Should an apartment, townhouse, or condo automatically be considered affordable – no matter the cost or rent? That would be crazy, right?

A New Jersey State Senator has introduced a bill that would do exactly that, letting cities and towns off the hook for producing desperately needed affordable housing units if they merely have a lot of multi-unit buildings.

Legislation introduced by State Senator Raymond Lesniak (and passed out of committee today) would have devastating consequences for the state – limiting the supply of housing that lower-income residents can afford, undermining affordable housing laws, encouraging more sprawl, and setting back regional equity gains made in past years.

Under the legislation, towns in which at least 33 percent of the overall housing stock is made up of multi-unit buildings – apartments, townhouses, or condominiums – regardless of their cost, will be designated as “inclusionary” (i.e., affordable) and exempted from providing new affordable units. If a town doesn’t meet this significantly relaxed standard, it will be required to change its zoning so that land is set aside or prioritized for residential development, with only minimal affordability requirements – and zero requirements for providing that housing near jobs or transit options.

This would mean that 50 percent of New Jersey’s cities and towns – almost 300 in total – would no longer be obligated to provide any affordable housing. It would also mean that low-income families would be cut off from opportunities to live in transit-accessible neighborhoods, which are more likely to contain the required percentage of multi-family housing units, forcing them out to areas far from jobs and driving up their costs for housing plus transportation. (Truthfully, a much better measurement of housing affordability.)

Advocates from New Jersey’s affordable housing, environmental, smart growth, and equity communities have all vehemently opposed the bill. Sierra Club of New Jersey’s executive director Jeff Tittle pointed out that Governor Corzine’s luxury condo in Hoboken would be considered affordable housing under the legislation, Kevin Walsh of the Fair Share Housing Center called it “the policy equivalent of throwing a dart at a dart board”, and the NJ NAACP filed a formal ethics complaint against the bill’s sponsors, who legally represent 40 of the cities and towns this bill would impact as paid legal counsel.

Lesniak’s proposal, which he describes as a market driven approach to affordable housing, was scheduled for a committee vote today, where it passed unanimously. Advocates are hopeful that the glaringly obvious flaws in this legislation will halt its progress, and that they’ll be able to work with New Jersey lawmakers to find rational ways to provide homes that people can afford throughout the region.

A full vote by the State Senate is scheduled for March 22.

Divorcing the measurement of affordability from the actual cost and tying it merely to “type” of housing makes little sense – and will do nothing to satisfy the need for housing near jobs and transit that low-income New Jersey residents can afford.

The Chesapeake Bay, one of our country’s most precious natural resources and one of its most troubled, is suffering in a new way these days. Agriculture was once its biggest problem; improperly treated waste from farmland contaminated the rivers that lead into the estuary. As farmers have gotten smarter and more diligent about their role in contaminating the waterways, a new problem has emerged: development.

The population within the watershed’s region has exploded. About 17 million people live in the Chesapeake Bay region, more than double what it was in the 1950s. As people move to the Chesapeake Bay, development increases, and most of it is decentralized, auto-centric sprawl that results in more roads, parking lots, and rooftops, as forests and wetlands shrink.

When it rains, the water has nowhere to go. The natural habitat that used to filter out pollution has disappeared, replaced by impervious surfaces, and rain rolls right off the parking lots and roads, bringing all the pollutants into the streams, creeks, and rivers that feed into the Chesapeake Bay. Between 1990 and 2000, the amount of land covered in such impervious surfaces increased nearly 41 percent. The population only grew 8 percent in that time. Stormwater runoff is considered the fastest-growing source of pollution for the Bay.

The same problem is happening elsewhere all over the United States. The EPA, which has traditionally regulated things like sewers and factories, has taken note: stormwater runoff changes the physical and chemical nature of streams and waterways, and nationally stormwater is doing the most damage to our watersystems. According to a 2000 National Water Quality Inventory from EPA, stormwater significantly contributes to impaired water quality nationwide – “13% of impaired rivers and streams, 18% of impaired lakes, 55% of impaired ocean shorelines, and 32% of impaired estuaries.”

Now the real question is: how do you preserve the integrity of our natural acquatic environment, which is facing real and troubling disturbances due to the effects of human development, without stopping the healthy, smart, necessary redevelopment?

One answer could be for government to incentivize and encourage the use of more “green infrastructure,” which is really just a fancy way of talking about the green roofs, permeable sidewalk pavers, and other innovative uses of natural materials in our built environment to make more natural water filtration possible.

There’s a bill in Congress right now that would do that, so send a message to your representatives today and tell them to support this important bill.

Save the Bay, Save the Sound, Save the Lake — fill in the blank with the waterway nearest you.

Instead of adding massively expensive new sewer capacity, Americans need a smarter way to filter stormwater. We need “green infrastructure,” the proven method by which we filter water naturally through the soil, trees, green roofs, or rain gardens. Beyond cleaning up our water supply, green infrastructure saves us money, improves public health and air quality, provides green jobs - even increases land value.

Tell your Representative to support green infrastructure now!

Get more information on the bill and what it would do from our partners at NRDC.

