Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Smart Growth

Why Isn’t Smart-Growth Pioneer Gina McCarthy Running the EPA Yet?

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 14, 2013 | 2 Comments

It’s been six months since Lisa Jackson announced she was stepping down as chief of the Environmental Protection Agency, but there’s still no replacement. President Obama nominated Gina McCarthy to be Jackson’s successor in early March, and the Senate EPW Committee confirmed the nomination almost a month ago – albeit by a party-line vote of […]

Placemaking to Make Friends: The Case of Cleveland’s East 4th Street

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 6, 2013 | 2 Comments

Ari Maron had no friends. When he moved back to Cleveland after college, all his friends had moved away. “They’d all gone to New York and Chicago and San Francisco,” he said. “And none of them lived in cul-de-sacs. None of them drove SUVs. They all lived in mixed-use buildings, they were all connected to […]

William Fulton on Why Smart Growth Pays and Sprawl Decays

By Angie Schmitt | May 23, 2013 | 2 Comments

Earlier this week, Smart Growth America released an important study that illustrates how walkable development results in huge savings and significantly better returns for municipalities compared to car-centric development. The analysis of 17 case studies found that walkable, mixed-use development produces 10 times more local tax revenue per acre than sprawl. In addition, SGA found […]

Taxes Too High? Try Building Walkable, Mixed-Use Development

By Angie Schmitt | May 21, 2013 | 12 Comments

Smart growth could increase Fresno’s tax revenue by 45 percent per acre. In Champaign, Illinois, it could save 23 percent per year on city services. Study after study has demonstrated: Walkable, mixed-use development is a much better deal for municipalities than car-oriented suburban development. Smart Growth America recently conducted an analysis of research examining the impact […]

Study: Walkable Infill Development a Goldmine for City Governments

By Angie Schmitt | May 8, 2013 | 10 Comments

A study out of Nashville by Smart Growth America provides more evidence that building walkable development in existing communities is best for a city’s bottom line. SGA recently examined three different developments in the Music City. One was a large-lot, traditional suburban-style development called Bradford Hills built on greenfield site. Another was a “new urban”-style, mixed-use, walkable development […]

Mayor Mark Mallory on How Smart Growth Helped Turn Cincinnati Around

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 11, 2013 | 7 Comments

About seven years ago, when Mayor Mark Mallory came on the scene, Cincinnati was at a low point. To convince the crowd at the New Partners for Smart Growth conference in Kansas City last week of the gravity of the situation, Mallory started off with a story about livestock. A little before Mallory was elected, a cow escaped […]

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