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At Smart Growth America, our various programs and coalitions work collaboratively to shape communities where people thrive. Through research, advocacy, and hands-on support, our network of advocates, decision-makers, and field experts work together to advance policies and practices that help communities become more healthy, prosperous, and resilient.

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The National Complete Streets Coalition is the go-to collective for human-centered urban design, making streets safe and accessible for everyone.

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The Center for Zoning Solutions is reimagining zoning laws to make the dream community a reality, one code at a time.

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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.

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

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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>
<div class="wp-block-spacer" style="height: 20px;" aria-hidden="true"> </div>
<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

Housing and Development

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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economic develoment

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

Safety

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

Transportation

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House Republicans and the team of Housing Financial Services Chair French Hill are pushing for the Housing for the 21st Century Act to a <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/02/02/congress/republicans-housing-bill-vote-00761249">floor vote the week of February 9th</a>. This ambitious legislative package includes twenty-five provisions to improve housing supply, including a number of pro-smart growth provisions that would remove red tape, ease environmental review for infill, and introduce a competitive grant program to support housing strategies and zoning reform. The bill and its Senate counterpart, the Road to Housing Act, offer the most notable federal legislative effort on housing in decades, reflecting the urgency of addressing the national housing shortage.
On December 11th, 2025, House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-AR) introduced the bipartisan <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6644">Housing for the 21st Century Act</a>. This package followed the Senate’s bipartisan <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48732">ROAD to Housing Act</a>, which <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/11/20/congress/french-hill-at-odds-with-warren-scott-waters-over-ndaa-provisions-00663438">was rejected</a> during consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act.
While the House bill is less comprehensive than the Senate’s proposal, the bill includes provisions and opportunities to advance smart growth housing policies. <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/the-tale-of-two-housing-bills-house-financial-services-introduces-new-comprehensive-housing-package-following-the-senates-passage-of-housing-bill-earlier-this-year/">For Smart Growth America’s analysis of both bills, see here.</a>
Congress’s current bipartisan approach to lowering housing costs largely focuses on supply-side constraints. While increasing supply is part of the equation, it’s not sufficient on its own. Beyond just building more housing, <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/the-smart-growth-approach-more-homes-in-the-right-places-at-the-right-price/">we need more homes in the right places at the right price</a>.
The Housing for the 21st Century Act includes several smart growth provisions that help move in that direction, including support for infill and missing middle housing and reduced regulatory barriers to housing production. Preserving these provisions in the final package is critical to ensuring that new housing actually supports accessible, affordable communities and gives households real choices about where they can live, work, and go to school.
As the House considers voting on Housing for the 21st Century, your representatives need to hear from constituents and organizations about the importance of taking a smart-growth approach to increasing housing supply. Our developers’ coalition, <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/programs-and-coalitions/locus/join-locus/">LOCUS</a>, is focused on bringing this approach to Capitol Hill.
<h2>Take action: Use the form below to contact your representative and urge them to support the Housing for the 21st Century Act and protect its smart growth provisions.</h2>
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congress