The economic downturn changed the landscape of communities across the country — creating growing numbers of abandoned homes, shuttered auto manufacturing plants, and vacant land parcels. Distressed and economically disadvantaged areas have been hit worst of all, and more communities than ever are in desperate need of revitalization planning, clean-up for contaminated land, and help dealing with abandoned property.

For that reason, Smart Growth America and other revitalization advocates applauded President Obama’s FY2011 budget for the EPA brownfields program today, which demonstrated a keen awareness of the desperate need in cities across the country to clean up vacant properties and reclaim polluted industrial sites as community assets. The Obama Administration’s proposed $40 million dollar increase for the program is aimed specifically at funding pilot projects that will give disadvantaged communities the resources to create holistic brownfield redevelopment plans.

Those plans will help link the cleanup of individual sites to broader community goals: creating jobs, promoting equitable development, and inspiring private investment, all while protecting human health and the environment. In a statement, Smart Growth America President Geoff Anderson said there was no better time than the present to fund this work to clean up brownfields and restore them to productive assets for communities:

“This is the perfect time to clean up brownfields. Brownfields have a longer lead time before they are development-ready, and investing now will mean that we’ll have more sites ready to accommodate growth in a responsible and sustainable fashion when the real estate market is ready to grow again,” he said.

—

In case any doubt remains, let me remove it. The fortunes of our country will rise and fall with the fates of our cities and metropolitan areas. For the first time in history, more people worldwide live in cities than anywhere else. In the United States, our largest 100 metropolitan areas house a staggering 65 percent of our population.

Numbers from the Brookings Institution make it clear that how we govern and grow our cities and metro areas will determine our success or failure. Those same 100 largest metro areas — including metropolitan Atlanta — produce 75 percent of our nation’s GDP yet occupy just 12 percent of our country’s land area. Places where people congregate and concentrate are incredibly efficient generators of wealth, jobs and economic activity.

State leaders need to recognize that for the whole state to prosper, Georgia needs to ensure the health of its economic engines, large and small: Georgia cities (and their suburbs), towns and metro areas. Leaders need to help the bigger cities, yes, but they can’t stop there. Even in largely rural areas in central and southern Georgia, economic energy is also primarily focused around small towns and cities.

In many states however, these areas are neglected. Metros and cities are often generating more economic benefit for the state than they are receiving back in aid. And in many cases the aid they do get comes with a price. Rather than being able to make their own decisions about growth or transportation, city or metro regional leaders are at the mercy of state leaders as they decide where and how to spend scarce state and federal dollars.

In this difficult and changing economy, states that are allies and partners in helping cities prosper — creating a rising tide to lift all boats — will be the models of success.

State, regional and city leaders also need to look to the future and work together to capitalize on the changing trends in real estate and development to remain prosperous. Drive 20 miles out of Atlanta, and you’re likely to see at least a few subdivisions with streets, curbs, light posts — but no houses. Not only are we in a troubled economy, but signs point to numerous consumer preference and demographic shifts that are upending the twentieth century model of development: drive a little further out, bulldoze trees and build a new subdivision.

The newest buzzword is “walkability,” which serves as a really good shorthand for the kinds of livable, sustainable, enjoyable places with a high quality of life that people are demanding like never before. There is still demand for housing in the exurbs, but a growing number of people are looking to move to places where they can live in closer proximity to work and daily needs; places where they can walk, ride their bikes or take a train to get where they need to go.

There is plenty of evidence pointing to this shift, but one need look no further than this year’s edition of the trustworthy “Emerging Trends in Real Estate” report from the Urban Land Institute — where they offer advice on investing in real estate:

“Next-generation projects will orient to infill, urbanizing suburbs, and transit-oriented development. Smaller housing units-close to mass transit, work, and 24-hour amenities-gain favor over large houses on big lots at the suburban edge. People will continue to seek greater convenience and want to reduce energy expenses. Shorter commutes and smaller heating bills make up for higher infill real estate costs.”

One notable demographic group that is increasingly looking to live in places where walking is a convenient option is empty nesters and seniors. Georgia’s 65 and over population will grow 143% by 2030, with more than 2 million seniors living in Georgia by 2030. This is just one significant group driving this shift toward more walkable, convenient neighborhoods.

In some states, economic development and infrastructure dollars are spread across the state like peanut butter, ignoring where targeted investment can have the greatest impact. Those paying attention to the forces driving our economy know this won’t cut it in the 21st century. The opportunity is there for the State to give metropolitan areas — cities, towns and their suburbs — the tools and funding they need to succeed, ensuring the continued success of the whole state.

The most recent data from states shows that every billion dollars spent on public transportation produced 19,299 job-months, compared to 10,493 job-months for every billion spent on highway infrastructure. Public transportation projects create more jobs than road projects because they spend less money on land and more on labor, and because projects are often more complex, whether laying track or manufacturing vehicles.

The data were released by the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on February 9, 2010 and analyzed by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Smart Growth America, and U.S. PIRG. The new data from the states add two months and several billion dollars to previously released data. The new data show public transportation’s job-production performance advantage widening.

