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A new bill in Congress is great news for America's neighborhoods

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Yards Park in Washington, DC was built on the site of a former brownfield. Photo via Flickr.

Cleaning up contaminated land benefits the environment and the economy, and a new bill introduced today in Congress would make it easier for towns and cities to do just that.

Senators Lautenberg (D-NJ), Inhofe (R-OK), Crapo (R-ID) and Udall (D-NM) introduced today the Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development (BUILD) Act of 2013. If passed, the bill will help communities across the country clean up contaminated and abandoned land and put it back into productive use.

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LOCUS Steering Committee gathers in Washington to decide policy priorities for coming year

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Each year, the Steering Committee of LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors gathers in Washington to discuss and set the program’s federal policy agenda.

When LOCUS was formed in 2008, its Steering Committee consisted of a handful of committed real estate developers who believed the voice of the smart growth development community was missing from policy discussions in Washington. In a testament to how the program has grown since that time, our 2013 Winter Steering Committee meeting featured nearly 30 leading real estate developers and investors from across the country including our newest members, Rod Lawrence of The JBG Companies, and Jair Lynch of Jair Lynch Development Partners, both leading developers of walkable development in the DC metro area.

LOCUS

Smart Growth Stories: Teton County Commissioner Kathy Rinaldi on development strategies for long term prosperity

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In the 1990s and 2000s, Teton County, ID was exploding. Its population growth was the 12th fastest in the entire country, and new home growth was the 6th fastest.

“We saw a palatable change in 10 years,” said Teton County Commissioner Kathy Rinaldi, a member of Smart Growth America’s Local Leaders Council. “At one point we had 89 subdivisions in the approval process. It was complete insanity. And it was very quick, it was very slipshod. [Only] half the subdivisions were built out, some were never even started.”

Then, in the late 2000s, the national real estate bust brought development in Teton County to a grinding halt. Almost 7,000 subdivision lots were left vacant, and the construction industry – once the leading job sector in the county – was crippled. Runaway real estate speculation and a lack of development strategy both contributed to the bust.

Local Leaders Council

Spotlight on Sustainability: HUD grant promotes common vision in Jefferson's backyard

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Charlottesville, VA’s downtown transit center. Photo courtesy of Flickr user kai.bates.

Albemarle County, Virginia has a rich mix of landscapes, institutions, and historic sites. Along with the many farms that lie within its borders, Albemarle is also the home to the City of Charlottesville, the University of Virginia, and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. To preserve the significant history of the region, the county and City of Charlottesville are now working to strategically plan for future growth and development.

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SGA statement on the nomination of Gina McCarthy for EPA Administrator

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Smart Growth America President and CEO Geoffrey Anderson released the following statement after President Obama’s nomination of Gina McCarthy to fill the role of Environmental Protection Agency administrator: “Gina McCarthy’s nomination comes at a time when the country is looking for ways to address key environmental issues while also not impeding a still-rebounding economy. If … Continued

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Washington Update: Sequestration in effect, FY13 funding update

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Sequester was triggered on March 1st, 2013 and with it brings $85 billion in automatic, across-the-board spending cuts. As a result of sequester, federal agencies must makes cuts of about 9 percent for non-defnse programs and about 13 percent for defense programs. These cuts must be achieved over the remaining seven months of the fiscal year. Agencies have not yet announced the specific cuts to programs they will make as a result of sequestration.

On March 27th, the continuing resolution (CR), that Congress passed last September to fund the federal government for the first six months of the fiscal year, expires. Both chambers are now working on spending packages to carry the federal government through the rest of FY 2013.

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Boulder, CO targets carbon reduction through transportation at smart growth strategy workshop

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The Boulder Civic Area is a visionary “community driven” project to rethink and evolve the downtown’s most expansive public space. Image via Bouldercolorado.gov on Flickr.

Boulder, CO officials and local residents will meet with representatives from Smart Growth America on March 4 and 5, 2013 as part of a free, grant-funded technical assistance program. The workshops aim to find innovative travel and mobility strategies that will give Boulder the tools to achieve the next level of the city’s ambitious carbon-reduction goals.

Boulder residents are invited to join the workshops first day for an open house on the city’s 2013 Transportation Master Plan Update (from 4:30 to 6 p.m.) and a presentation by Smart Growth America (from 6 to 8 p.m.). The event will be held Monday, March 4, 2013 at the Hotel Boulderado Conference Center, 2115 13th Street, Boulder, CO.

Technical assistance

Buena Vista Charter Township looks to address long-term fiscal and economic goals during smart growth strategy workshop

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A rendering of streetscape plans for Buena Vista Township. Image via MLive.com.

Smart Growth America will meet with residents and leaders of Buena Vista, MI next week to help identify new strategies that could attract business investments and stabilize neighborhoods in the township.

Buena Vista Township residents are invited to join the workshop’s first day for a public presentation on March 5, 2013 from 6-8 PM at the Buena Vista Community Center, 1940 South Outer Drive, Saginaw, Michigan.

Technical assistance

Join LOCUS in Seattle next month at ULI's annual housing conference

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The Urban Land Institute (ULI)’s annual housing conference brings together housing professionals from across the country to discuss current challenges and opportunities for supporting a full spectrum of housing choices in cities and suburbs increasingly challenged by the new economy.

Joining the discussion at this year’s conference is LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors. LOCUS Managing Director Christopher Coes and Steering Committee member John Hempelmann, of Seattle-based business law firm Cairncross & Hempelmann, will join a panel discussion at the conference about federal involvement in real estate and how it might be reformed.

Local Leaders Council LOCUS
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