Housing for the 21st Century Act

Tell Congress to support smart growth in the Housing for the 21st Century Act

General

Snow at curb cuts

After the recent winter storm, DC prioritized plowing roads for cars, while leaving sidewalks, curb ramps, and bus stops inaccessible. For me, and the many other DC residents who get around walking or rolling, the city remains essentially closed. It’s yet another example of how DC’s transportation decisions continue to prioritize cars over people.
I use a wheelchair, and it’s common for winter conditions create extra obstacles for me to navigate. But I’m not unrealistic; I did not expect the snow and ice from the recent storm would be cleared instantly or even overnight. But when I learned that the streets near my home had been plowed, I was excited to get out after being stuck at home for three days. However, when I left my apartment and got to the corner, I realized my journey was over before it even started. While the streets were relatively clear for cars, there were mounds of snow on top of curb ramps, and sidewalks were only inconsistently cleared. I was left with serious concerns that even if I was able to cross this street, the next intersection could be even worse. Some pedestrians were carefully climbing over mounds of ice and snow, but it was not possible—forget about being safe—for me to proceed.
<figure id="attachment_109596" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-109596" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Snowy-DC.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-109596" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Snowy-DC-1024x768.png" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Snowy-DC-1024x768.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Snowy-DC-300x225.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Snowy-DC-768x576.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Snowy-DC-1536x1153.png 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Snowy-DC.png 1999w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-109596" class="wp-caption-text">Two days after the snow and freezing rain ceased, M Street was clear for cars, but not for pedestrians. Snow and ice cover the ADA ramp and bike lane, creating an impassable barrier in the center. The metro (station visible in the picture) was operating at this time, but there was no way for me to reach it.</figcaption></figure>
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My neighborhood, Southwest Waterfront, is generally great for walking, rolling, and transit (that’s a big part of why I live here), so most of the trips my neighbors and I take are not in cars. But during the past week, the response to the snow has made it feel more like a car-dependent suburb than a bustling city neighborhood.
I couldn’t make it beyond my block, so I can’t give a first-hand citywide perspective, but my colleagues assure me that the situation is no better in other parts of the city. Streets remain hazardous or impossible for people walking or rolling, days after the storm has passed.
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<figure style="max-width: 520px; margin: 0;"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Inaccessible-Curb-Cuts.png"> <img decoding="async" style="width: 100%; height: auto; display: block;" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Inaccessible-Curb-Cuts.png" /> </a><figcaption style="font-size: 14px; color: #555; margin-top: 6px;">Another street (shared by a colleague) that is essentially clear for cars, but obstructed for anyone else.</figcaption></figure>
<figure style="max-width: 520px; margin: 0;"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Snow-at-curb-cuts.png"> <img decoding="async" style="width: 100%; height: auto; display: block;" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Snow-at-curb-cuts.png" /> </a></figure>
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Like many parts of the country, DC has had some serious winter weather in the last week. Unfortunately, the city government’s response has once again demonstrated that when it comes to streets, cars are the priority. Last year, <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/bad-leadership-from-ddot-will-result-in-more-dangerous-streets/">I wrote an article</a> in response to statements by the DDOT director about who the streets of DC should prioritize. Unfortunately, the events of the last week have forced us at Smart Growth America to revisit this topic.