“States have put more than $22.6 billion of transportation stimulus funds under contract,” said Geoff Anderson, President of Smart Growth America. “We’ve gotten a lot of vital projects for that money — and we’ve also learned a lot. Treasury Secretary Geithner just told Congress: “Our basic test should be: what’s going to add jobs?” At the stimulus’s one-year mark, we’ve learned that the answer is ‘more public transportation.’”

New data show public transportation’s job-production performance advantage widening

The number of jobs created or saved per billion stimulus dollars spent on transportation is rising over time for both public transportation and highways. The data shows public transportation creating, on average, 2,880 more job months per billion dollars than it had two months ago. Highway spending created 1,712 more job months per billion than two months ago. Thus, a billion dollars invested in public transportation produces 8,806 more job months than a billion dollars spent on highways. The difference is an increase from two months ago when the extra employment impact from investing in public transit was 7,638 more job months. The states are reporting updated job-creation numbers as they bring more projects under contract, and as the states correct earlier reports.

“Not only do public transportation investments create more jobs, more quickly than highways. We now see the advantage growing over time as the stimulus advances,” said Phineas Baxandall, Senior Analyst at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “If job creation was an Olympic event, public transportation would be laps ahead and gaining. At the one-year mark, it isn’t even close.”

Other recent data also confirm that ARRA investments in public transportation are superior job creators. Last month’s President’s Council of Economic Advisers Second Quarterly ARRA Economic Impact Report showed that public transportation was the top job generator among ARRA clean energy programs (http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/100113-economic-impact-arra-second-quarterly-report.pdf, page 47,Table 13).

“The new data shows that the job productivity of transit is no fluke – transit not only maintained its job productivity advantage over highway investing over a longer period of time, in the fourth quarter it was the top job supporter of all clean energy investments in ARRA, according to the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors,” said Scott Bernstein, President of the Center for Neighborhood Technology. “Shifting as much of our transportation spending to the most job-creating investments as we can is essential. The Senate should pass companion legislation to the House’s Jobs for Main Street bill, and make it effective by giving transit spending parity with highways.”

The numbers

CNT, SGA, and US PIRG analyzed the data reported by states and posted by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee here: http://transportation.house.gov/singlepages/singlepages.aspx?NewsID=852 The results of the analysis:

The report by CNT, SGA and US PIRG on the earlier data, “What we learned from the Stimulus, and how to use what we learned to speed job creation in the 2010 jobs bill”, is available at: http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/stimulus2009.html.

The launch is at March 10, 2010 from 6-8pm at the AIA Headquarters, 1735 New York Avenue NW, Washington, D.C.  You can RSVP to rsvp [at] americancity.org

Entry to the event is free for NAC subscribers, but you can subscribe now for just $15 (50% off the regular subscription price) with the special discount code ISSUE26. Subscriptions are $20 at the door. Subscribe here today: http://americancity.org/subscribe/

DOT received 1,380 applications for the $1.5 billion pot, for a grand total of $56.5 billion in funds requested. The 51 projects announced under TIGER, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), include:

• Port and freight-rail projects in Tennessee, Alabama, Hawaii, Illinois that support economic growth and take freight off the road;
• Bridge replacements in Oklahoma, Michigan, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Indiana that support multiple modes of travel;
• Modern streetcars to support vibrant places in Tucson, Dallas, Portland, New Orleans and Detroit;
• Innovative highway funding and operations in Texas, North Carolina, Colorado, South Carolina and Arkansas;
• Bicycle and pedestrian networks in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and complete streets in Dubuque, IA;
• Beautiful new train stations in places as different as New York and Normal, Illinois.

“These projects show the kinds of transportation investments that will make our lives better: projects that get freight out of people’s way, that give people a place to walk and bike, that replace unsafe bridges, and that in the end, help connect our communities in ways that make them stronger,” said William Schroeer, State Policy Director for Smart Growth America.

“We applaud states and cities for submitting these projects for funding, and US DOT for choosing them,” continued Schroeer. “It’s worth noting however, that many of these activities technically could be funded through current programs. The fact that they aren’t and it takes a special program to get this kind of innovation, just highlights the need for broader transportation reform at both federal and state levels.”

Project applications had to show multiple benefits, with priority given to projects that: 1) Improve the condition of existing facilities and systems, 2) contribute to U.S. economic competitiveness, 3) improve the quality of living and working environments for people, 4) improve energy efficiency, reduce dependence on foreign oil, and reduce pollution, and 5) improve public safety.

Congress and the Obama Administration are working hard to change how states and the federal government fund transportation in America so that more projects produce all five of these benefits. While they complete that task, TIGER projects are excellent examples of the kinds of investments that states can and should be making today.

Administration Announces Recipients of High-Speed Rail Grants
$8 BILLION FROM ARRA GOES TO 31 STATES AND DC

The Obama Administration recently announced the recipients of $8 billion in high-speed rail grants. The funding was divided among 31 states and the District of Columbia, with the majority of the grants going to new, large-scale programs. Grants were made for railways in thirteen major corridors and for planning and studies in another eleven.

