News

Is sprawl on its way back?
Smart Growth America President and CEO Geoff Anderson was quoted in The New York Times regarding the return of suburban sprawl. Read More>>

Federal policy updates

Obama Administration proposes flood program improvements in line with Smart Growth America’s recommendations
Earlier this month, the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force released a report with 69 recommendations designed to make sure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and to help communities be resilient in the face of future storms. One of those recommendations was directed specifically at the National Flood Insurance Progam. Read more >>

DOT Announces Fifth Round of TIGER Grants
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced the fifth round of DOT’s Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants. The 2013 grants award a total of $474 million to 52 projects in 37 states, with 25 projects specifically for rural communities. A total of 568 applications were submitted for the grants, for projects in all 50 states, Washington DC, Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa. Read more >>

Other Federal Policy Updates:
Debt Ceiling
There are less than two weeks left before a potential government shutdown. September 30th marks the end of the fiscal year, when a new continuing resolution will be needed to extend government operations. For now, leaders of both parties are working on a temporary funding bill to avert government shutdowns to give them more time to figure out a deal for the full fiscal year.

Coalition Opportunities and Resources

Seeking Ideas for the Second Edition of the Innovative DOT Report
Last year, SGA partnered with the State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI) to publish “The Innovative DOT: A handbook of policy and practice,” which provides 31 recommendations transportation officials can use to grow economies and maximize the return on transportation investments. SGA and SSTI are now preparing the second edition of the handbook, and we need your advice on new material — new topics, new cases that illustrate existing topics, or both. If you know of any outdated or erroneous material in the first edition, we’d like to hear about that too. Please contact Rayla Bellis with your thoughts or questions by Sept 30.

1,000 Friends of Wisconsin: Commute Cost And Carbon Calculator
How much do you spend on commuting to work daily? Give yourself a huge raise by switching to transit and help the environment in the process! Calculate your savings and your emission reductions from using transit with our simple calculator. Read more >>

New Resource from the EPA: The Smart Location Database
The EPA is currently using a Smart Location Database in a nationwide research project to develop new tools and indicators of workplace location efficiency. Being able to evaluate workplace location efficiency is important for several reasons such as determining where to locate government offices and how to support smart growth initiatives across a variety of federal programs. Last week, the EPA released a new version of this database, Smart Location Database version 2.0, to provide a consistent nationwide GIS data resource for measuring location efficiency. It includes over 90 variables characterizing the built environment, transit service, destination accessibility, employment, and demographics at the census block group scale. Users can download data for their selected region, view data online in an interactive map, or access the data through a variety of web services. Learn more >>

Upcoming events

Houston Tomorrow: 2013 Catalyst Awards
September 26, 2013

To celebrate its 15th birthday, Houston Tomorrow is excited to announce the first annual Houston Tomorrow Catalyst Awards, to be held September 26, 2013, at the BioScience Research Collaborative. Registration will be announced soon and will be limited to 250 persons. Learn more >>

2013 CPEX Smart Growth Summit
November 18‒20, 2013

The 2013 Smart Growth Summit kicks off on Monday, November 18th in Baton Rouge, LA with a keynote event featuring Victor Dover, Principal with Dover, Kohl & Partners and Chair of the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU). East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden and U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu have also been invited to give addresses that evening. Tuesday, November 19th and Wednesday, November 20th will be packed with great presentations and engaging panel discussions featuring a distinguished group of local and national opinion leaders. Learn more and register >>

Massachusetts Smart Growth Conference
November 20, 2013

Join public, private and civic leaders at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on November 20th for Massachusetts’ premier sustainable development event. Participants will explore how smart growth can save public and private dollars, why segregated development patterns threaten our economy and what communities and regions can do about it, and what the next generation of smart growth policy and infrastructure will look like. Learn more and register >>

The 13th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference
February 13‒15, 2014

This year, the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference comes to the gateway to the Rocky Mountains – Denver, Colorado. The main program will kick off on Thursday morning, February 13th, and continue through Saturday afternoon. The schedule includes a dynamic mix of plenaries, breakouts, implementation workshops, specialized trainings, peer-to-peer learning opportunities, and coordinated networking activities. It will also feature exciting tours of local model projects in and around the greater Denver region. Learn more >>