To deal with conditions like we’ve had over the past week, the city has a <a href="https://snow.dc.gov/page/about-snow-team">District Snow Team</a> that includes the Department of Public Works, the District Department of Transportation, and other agencies. I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, and there are <a href="https://51st.news/dc-storm-snow-removal-what-happened-plow-tracker/?ref=the-51st-newsletter">multiple factors involved, including the strength of the storm</a>, but from what we see out on the streets, we are unimpressed. After the snow and freezing rain stopped on Sunday, the city began deploying snow plows and other equipment to clear streets. However, while this cleared the way for some vehicle traffic, it did little for people outside of vehicles. In fact, in some cases, the plowing seems to have created additional obstacles like the crosswalk mounds seen in the pictures above. Our friends at Greater Greater Washington have also pointed out how bus stops are being blocked by “<a href="https://ggwash.org/view/102224/who-is-responsible-for-unburying-the-bus-stops">bus berms</a>,” and our team has seen people waiting for the bus out in the streets because the bus shelters are still snowed in. Regarding sidewalks, in DC, property owners are responsible for maintaining them, including snow removal. However, over the past week, the city announced that it is <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/dc-suspends-fines-for-not-removing-snow-from-sidewalks-shoveling-still-required">suspending fines for failure to comply.</a> This has contributed to the patchwork of sidewalk accessibility across the city.
Transportation cannot mean only driving, and any plans to reopen a city after a major weather event cannot focus on a form of transportation that only serves a portion of residents. One has to wonder about the motivation behind prioritizing vehicular traffic for further destinations, rather than close, community trips to schools, grocery stores, and other key destinations currently blocked for residents.
The failure to deal with the ice and snow and ensure safe mobility options for all residents is bad. But to make things even worse, we have been treated to messages warning people to stay off the streets.
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<figure style="max-width: 520px; margin: 0;"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DDOT2_Dont-Walk-in-the-Street.png"> <img decoding="async" style="width: 100%; height: auto; display: block;" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/DDOT2_Dont-Walk-in-the-Street.png" /> </a></figure>
<figure style="max-width: 520px; margin: 0;"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Reddit-post-DC-inaccessible-for-weelchair-user.png"> <img decoding="async" style="width: 100%; height: auto; display: block;" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Reddit-post-DC-inaccessible-for-weelchair-user.png" /> </a><figcaption style="font-size: 14px; color: #555; margin-top: 6px;">I’m also seeing other stories of people struggling around the city. This photo has been getting attention on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/washingtondc/comments/1qqo1so/dc_gov_is_a_travesty/?share_id=X9prrr1HPXkw3fHZtJdvS&amp;utm_content=2&amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;utm_name=ioscss&amp;utm_source=share&amp;utm_term=1">Reddit</a>.</figcaption></figure>
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SGA’s experience with transportation safety and walkability has taught us that people aren’t dumb. They will walk or move in the places and ways that are safest and most accessible for them. If folks are in the street, it is most likely because that is their only option. It is a symptom of decisions and practices from decision-makers at DPW, DDOT, and elsewhere. Rather than blaming pedestrians for trying to reach their destinations, the city should prioritize clearing the snow and ice for all people, no matter how they get around.
Like it or not, it snows in the winter. DC government departments and any aspiring mayoral candidates must learn from the mistakes of the last week and from other cities that are doing a better job. But the lessons should not apply just to extreme weather. The transportation and mobility needs of all residents and visitors must be addressed in a fair and efficient manner.