Applicants for the $8 billion in high-speed rail funding that was made available by last year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) submitted more than $55 billion in project proposals. Announcement of the recipients of these initial grants is only a first step for the high-speed intercity passenger rail program. The program has been made a centerpiece of the Obama Administration, which has pledged an additional $5 billion over the next five years, including $2.5 billion in the FY 2010 budget and a request for $1 billion in FY 2011.

At a February 3 hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that additional money will be made available very soon for studies of future projects.

Senate Expected to Move Initial Jobs Bill This Month
SEPARATE INFRASTRUCTURE JOBS BILL TO BE CONSIDERED LATER

Senate leaders have signaled their intent to move a jobs bill this month that would include an extension of the current surface transportation authorization, a business hiring tax credit, and short-term extensions of various programs designed to ease the burden on those out of work, including unemployment insurance and health care subsidies for the unemployed. The bill is also likely to include an injection of funds to shore up the Highway Trust Fund, but it does not appear to include any other significant funding for transportation. The Senate plans to move their jobs package in pieces, including a separate infrastructure piece with funding for highways, transit, airports, schools and waste water infrastructure. An initial vote on the first jobs bill is expected the week of February 22nd, as the Senate recess extends through next week. Smart Growth America and Transportation for America continue to push in the jobs bill for additional public transportation funding and operating flexibility to provide relief to strapped transit systems.

In December, the House approved a $154 billion jobs package, which included tax breaks, infrastructure spending and unemployment benefits. The Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010 was approved in the House by a close vote of 217-212, but the White House has not given its support and the Senate has chosen not to take up that bill. The House bill would provide $37.3 billion for transportation programs, including $27.5 billion for highways and $8.4 billion for transit. Similar to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the jobs bill provides 100% federal match for funding, 3% set-aside for Transportation Enhancements, and allows for sub-allocation to metropolitan areas. There is also flexibility for transit funding to be used for operating expenses. In addition to funding, the legislation incorporates the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2009, which extends SAFETEA-LU through September 30, 2010. This would provide surface transportation programs with $53.3 billion, which was the level assumed in the FY 2010 budget resolution. Approximately $19.5 billion in interest payments to the Highway Trust Fund would also be restored by the legislation.

HUD Announces Advanced Notice of Sustainability Grants
$100 MILLION TO BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR REGIONAL INTEGRATED PLANNING

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued an Advanced Notice of their intention to offer funding through the Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program. In the FY 2010 budget, Congress provided $150 million to HUD for the Sustainable Communities initiative, $100 million of which will be made available for regional integrated planning initiatives. The grant program is designed to support multi-jurisdictional regional planning efforts that integrate housing, economic development, and transportation decision-making through the preparation and implementation of Regional Plans for Sustainable Development. At least $25 million in funding will go to rural areas, but no single grant will be for more than $2 million. Funding for large metropolitan areas is limited to $5 million per grant.

Comments on the Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program will be accepted until March 12, 2010. Smart Growth America will submit comments on behalf of our coalition; please contact us with any feedback on the proposed grant program. The Notice of Funding Availability will be published the week of April 12 and applications for funding will be due around the first week of June. Grant recipients are expected to be announced in early August. For more information and to submit comments, visit www.hud.gov/sustainability.

President Obama Releases FY 2011 Budget Request
NEW MONEY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY, DESPITE SPENDING FREEZE

On Monday, February 1, the Obama Administration released its FY 2011 budget proposal. The budget contains a previously promised overall freeze in discretionary domestic spending. However, within the context of the overall freeze, there are several new programs and increases for selected priorities. Sustainable and livable community programs fared well in budget and clearly constitute a priority for the Administration. In total, sustainability-focused programs received $1.5 billion in funding. Additionally, the budget calls for several new infrastructure investment programs. More than $6 billion is requested for these new infrastructure programs with the majority of the funding in a $4 billion National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund at the Department of Transportation.

Smart Growth America released a statement in support of the FY 2011 budget proposal and will work to ensure that Congress maintains funding in its appropriations process for the livability programs detailed below.

The budget proposal links to several current or pending legislative proposals. The budget anticipates introduction of the authorization for the Choice Neighborhoods program, a new HUD place-based community initiative. Administration officials indicated that they are looking at the Livable Communities Act as the blueprint for implementation of the sustainability program. And, the DOT budget assumes a one-year extension of the current surface transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU. Congress has already begun hearings on the budget and will work throughout February on adopting a budget resolution that will set spending parameters for appropriators. Leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have signaled general support for holding overall domestic spending to FY10 levels but also suggested that the committees would likely make a variety of changes to individual programs.

HUD FY 2011 Budget Request Includes Strong Focus on Sustainability
OVERALL HUD REQUEST DOWN 2% FROM FY 2010

The President requested $41.6 billion in discretionary funding for the FY 2011 HUD budget, which is down approximately 2% from the Administration’s FY 2010 request of $43.6 billion. Included in the HUD budget was a strong focus on sustainable communities with an extension of the $150 sustainability program from FY10, the creation of a new $150 million Catalytic grant program within the  Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, and expansion of the Choice Neighborhoods program to $250 million.

