the pop-up mural officially complete, a quick game of tape-ball soccer commenced, and our accomplishments set the tone for the rest of the workshop. In addition to gaining new experience conducting a walk audit and a solid draft of their demonstration project designs, we all went home from the Community Connectors workshop with new skills we’re ready to put to use…and a bit of paint on our shoes.
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Arkansas

Community Connectors

quick build

SGA technical assistance

Quick builds in action: Testing safer streets with Community Connectors in Little Rock, AR

Real_Leadership

The National Complete Streets Coalition is excited to announce new leadership on our Steering Committee at a critical moment for the movement. Peter Quintanilla of Michael Baker International has been elected chair, alongside new Steering Committee members BikeWalkKC and Living Streets Alliance.
The <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/programs-and-coalitions/national-complete-streets-coalition/">National Complete Streets Coalition (NCSC)</a> works to uplift best practices and equip champions to help end traffic violence and create communities where all people have safe, accessible, and convenient ways to get where they need and want to go. For over 20 years, NCSC has been the leading voice on Complete Streets across the United States, creating resources, building capacity, and advancing the narrative of what transportation can and should be. The Coalition’s Steering Committee provides important insight and guidance to staff and advances Complete Streets in their own work. In 2026, the Coalition is pleased to welcome two new members to join its Steering Committee: BikeWalkKC and Living Streets Alliance.
The Coalition has also elected a new chair to lead the group. Peter Quintanilla, Vice President, Design Hub at Michael Baker International, began serving as chair in January 2026.
"I am delighted to assume the role of Chair of the National Complete Streets Coalition. By building on the remarkable efforts of my predecessors and working alongside the talented team at Smart Growth America, I am committed to advancing our mission of creating safe and vibrant streets that enhance our neighborhoods." - Peter Quintanilla, Vice President, Michael Baker International
<figure id="attachment_109684" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-109684" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Real_Leadership.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-109684 size-large" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Real_Leadership-1024x768.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Real_Leadership-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Real_Leadership-300x225.jpg 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Real_Leadership-768x576.jpg 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Real_Leadership.jpg 1500w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-109684" class="wp-caption-text">New NCSC chair, Peter Quintanilla, at the Champions Institute convening</figcaption></figure>
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It is vitally important that the Coalition’s Steering Committee is equipped to meet the current challenges facing the Complete Streets movement. In the past year, we have seen repeated attacks by the federal government on Complete Streets and what they stand for. We have heard from advocates, practitioners, and local elected officials about the increasing difficulty of implementing the proven changes they know are needed to create safer streets. 
"As we look toward the future of Complete Streets, the Coalition’s Steering Committee will play an important role in shaping what comes next. These leaders bring passion, commitment, and innovation, along with on-the-ground experience that shows what’s possible when communities design streets to prioritize safety and access. I’m so excited to work with Peter and our new Steering Committee members as we continue to grow and strengthen the Complete Streets movement." - Heidi Simon, Director of Thriving Communities, Smart Growth America
These new members were selected specifically help strengthen our advocacy, programming, and resources to meet this challenging time. BikeWalkKC and Living Streets Alliance work directly on the ground, bringing an important community perspective and diversifying the geographic representation of the Coalition’s Steering Committee. The new leadership will be an important part of the work in 2026 as the Coalition works with a new cohort of local Champions, redefines what constitutes a Complete Streets policy, and produces its latest iteration of our signature report, <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/signature-reports/dangerous-by-design/">Dangerous by Design</a>.
<h2>About the new members:</h2>
<a href="https://bikewalkkc.org/">BikeWalkKC</a> is the mobility advocacy organization serving the bi-state Greater Kansas City, MO/KS region. They are working to build a community where residents are not required to drive to thrive, through policy, education, urban planning, and community-building.
<a href="https://www.livingstreetsalliance.org/">Living Streets Alliance</a> is a Tucson-based nonprofit dedicated to transforming streets into vibrant public places that bring people together while providing safe, accessible, and attractive transportation options. Working at the intersection of social justice, climate resilience, public health, and community development, we use streets as a catalyst to advance a more just, sustainable, and connected city.
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The National Complete Streets Coalition welcomes a new chair and two new members

Late night view as pedestrians walk along the illuminated main street of downtown Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, with illuminated trees at Christmas time.

Are Complete Streets good for local businesses and economies? 
At Smart Growth America, we believe that <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/programs-and-coalitions/national-complete-streets-coalition/">Complete Streets</a> can deliver many important benefits for communities, including growing local economies from increased transportation choices. We're developing a brand new report that highlights real-world examples of places where local economies and businesses are thriving because people can easily walk, bike, or roll there in addition to driving.
We need your help identifying those examples!
Do you know of a place—big or small, urban or rural, a downtown, main street, or even a single corridor—where Complete Streets have helped local businesses or strengthened the local economy? We’re interested in examples where changes have led to things like increased foot traffic, new or growing businesses, stronger main street activity, or positive feedback from business owners or community leaders. Hard data is welcome, but firsthand observations and local stories are just as valuable.
If you have an example to share, please tell us about it by completing the short survey below. Your input will help shape a national report that makes the economic case for Complete Streets and supports communities working to build safer, more prosperous places.
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Small business

Know a place where Complete Streets helped local businesses thrive? Tell us about it.