Accessibility

snow

DC’s streets are for cars…good luck, everyone else

Walk audit along Highway 99

Walk audits can reveal what traffic data alone often misses about how dangerous roadways shape people’s everyday lives. By creating space for residents to share their experiences in real time, walk audits help ground conversations about safety in what people actually encounter on the street. Along Eugene’s Highway 99 and River Road corridors, this approach brought community voices to the forefront.
A city’s streets should serve the people who live there, helping them safely reach essential destinations using the transportation options that work best for their lives. <a href="https://www.best-oregon.org/">Better Eugene–Springfield Transportation (BEST)</a> is a local non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for transportation choices, safe streets, and walkable neighborhoods. With the support of AARP and Smart Growth America team members Mehr Mukhtar, Chris Rall, and Dustin Robertson, BEST convened a community workshop to better understand current conditions and elevate community perspectives along two key Eugene corridors, Highway 99 and River Road.
Too often, planning processes begin with predefined solutions, leaving limited space for ideas shaped by the lived experiences of the people who use streets every day. Walk audits offer an opportunity to flip that script by creating space for learning, listening, and shared understanding. Approaches that center community voices, especially when City staff and decision-makers are present to witness conditions and hear directly from residents, help ground conversations about transportation improvements in real-world experience.
<figure id="attachment_109551" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-109551" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Walk-audit-along-Highway-99.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-109551" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Walk-audit-along-Highway-99-1024x768.png" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Walk-audit-along-Highway-99-1024x768.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Walk-audit-along-Highway-99-300x225.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Walk-audit-along-Highway-99-768x576.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Walk-audit-along-Highway-99-1536x1153.png 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Walk-audit-along-Highway-99.png 1999w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-109551" class="wp-caption-text">Walk audit along Highway 99</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Experiencing the corridors firsthand</h2>
The workshop brought together residents, advocates, local organizations, City of Eugene staff, and elected officials to experience Highway 99 and River Road firsthand and hear directly from the people who use these streets every day. A central component of the workshop was a series of <a href="https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/knowledge-hub/news/how-walk-audits-help-create-a-safer-built-environment/">walk audits</a> along Highway 99 and River Road, which took place at the outset of each session. On a characteristically rainy Oregon day, participants experienced the corridors together, often having to shout to be heard over vehicles speeding past. As pedestrians, we felt uncomfortable; the environment was noisy, and we were exposed to the rush of traffic. During the audit, one participant noticed a group of high school students huddled under a bus shelter to shield themselves from the rain. This observation sparked a discussion amongst city staff and neighborhood residents about the need for infrastructure that provides covering and seating for people waiting for transit.
These shared experiences helped ground the conversation in reality. Residents walked the corridors alongside City of Eugene staff, who play a key role in planning and implementing street improvements. Seeing street conditions firsthand shifted the conversation from abstract ideas to specific, tangible challenges for people walking, biking, or taking transit.
<figure id="attachment_109550" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-109550" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Mayor-Kaarin-Knudson-right-listens-during-the-Highway-99-workshop.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-109550" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Mayor-Kaarin-Knudson-right-listens-during-the-Highway-99-workshop-1024x768.png" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Mayor-Kaarin-Knudson-right-listens-during-the-Highway-99-workshop-1024x768.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Mayor-Kaarin-Knudson-right-listens-during-the-Highway-99-workshop-300x225.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Mayor-Kaarin-Knudson-right-listens-during-the-Highway-99-workshop-768x576.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Mayor-Kaarin-Knudson-right-listens-during-the-Highway-99-workshop-1536x1153.png 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Mayor-Kaarin-Knudson-right-listens-during-the-Highway-99-workshop.png 1999w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-109550" class="wp-caption-text">Mayor Kaarin Knudson (right) listens during the Highway 99 workshop</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Who was in the room, and why it mattered</h2>
An important aspect of the workshop was the participation of elected officials and local leaders. City council members and Mayor Kaarin Knudson were invited to take part not as speakers, but as participants alongside community members. They walked the corridors, joined small-group discussions, and listened directly to residents’ experiences.
This approach helped reinforce the workshop’s community-driven nature. By experiencing the same conditions and hearing the same conversations, decision-makers who can shape policies and funding were able to gain a deeper understanding of community concerns and priorities.
<h2>Community voices shaping the conversation</h2>
Following the walk audits, community town halls created space for reflection, dialogue, and collaborative brainstorming. Parents arrived with children in tow, seniors rolled in with their bicycles, and neighbors from across the community filled the room. The conversations were candid and often personal, shaped by concern and a shared desire to make the corridors safer. Participants talked through what they had just seen: unsafe crossings, speeding traffic, and inadequate placemaking, and shared how those conditions affect everyday trips. Importantly, this was not a process of reacting to predetermined recommendations for what improvements should be made along the corridors. Instead, community members helped define the issues and elevate priorities based on their experiences.
<figure id="attachment_109549" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-109549" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/BEST-director-Rob-Zako-addresses-River-Road-town-hall-participants.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-109549" src="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/BEST-director-Rob-Zako-addresses-River-Road-town-hall-participants-1024x768.png" alt="" width="1024" height="768" srcset="https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/BEST-director-Rob-Zako-addresses-River-Road-town-hall-participants-1024x768.png 1024w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/BEST-director-Rob-Zako-addresses-River-Road-town-hall-participants-300x225.png 300w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/BEST-director-Rob-Zako-addresses-River-Road-town-hall-participants-768x576.png 768w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/BEST-director-Rob-Zako-addresses-River-Road-town-hall-participants-1536x1153.png 1536w, https://wordpress.smartgrowthamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/BEST-director-Rob-Zako-addresses-River-Road-town-hall-participants.png 1999w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-109549" class="wp-caption-text">BEST director Rob Zako addresses River Road town hall participants</figcaption></figure>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
Workshops like this one are not an endpoint, but a foundation. The insights gathered along Highway 99 and River Road provide valuable context for future planning and policy conversations in Eugene. Continuing to build on this work will require sustained community engagement and ongoing collaboration among partners.
Organizations like BEST, along with their community partners and the City of Eugene, are well-positioned to continue this work of advancing safer streets, building on a strong ecosystem of partnerships and a shared understanding of community priorities.

On the ground in Eugene: Community-driven insights for better streets

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