The FY 2011 goals differ from those for the FY 2010 budget. In FY 2010, the aim of the department was to fully fund programs that had been neglected in the past Administration, create new programs to match the current housing environment, stop the crisis within the housing market and help families hit hardest by the recession. The Administration feels its 2010 budget was successful in many areas and is now transitioning to longer term goals. The budget reflects a goal of “rebalancing” HUD’s focus by placing greater emphasis on rental housing assistance, place-based initiatives to integrate programs at the Department of Transportation and the U.S. EPA with HUD programs for better regional planning, and creating affordable housing for people still struggling with the economy.

Major cuts in the budget reflect this new goal of focusing efforts on affordable rental development and assistance; the Public Housing Capital Fund lost $456 billion in funding and HOME Investment Partnerships Program lost $150 million. In general, capital funds were cut to support increases for rental assistance. New programs, such as the Transforming Rental Assistance program and the Catalytic Investment Fund focus on improved access to rental housing and improved neighborhoods. A major focus of the HUD budget is the Community Development Block Grant program, which the President has made a goal of fully funding.

DOT FY 2011 Request Places New Emphasis on Livability, Safety and Place-Based Development
BUDGET REQUEST UP 2% FROM FY 2010

The Department of Transportation requests a total of $78.8 billion for FY 2011, which is a slight increase over the $77 billion requested last year. Many DOT programs have been restructured to reflect the Administration’s new emphasis on “transportation safety, livable communities and place-based development.” In FY 2011, funding for both highways and transit would increase slightly to $42.8 billion and $10.8 billion, respectively. Amtrak funding would increase by $50 million, from $1.565 billion to $1.615 billion. The Administration requests $1 billion for high-speed rail, in line with their promise to provide $5 billion for the program over five years, in addition to the $8 billion included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). HSR received $2.5 billion in the FY10 appropriations bill.

The budget proposal includes a request for $527 million to fund its Livable Communities Program. As part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities Initiative, this funding will be combined with $150 million in planning grants from HUD and $10 million for technical assistance from EPA. The DOT funding will come from three separate locations: $307 million in transit funding to increase the planning and project development capabilities, $200 million in highway funding for a competitive livability grant program and $20 million to establish an Office of Livable Communities in the Office of the Secretary.

A major new program in FY 2011 is the National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund, established to provide both grants and loans for multi-modal projects of regional or national significance. The budget includes a $4 billion request as a down payment on a $25 billion commitment to the fund. Funding will also be available to support the planning and feasibility studies necessary to identify potential projects ($150 million). This program is a departure from the traditional way of funding projects at DOT, and is modeled generally on the multimodal discretionary grants including in the ARRA. These grants, known as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Program, did not receive any funding for FY 2011, but an additional $600 million in TIGER grants is available for FY10.

EPA Budget Proposal Includes Request for Several New Programs
REQUEST FOR $10 BILLION IN FY 2011

The Administration proposed $10 billion in discretionary funding for EPA in FY 2011. The proposed EPA budget reflects the Administration’s priorities including their interest in promoting sustainable and healthy communities. The Administration included $215 million for brownfields funding to accelerate and expand brownfields cleanup with integrated area-wide planning and environmental remediation activities. This $41.5 million increase from FY 2010 is aimed at the Administration’s priority to initiate 20 enhanced brownfields community-level projects that will include a new area-wide planning effort to benefit under-served and economically disadvantaged communities. Although funding for both the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) is less than in FY 2010, at $3.3 billion total, it still remains substantially higher than previous years demonstrating a continued Federal commitment to water infrastructure.

The FY 2011 request also includes $27 million in funding for EPA’s new Healthy Communities Initiative. This is initiative will address community water priorities; promote clean, green, and healthy schools; improve air toxics monitoring in at-risk communities; and encourage sustainability by helping to ensure that policies and spending at the national level do not adversely affect the environment and public health or disproportionally harm disadvantaged communities. Included in this funding is $10.9 million for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities with DOT and HUD. It appears that the Smart Growth Office at EPA will have a significant role in the Sustainable Communities program. However, as in years past, it remains unclear how much funding has been included specifically for the Smart Growth office through the Environmental Program & Management (EPM) budget and the Sustainable Communities funding. We have submitted a request for further clarification from the Administration.

Demonstrating the Obama Administration’s commitment to making neighborhoods more livable, sustainable and affordable, Secretaries Ray Lahood and Shaun Donovan of the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development came to Seattle to discuss their plans to use their giant agencies’ budgets and programs in unison to help American families in rural, suburban and urban communities have better options for affordable housing and getting where they need to go each day. Making sure that future growth in our towns and cities results in affordable homes in walkable neighborhoods close to places to work, shop or go to school means less money wasted on skyrocketing transportation costs — saving money for everyday Americans.

(Lahood and Donovan were joined by Assistant Administrator Mathy V. Stanislaus from the Environmental Protection Agency, filling in for EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who was unable to attend due to a conflict, but sent a video message for the conference recipients to watch.)

Secretary Ray LaHood made it clear that the federal government will be a powerful supporting partner in the work that all of us are doing across the country to ensure that the neighborhoods, communities and cities we call home are great places to live for decades to come. “You guys are the dreamers; the innovators — but we are going to partner with you to do this work,” he said.

