Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Sustainable Communities

What Has President Obama Done to Improve American Transportation Policy?

By Tanya Snyder | Nov 2, 2012 | 8 Comments

With the election just days away, it’s a good time to reflect on what the Obama administration has done with transportation policy – and what a Romney administration might have in store. Streetsblog does not endorse candidates. This is an overview of their respective records and a look back at what we know of these […]

Why Congress Can’t Kill the Partnership for Sustainable Communities

By Tanya Snyder | Jul 19, 2012 | 4 Comments

Let’s say you worked for a city that was trying to revitalize a piece of land with a bunch of dilapidated buildings on it. You want to build some residences and some retail space, and you want to make better connections to the street grid. Congratulations – HUD and U.S. DOT both have money to […]

A New Bill Passes, But America’s Transpo Policy Stays Stuck in 20th Century

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 29, 2012 | 11 Comments

The House of Representatives approved the transportation bill conference report this afternoon by a vote of 373 to 52. [UPDATE 4:00 PM: The Senate has also approved the bill, 74-19.] This is a bill that’s been called “a death blow to mass transit” by the Amalgamated Transit Union, “a step backwards for America’s transportation system” […]

House Appropriators Leave TIGER, HSR Out of Next Year’s Budget

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 6, 2012 | 5 Comments

It’s always confusing when, in the middle of endless bicameral hand-wringing about transportation spending, the House Appropriations Committee puts out a budget for transportation without much ado. That’s what they did today. The Transportation and HUD Subcommittee will vote tomorrow on its draft budget, released today, in preparation to send it to the full Appropriations Committee. The […]

Will Greater Cleveland Squander Its Chance to Be Competitive Again?

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 1, 2012 | 5 Comments

Population density in metro Cleveland, 1940 – 2007 The Obama Administration’s Sustainable Communities Initiative was tailor made for communities like greater Cleveland. Northeast Ohio has been sprawling for decades without adding any population, emptying out the notoriously troubled central city while the regional economy consistently under-performs. During the last decade the city of Cleveland lost […]