Transit-Oriented Development
Streetsblog Basics
$100 Million for HUD Sustainability Program Survives in This Year’s Budget
With multiple versions of two years' worth of federal budgets flying around, some details are still emerging about what's in and what's out. At the end of last week we heard that the FY2011 budget, which has been sent to the president for his signature, includes $100 million for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities. According to HUD Sustainable Communities Director Shelley Poticha, the partnership was allocated $70 million for regional planning grants ($17.5 million is slated for regions with populations of less than 500,000) and $30 million for Community Challenge planning grants.
April 18, 2011
HUD Grant Will Lay the Groundwork for TOD in New York and Connecticut
From Suffolk County to New Haven, the communities of New York and Connecticut are planting the seeds for a serious investment in transit-oriented development in the years ahead. Funded by a $3.5 million grant from HUD's Sustainable Communities program, nine cities, two counties and six regional planning organizations have come together to develop regional plans for tying sustainable transportation and new development. Those plans are the first steps toward an impressive array of projects across the region, from new rail stations to new zoning codes around existing transit hubs.
April 15, 2011
Twin Cities Rein in Highway Expansions, Tame Runaway Transpo Spending
The Twin Cities region is reassessing the role of highways in its transportation system.
January 12, 2011
Despite New York’s Huge Transit Ridership, Albany Failing On Green Transpo
New York State might be home to more transit riders than any other state, but when it comes to the transportation policies on the books, we don't look quite so green.
December 14, 2010
If Climate Experts Wrote New York Transportation Policy…
As Andrew Cuomo transitions into the governorship, David Paterson just handed him a parting gift: a comprehensive blueprint for how the state can tackle its greenhouse gas emissions. The plan, which has been in development since a Paterson executive order in August 2009, goes into spectacular detail about how the state might reach the ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels over the next forty years.
November 11, 2010
Avoiding the Unintended Consequences of Transit-Oriented Development
We see it over and over again in our cities. Migration out of central cities hollows out neighborhoods and leaves the people who remain struggling with the consequences of disinvestment. But when development returns to urban areas, the arrival of new residents can impose burdens on people who never left. Often, as amenities come into an area and crime goes down, property values rise and poorer residents can no longer afford to live there.
October 25, 2010
U.S. DOT Unveils Full List of TIGER II Winners
The complete list of TIGER II grants has been released by U.S. DOT today, after members of Congress revealed many winners last week. In keeping with the department's livability goals, the list is filled with transit projects (especially streetcar lines), efforts to bolster the country's non-trucking freight network, and fix-it-first projects aimed at deteriorating roads and bridges.
October 20, 2010
HUD Announces Winners of $100M in Sustainability Grants
Planners in 45 regions in 27 states have a little more to work with in their efforts to shape sustainable growth.
October 15, 2010
Will GOP Senators Acknowledge the Fiscal Sense of Livable Communities?
Last week, the Livable Communities Act cleared the Senate Banking Committee, a milestone for legislation that would fund local efforts to plan for growth while curbing sprawl. But the 12-10 party line vote raised the prospect that the bill might also encounter unified Republican opposition in the full Senate, where the threat of a filibuster has become the norm.
August 10, 2010