Smart Growth America applauds HUD, DOT and EPA for the powerful message delivered by cabinet secretaries flying across the country to tell 1,700 planners, local officials, advocates and ordinary citizens that they’ll be making smarter growth and livability the norm and the standard — not the exception.

“This is good news for anyone looking to cut their transportation costs, find an affordable home in a walkable neighborhood, or live in a community with a multitude of transportation options,” said SGA President Geoff Anderson.

“It’s worth noting that in such difficult economic times and in a budget with extensive cuts in other areas, the Administration is emphasizing the importance of improving sustainability and livability in our neighborhoods large and small, meeting numerous goals by saving taxpayer money and improving sustainability while enhancing the quality of life for Americans in communities across the country,“ Anderson continued.

“At its core, sustainability is about making sure that we use resources responsibly and wisely, and livability means creating communities where people can find an affordable place to live, a good job, and options for getting where they need to go each day,” he added.

“In today’s economic climate, with millions of Americans out of work, facing foreclosure or mounting transportation expenses due to rising oil prices or cuts in public transportation, it is imperative that the federal government be a strong partner for local governments, working with them to ensure that our future growth is sustainable, equitable, livable and affordable. This budget moves those important priorities forward.”

The administration blazed a path toward improving livability and sustainability with last year’s creation of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a joint effort between the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Transportation. In the FY 2011 budget, that Partnership would receive more than $830 million (between the three agencies) to help American families in rural, suburban and urban communities have better options for getting where they need to go and better access to affordable housing.

DOT will also get an additional $1 billion in high-speed rail funding, in addition to $2.5 billion in the current year’s budget, and $8 billion in grants from the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act awarded last week. All told, the administration could be spending more than $11.5 billion to lay the groundwork for a national high-speed rail system over the course of just a few short years.

“Investing in our transportation system and high speed rail travel are smart bets for the future. Not only will we create jobs in the short and long term, but we will be building the kind of infrastructure that can connect the people in our metro areas, giving them more options for travel, and creating opportunity and long-term economic success from coast to coast,” said Geoff Anderson.

We will have a deeper analysis of the President’s budget coming hopefully later this week.

Congress has a chance to do better with the jobs bill currently in the works. If The Senate passes a jobs bill that invests equally in public transportation and highways, for example, we could produce year-round employment for nearly 6,000 more workers for the same cost as the House version of the jobs bill.

Tell your Senators: don’t miss this opportunity to create more jobs without spending more money. Let’s invest wisely and put people to work quickly creating a clean, green transportation infrastructure for the 21st Century.

Across the country, older cities struggle with outdated water-sewer systems that collect sanitary sewage and stormwater runoff in a single pipe system. When a big storm occurs, the main system gets overloaded, resulting in a disgusting combination: sewage combines with stormwater and runs into nearby lakes and rivers, causing serious water pollution and health issues.

Combatting these problems traditionally required that cities make a big investment in either building a second piping system for the whole city, or large tanks that can store water during storms. These “gray infrastructure” solutions can take years to implement, cost millions, and substantially disrupt the lives of residents. Cities are beginning to turn instead to “green” water infrastructure as a viable alternative to addressing combined sewer overflow. Green infrastructure uses plants and porous pavement — among other tools — as natural ways to filter water, increase infiltration, and reduce stormwater runoff into pipes.

Onondaga County, New York where Syracuse is located, became one of the first regions in the country in November to announce it will use this technology on a large scale. A judge approved an agreement that will allow the county to hold, infiltrate, and clean polluted runoff through vegetated basins, roof gardens, tree boxes, and rain gardens. This new agreement replaces a 1999 consent order that mandated the construction of large-scale water treatment systems to reduce pollutant levels in Onondaga Lake — widely considered one of the most polluted waterways in the country due to sewage waste and industrial dumping.

Now, the same money that would have been spent to build three concentrated industrial structures and massive pipe storage systems will go toward this mixed approach that will help beautify the city, create green jobs, and save money on construction, operation, and maintenance. It will also help position the Syracuse area as one of the nation’s leaders in green solutions to wastewater and pollution reduction.

Cities across the country that struggle with similar outdated systems will certainly be watching Syracuse carefully.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to Secretary LaHood’s announcement today that funding guidelines for major transit projects will be selected based on livability benefits, including economic development and the environment, James Corless, campaign director of Transportation for America, and Geoff Anderson, president and CEO of Smart Growth America, had the following reactions:

“We applaud the Obama Administration for recognizing that smart transportation projects can have a powerful effect on the livability of communities across America,” Anderson said. “For too long federal rules have taken a blinkered approach to the cost-benefit analysis of transit projects, deliberately ignoring benefits to communities looking to provide more options, shape growth, reduce environmental impacts and spur economic development. This policy change represents a significant shift that will ensure our federal investments contribute to greater economic development, protect the environment and improve the health of the American people.”

“As discussion around the federal transportation authorization bill continues,” Corless said, “there could not be a more important moment for forward-looking, innovative approaches to transforming our existing system. The next step is to ensure our entire transportation program addresses the essential issues of economic development, the environment and public health by focusing on livability and sustainability in the selection of all transportation projects.”

