News

In this issue:

• Cancelled: July Coalition Call
• SGA/Complete Streets report releases coming up in August
• Transportation for America holding workshops on federal transit financing this fall
• National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2012 Our Town Grant Recipients
• SSTI releases economic analysis guide and tool for transportation agencies
• Register for Pro Walk/Pro Bike 2012: Pro Place Conference Sept 10-13, 2012 in Long Beach, CA
• Submit Your Session Ideas for the National Brownfields Conference!

Cancelled: July Coalition Call

We will be canceling the coalition call this month. If you have questions, please contact Elisa Ortiz.

SGA/Complete Streets report releases coming up in August

Next month, Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition will be releasing two tools to support the development of good, accountable Complete Streets policies. Rather than presenting a single model policy, we have developed the Complete Streets Local Policy Workbook: a guide to writing city and county Complete Streets policies based on best practices from across the country. The Workbook is designed to help readers develop the right policy for their community by presenting information on each ideal element of a Complete Streets policy and asking questions to encourage the development of policy language that is specific to their community’s needs, vision, and goals.

The workbook is designed to be used in conjunction with the latest Complete Streets Policy Analysis report, which will be released simultaneously. The Policy Analysis report will help readers find many examples of well-written existing policy language, often in their own region or state. It scores all policies adopted through 2011 according to how well they meet the ‘ideal’ Complete Streets policy and highlights those agencies that have crafted the best policies to date.

These tools will be released during the week of August 13, 2012. Please stay tuned for more info and template release materials for you to use if you’d like to co-release with us.

Transportation for America holding workshops on federal transit financing this fall

With local sponsors, Transportation for America is holding workshops on federal transit financing in a post-earmark era, bringing together high level officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation, national transportation financing experts, and leaders from other regions with transit success stories. Workshops will be held in Dearborn, MI (August 15th), St. Petersburg, FL (September 19th), Seattle, WA (October 4th) and Nashville, TN (October 11th) and SGA coalition partners are encouraged to participate and extend invitations. Please contact Rochelle Carpenter with Transportation for America for more information via email or phone: 202-955-5543 x224.

National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2012 Our Town Grant Recipients

The National Endowment for the Arts announces 80 Our Town grant awards representing the NEA’s latest investment in creative placemaking, how cities and towns are using the arts to shape their social, physical, and economic characters. The grant awards total $4.995 million and reach 44 states and the District of Columbia.

Through Our Town, the NEA supports creative placemaking projects that help transform communities into lively, beautiful, and sustainable places with the arts at their core.  The grantee projects will improve quality of life, encourage creative activity, create community identity and a sense of place, and help revitalize local economies.  All Our Town grant awards were made to partnerships that consisted of a minimum of a not-for-profit organization and a local government entity. Click here for more information about the grants. 

SSTI releases economic analysis guide and tool for transportation agencies

Demand for more accountability in the use of scarce transportation funds is pushing DOTs toward new performance measures, both to evaluate systems as whole as well as proposed projects. One key area for such analysis is economic impact, but until now agencies had no accepted toolbox – nor often the needed data or expertise – for such work. A new guide developed for SSTI by the Center for Neighborhood Technology is designed to assist DOTs as they improve their capacity for economic analysis. Click here for the report. 

Register for Pro Walk/Pro Bike 2012: Pro Place Conference Sept 10-13, 2012 in Long Beach, CA

It’s an exciting and challenging time for walking and bicycling advocates – more people than ever are demanding active transportation facilities and communities have responded by creating innovative solutions, from Bike Share systems, to parklets and street plazas, to protected bikeways. But with limited budgets and competing priorities, you need the skills, partners, and strategies to make your local efforts successful.  Join more than 1,000 planners, engineers, health professionals, and advocates who will convene in Long Beach, California, September 10-13, 2012 for the 17^th Pro Walk/Pro Bike conference. By attending North America’s premier walking and bicycling conference, you’ll gain the insights of national experts in the field, learn about practical solutions to getting bike and pedestrian infrastructure built, and meet peers from across the country. Click here to Register! 

Submit Your Session Ideas for the National Brownfields Conference!

The National Brownfields Conference, co-sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), is the largest conference in the nation that focuses on environmental revitalization and economic redevelopment. Now in its 15th year, the event attracts over 5,000 attendees and 200 exhibitors for two and a half days of educational sessions, plenary sessions, training workshops, walking tours, volunteer activities, mobile workshops, film screenings and more! Brownfields 2013 will take place on May 15-17, 2013 in Atlanta, GA.

How Do I Submit a Session Idea?

The Call for Ideas is open on the official Brownfields 2013 website. Use the online submission tool to propose a full session idea for Brownfields 2013. The Call for Ideas closes on August, 3, 2012.

What Topics Are Included in the Program?

The Brownfields 2013 Planning Committee is particularly interested in topics related to:

• Technical Assistance
• Financing Redevelopment Opportunities
• Real Estate and Development
• Planning for a Better Environment
• Community Engagement
• Redevelopment & Revitalization
• Liability and Enforcement
• Data, Research and Public Health

For more information please contact Grant Sparks, 202-962-3657.