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Recent data indicate a decline in roadway and pedestrian fatalities, but that progress is now at risk as federal actions cast doubt on the very safety tools that are helping save lives.
Last fall, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration <a href="https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813756">released its traffic fatality estimates for the first half of 2025</a>. Especially notable was the 8.2 percent decrease in roadway fatalities for the first half of 2025 compared to the first half of 2024. Alongside the 4.3 percent decrease in pedestrian fatalities in 2024, <a href="https://www.ghsa.org/news/us-pedestrian-deaths-fall-second-straight-year">as reported by the Governors Highway Safety Association</a>, Smart Growth America is cautiously optimistic about the continued trend toward fewer fatalities on our streets.
Any reduction in deaths on our roadways matters, and it reflects real effort and investment by states and cities working to respond to an acute public safety crisis. But if we focus only on the percent decrease, we’re missing the whole story. This decrease in pedestrian fatalities gets us closer to where we were in 2019, before the start of the pandemic. So while it is important to celebrate progress, we also need to stay clear-eyed about how dangerous our roadways have become over the last 40 years, and just how far we have to go. Without understanding what’s driving our progress and investing in the tools that made it possible, this progress is far more precarious than the headlines suggest.
Lurking behind these real signs of progress is the fear that momentum around addressing pedestrian safety could come to a shrieking halt with the recent actions by the federal government. Even as the federal government reports on its progress on safety, it's troubling and confounding that it is making it increasingly difficult to deploy the very interventions contributing to this success. They have put a bullseye on proven safety tactics such as road diets, protected bike lanes, and improved visibility for crosswalks (<a href="https://highways.dot.gov/safety/proven-safety-countermeasures">all countermeasures approved by their own FHWA</a>), leaving local governments wondering whether they will be penalized for including these strategies in federal grant applications and how to fund them if the federal government walks back its support.
Additionally, USDOT’s <a href="https://t4america.org/2025/07/09/no-safety-and-no-speed-the-trump-administration-is-implementing-funds-for-safety-grants-to-towns-and-cities-at-about-ten-percent-of-the-speed-of-the-previous-administration/">delay and obstruction in providing awarded funds</a> from programs such as Safe Streets and Roads for All is not only holding up more street design interventions that could save lives but also setting back the narrative around traffic safety by decades. This comes at a time when the mainstream media is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/interactive/2025/pedestrian-deaths-road-safety-solutions/?itid=ap_ian-duncan_article-list_1_4">shining a light</a> on how local interventions can be done separately or in combination to achieve safety goals on even the most dangerous corridors, like Central Ave in Albuquerque, NM. It feels like just as the public conversation is catching up to what works, federal action is moving us in the opposite direction.
The federal government should be celebrating such a dramatic decrease in roadway fatalities. Instead, it’s <a href="https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/nhtsa-reports-sharp-drop-traffic-fatalities-first-half-2025">buried in a standard press release</a>, and one has to wonder whether it’s because the efforts contributing to this success don't align with the current administration. If the government truly wanted to see continued progress in chipping away at the devastating trend of pedestrian fatalities, it would fund proven street design interventions and support communities to deploy the solutions they know are needed instead of casting doubt on proven safety countermeasures. It would be using its resources to continue digging into how we’re making the progress we’re seeing, rather than dismantling existing research efforts. Instead, current USDOT leadership seems more intent on standing in the way of the local efforts by passionate champions and crossing their fingers that technology solutions like automated vehicles will one day save us.
In the absence of federal leadership, Smart Growth America continues to fill the gap by highlighting the places making the biggest improvements and pushing for the programs, funding, and policies that support the changes we know work to slow cars, improve visibility, and provide connected networks for active transportation.
Our report, <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/signature-reports/dangerous-by-design/">Dangerous by Design</a>, points to the causes of the country’s pedestrian safety crisis and the solutions we need more of. Far too many communities are reckoning with streets that are designed to prioritize vehicle speed and convenience over the safety and accessibility of people walking, biking, and taking transit. In places where communities are taking action to redesign streets to support how people actually move and travel, they are seeing the results of these hard-fought changes. Take, for example, the recent news out of Milwaukee showing its <a href="https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2025/09/26/new-speed-data-shows-dramatic-impact-of-milwaukees-traffic-calming-efforts/#google_vignette">27 percent reduction in speeding and 15 percent reduction in crashes</a> after deploying traffic calming projects. Even notoriously unsafe places <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/new-video-walking-in-one-of-the-deadliest-states-in-america/">like Florida</a> are starting to address pedestrian safety when given the resources and space to implement high-visibility crosswalks, protected bike lanes, and lane reductions. <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a6eb04fbce584c6793346df8ce19d941">Orlando’s recent 40 percent drop in deadly and serious injury crashes</a> over four years shows what can happen when pedestrian safety stops being a talking point and starts being a measurable project outcome. Cities of all sizes need to be able to make the changes they know need to happen to save lives and not face unnecessary obstacles from state or federal agencies far removed from where deaths are taking place.
While we wish the federal government would play a more constructive role, SGA will continue to support local and state practitioners as they navigate the ever-changing political landscape to secure funding, redesign streets, and shift the transportation narrative to prioritize safety over speed. That uncertainty is exactly why understanding what’s behind these numbers matters so much right now. That’s why we’re preparing to release an updated Dangerous by Design later this year, where we will dive into the recent safety improvements and what’s at risk if proven safety tactics continue to be sidelined.

Dangerous by Design

Data

Data suggest a decrease in roadway deaths, but big questions remain

Transportation

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