“We need to complete our transportation network by devoting a greater share of funds for public transportation. We also need to give state and local leaders the option of choosing the best solutions for their communities, by equalizing both the rules and required funding matches for transit and highways. It is clear that Americans are looking for a new era of leadership to provide the safer, cleaner, and smarter transportation options that will help them save money pump even as our communities become more energy-efficient, healthy and livable.”

Cross-posted at Transportation for America

An Associated Press report on the impact of transportation stimulus spending underscores the need to make the right transportation investments in Congress’s current jobs bill to produce more jobs.

“The AP report highlights an important question that data from the stimulus have already answered: where should we be spending money in Congress’ upcoming jobs bill to get the most bang for our buck? The facts on that point are crystal clear. Investing more of money in public transportation creates more jobs — nearly twice as many per dollar compared to traditional highway spending,” said Smart Growth America president Geoff Anderson.

While the AP study asked a crucial question, its attempt to answer has critical problems. The most notable shortcoming of the study — which AP has only reported on, but did not release — is that to assess the impact of transportation spending, it looked at job-creation statistics in the entire construction sector, to which highway construction contributes just five percent, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.

“We should measure the effectiveness of transportation spending,” said Anderson. “But it makes little sense to ask whether work in five percent of the construction industry can move the whole thing.” The full AP story, which wasn’t carried by all outlets, acknowledged that studies of the impact of the full stimulus on the full economy find that the stimulus is working.

Perhaps more important, the AP looked at only at road and bridge spending, and missed the thousands of jobs created by investment in public transportation.

Once it gets into the detail of how states spent their current stimulus funds, the AP story gets to the heart of the question about what Congress — and state recipients of any future jobs funds—should do. As the AP noted: “…money for road construction offers little relief to most contractors who don’t work on transportation projects, a niche that requires expensive, heavy equipment that most residential and commercial builders don’t own.”

That observation backs up the findings in the recent report from Smart Growth America, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, and US PIRG. “What We Learned from the Stimulus” showed that current stimulus money spent on public transportation created twice as many jobs per dollar as traditional highway spending. Investments in public transportation work better as stimulus in large part because they spend more money on labor — and more kinds of labor. For example, the part of the current stimulus directed to public transportation built several intermodal centers. That puts the construction trades to work. (What We Learned from the Stimulus: And how to use what we learned to speed job creation in the 2010 jobs bill.)

Concluded Anderson: “As the Senate debates a bill to create jobs through targeted investments, all the evidence points to the fact that spending more of that money on public transportation will employ more people and have greater economic impact. If we are serious about creating the jobs we desperately need, members of the Senate will insist on investing a greater percentage of the transportation funds in public transportation.”

So what do they mean by “improving the quality of life” for Houstonians?

Crossley was recently featured in a cover article in a local Houston magazine about his vision for the Houston of his grandchildren, and what will need to change:

“So, what does this mean for those of us living here in Houston and the Gulf Coast area?  To begin with, the latest population forecast for our region is between 11 and 12 million people by 2050.  That’s more than twice what we have now, more than Mexico City today, and approaching greater Mexico City, which is the most populous region in all the Americas.

As Crossley says, the challenge is to figure out how to absorb all these people without wrecking the place.  Right now, Houston eats massive quantities of land to accommodate the public policy of basing nearly all development on people driving cars further and further every year.  This 60-year sprawl binge has produced all manner of familiar issues including air pollution, stress, family friction, lower productivity, and financial distress of many kinds.  The clear solution, obvious everywhere in the world, is to use less land for development while providing more amenities for people in walkable, high quality neighborhoods of many sizes and character.

But Houston lags behind many large metropolitan centers in areas like mass transit, walkable neighborhoods, and sensible urban planning.  If we want growth, then we need to focus on how to make it occur in a healthy manner; we need to start making some significant changes to the way we view and implement future development.”

Just like other metro areas across the country, Crossley sees signs of a market-driven movement toward more walkable, sustainable growth patterns helping to change future development in Houston.

“In Houston,” he says, “we can expect to see huge movement toward walkable urbanism by 2013 or 2014 when we will suddenly have a very large light rail transit system with service to destinations in 65 neighborhoods.

And just like other major metros, the task will become one of breaking down the barriers and outdated regulations that make it too difficult or illegal to meet this burgeoning demand.

Kudos to David Crossley and Houston Tomorrow for the solid local ink recognizing their important work on the Gulf Coast. Download a PDF of the full article from us, or use the e-reader on the Change Magazine site.

In response, the County Commissioners assembled the Cuyahoga County Land Bank, a non-profit organization dedicated to acquiring and restoring vacant properties into productive parts of the community. Last month the land bank took a leap forward by forging a unique agreement with mortgage giant Fannie Mae that could be a game-changer for the distressed Cleveland region — and a model for other communities hit hard by the foreclosure crisis nationwide.

In the new agreement, Fannie Mae has agreed to sell foreclosed homes in its possession to the land bank for the highly-affordable price of $1, and contribute $3,500 towards demolition for each house that isn’t salvageable. The arrangement is a win-win: Fannie Mae is able to avoid ongoing maintenance costs for low-value properties and prevent them from undermining the nearby homes with Fannie Mae loans. At the same time, Cuyahoga County can ensure that a large inventory of distressed houses won’t be added to the market surplus or fall into the hands of speculators, undermining neighborhood stability.

This is the first time Fannie Mae (or any other large-scale owner of foreclosed properties) has agreed to contribute to demolition costs on an ongoing basis, but the corporation plans to strike similar agreements with other communities if this pilot effort goes well. Advocates are hopeful that other lenders will follow suit.

In the meantime, Cuyahoga County’s agreement is moving forward: the first 25 properties were transferred to the land bank in December. “We are very well cranked up and ready to go,” said county land bank president Gus Frangos.

In August, I wrote about a successful program that brought a supermarket into a Philadelphia “food desert” where numerous chains had previously refused to locate — an area “redlined” by supermarkets and banks. Food deserts are locations in urban or rural areas where fresh food is hard to come by; residents have to make an unpalatable choice between settling for unhealthy food and long, inconvenient, and potentially costly trips to get fresh food.

Now, a bipartisan group in the House of Representatives is trying to bring Pennsylvania’s program to the entire country with the introduction of the National Fresh Food Financing Initiative.

According to PolicyLink,

With 27 million Americans without access to fresh, affordable food – and poor and minority communities getting the worst of the problem – a national effort to expand and build grocery stores, farmers markets, and other healthy food retail in needy communities could be just the kind of bi-partisan, triple-bottom-line solution we need.

In just the past five years, the Pennsylvania public-private partnership has turned $30 million of state investment into 4,800 jobs, 78 new or expanded fresh-food markets, more than $150 million in additional private investment, and 400,000 people with improved access to fresh, healthy food.

Read more about the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, or show your support for this innovative, exciting piece of legislation.

A new analysis by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Smart Growth America, and U.S. PIRG shows that by mimicking funding levels for transportation set out in ARRA, the Jobs for Main Street Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December missed an opportunity to create additional jobs where they are needed most. If the Senate version invests equally in public transportation and highways, we could produce 71,415 additional job-months, equivalent to year-round employment for 5,951 more workers, without spending a dime more than the House bill.

Read more on the report, “What we learned from the Stimulus, and how to use what we learned to speed job creation in the 2010 jobs bill,” or download the pdf.

→View all Smart Growth America stimulus resources.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new analysis by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Smart Growth America, and U.S. PIRG shows that in the first ten months of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), investments in public transportation have created twice as many jobs per dollar as investments in highways. The new report shows that by mimicking funding levels for transportation set out in ARRA, the Jobs for Main Street Act (H.R. 2847), passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in December, missed an opportunity to create additional jobs where they are needed most.

The report, “What we learned from the Stimulus, and how to use what we learned to speed job creation in the 2010 jobs bill”, is available here: www.smartgrowthamerica.org/stimulus2009.html

The Jobs for Main Street Act provides $27.1 billion for the Surface Transportation Program (STP) versus just $8.4 billion for Public Transportation even though public transportation investments under ARRA created twice as many jobs per dollar of investment. The Senate plans to take up its version of the jobs bill early in 2010, and the report shows that if the Senate version ensures funds are invested equally in public transportation and highways, the same level of overall investment would produce 71,415 additional job-months, equivalent to year-round employment for 5,951 more workers than from the House bill.

“This is a no-brainer. The Senate can ensure that more jobs are created across the country building the transportation system we need for the 21st century,” said Geoff Anderson, President of Smart Growth America. “If we are serious about creating jobs and bringing about the economic recovery our nation desperately needs, members of the Senate will insist on investing a greater percentage of the transportation funds in public transportation. Who is against more jobs?”

The data compiled by the states shows that every billion dollars spent on public transportation produced 16,419 job-months, compared to 8,781 job-months for every billion spent on highway infrastructure.   Public transportation projects create more jobs than road projects because they spend less money on land and more on labor, and because projects are often more complex, whether laying rack or manufacturing vehicles.

The report also uses the data from ARRA to refute the idea that public transportation projects are not as “shovel-ready” or able to be launched as quickly as highway projects. Nationally, public transportation and highway infrastructure projects are spending money at about the same rate. But because public transportation projects spend more of those dollars on more labor, equivalent spend rates produce more and faster jobs from public transportation.

“As the Senate prepares to take up a jobs bill, lawmakers should learn the lessons of the Recovery Act,” said Phineas Baxandall, Senior Analyst for U.S. PIRG. “We cannot afford to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect different results. The fact is investments in public transportation will produce more jobs quicker and will address billions of dollars of unmet needs.”

“Public transportation is a lifeline for communities big and small across the country” said Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology. “Too many people could not get to their jobs without public transit.  But even as demand for service is up, systems everywhere face budget shortfalls forcing layoffs, reduced service and fare hikes. Increased local reinvestment is essential to preventing these cuts that will cripple our workforce and increase expenses for working Americans. In passing the Jobs for Main Street bill to tackle the continuing crisis, Congress can learn from the ARRA experience, putting the money where it will do the most good, and leaving no job, no family and no community-in-need behind.”

→View all Smart Growth America stimulus resources.