Washington, DC — The MetroNow Coalition—comprised of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Federal City Council, Greater Washington Board of Trade, Greater Washington Partnership, Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce, the 2030 Group, and Tysons Partnership—today released the following statement on the ongoing WMATA Metrorail service disruptions.
Author: Ayesha Amsa
RELEASE: CSG Responds to Anti-Housing Protesters at Planning Board
Montgomery County, Md – “Montgomery County’s Thrive 2050 General Plan update is imbued with the progressive and creative spirit that has long been at the core of the community’s values,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG). “This is why we are so saddened to see the strident opposition to the county’s efforts to address a housing crisis through Thrive 2050 and a separate study of Attainable Housing Strategies.”
CSG News: Never more important…
CSG’s November newsletter was sent out on November 1. Sign up for our email list by visiting smartergrowth.net/signup.
MetroNow Dispatch (October 2021)
View the dispatch here.
Event: Book Talk with Christof Spieler
Our co-host, Island Press, recently released the second edition of Christof Spieler’s wildly popular book “Trains, Buses, People.” Christof discussed the evolving conversation around transit and shared updates on fare policies, wayfinding, inclusivity, and North American transit systems. Purchase using code WEBINAR with Island Press for 30% off.
If you missed the talk, watch the recording of the event or download our powerpoint below.
Joint Comments from Fairfax Healthy Communities Network on the Community-wide Energy & Climate Action Plan (CECAP)
Dear Chairman McKay & and Members of the Board of Supervisors,
We, the representatives of the undersigned organizations, as part of the Fairfax Healthy Communities Network, are excited to support the Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan (CECAP). As Virginia’s most populous jurisdiction, Fairfax County can stand out as a leader in the region and have an outsized impact on the race to reduce carbon emissions.
Our network partners envision a Fairfax County where people can live, work, and play in connected communities that are healthy, sustainable and inclusive. In fact, there may be no policy endeavor that better embodies our joint work than a climate plan that addresses all aspects of providing clean air, clean energy, reducing reliance on dirty fossil fuels for transportation, and ensuring natural green space for all county residents. This is a large part of our vision for a healthy community.
The newly-released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sixth Assessment Report on the science of climate change provides a dire picture of accelerated impacts. Warming of the planet is happening at an alarming rate, far faster than predicted.
The report predicts that warming of greater than 1.5 C (2.7F) will cause more extreme weather events such as fires, droughts and flooding. These events are already happening. Hurricane Ida, the Caldor Fire, the extreme heat in the Pacific Northwest and even our local intense pattern of rain are all very real “canaries in the coal mine” for all policy makers.
Today, we do not feel the most severe and dangerous impacts here in Fairfax County. However, the current fires and storms serve as the newest wakeup call – we have the opportunity to try to get ahead of the most severe local impacts. Fairfax County is a significant contributor to the emissions problem in the metro area and shares the responsibility to solve it. Only by large and rapid cuts in emissions can these dire impacts be addressed. There is no time to waste, and every jurisdiction has to play a role.
Core to this plan are twelve strategies that outline areas of focus. Each is important, but some will have greater mitigation impacts, such as energy efficiency in buildings and changes in transportation, particularly vehicular impacts. Others come with multiple benefits, such as preserving and expanding our natural resources throughout various land use processes to both sequester carbon and provide additional climate resiliency. Given the complexity of climate change and the world’s evolving response, we cannot rely on residents and businesses to voluntarily change behaviors or know which climate-friendly steps are most beneficial to prioritize, so we count on innovative and ambitious government policies and actions to influence change.
Reaching the goals in CECAP will only be possible if the County moves from ideation to the implementation phase at full speed. An implementation plan must be crafted and put in place with the urgency that is needed. As with all County programs, it is critical that each facet of this program comply with the One Fairfax policy by asking who benefits, who is harmed by any actions, and how we prevent harm.
As advocates representing environmental, smart growth, transportation, affordable housing, and social justice, organizations, we urge the Board of Supervisors to:
- Develop an aggressive timeline for the CECAP Implementation Plan
- Hire a team of climate experts to guide and support staff in implementing the plan
- Fund programs and provide incentives in FY 2023 to begin immediately mitigating carbon emissions
We are counting on the Board to offer its considerable leadership to this formidable task. If it is to be successful, it will also require dedicated, creative, and visionary staff to permeate throughout the government and into the private sector. Success is the only option.
Thank you for taking this important next step in the climate fight.
Sincerely,
Audubon Naturalist Society, Renee Grebe, Northern Virginia Conservation Advocate
Coalition for Smarter Growth, Sonya Breehey, Northern Virginia Advocacy Manager
Friends of Holmes Run, Whitney Redding, Primary Conservator
Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance, Michelle Krocker, Executive Director
Sierra Club, Great Falls Group, Ann Bennett, Energy, Climate and Land Use
South County Task Force, Mary Paden, Chair
Virginia League of Conservation Voters, Bridget McGregor, Senior Northern Virginia Organizer
Washington Area Bicyclist Association, Stephanie Piperno, Trails Coalition Manager
CSG comments in support of the Alexandria Mobility Plan
The overall draft AMP is very good and builds on and expands Alexandria’s existing transportation policies, setting a course for the city to continue moving towards a more equitable, sustainable, and livable city.
MEMO: CSG Comments on Thrive 2050 Housing Chapter
TO: Montgomery County Council Planning, Housing, and Economic Development (PHED) Committee
FROM: Jane Lyons, Maryland Advocacy Manager, Coalition for Smarter Growth
DATE: Thursday, October 7, 2021
SUBJECT: Coalition for Smarter Growth’s Comments on Thrive 2050 Housing Chapter
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prior to Monday’s work session on Thrive’s Affordable and Attainable Housing chapter, I wanted to reach out to share CSG’s recommendations:
- Create a stronger vision for economically and racially diverse neighborhoods: While this chapter does discuss this goal, we believe it needs to be more of a priority and included in the text of the goals and policies themselves, rather than just the chapter’s introduction. If economically and racially diverse neighborhoods were a primary goal, the subsequent policies would more deeply discuss targeting higher income areas with more housing, including subsidized housing. Furthermore, Thrive 2050 should recommit the county to subsidized housing being mixed income. This was not always the case in the affordable housing industry and exacerbated segregation.
- Amplify the need for housing those with the lowest incomes: The chapter is called “Affordable & Attainable Housing: More of Everything,” but spends most of the text explaining the need for more market rate housing and diverse housing types. While this is correct and we are grateful for this focus, we would like to see the chapter go into more detail about the housing needs of those who the market is very likely to still leave cost burdened. To serve those of the lowest incomes, the county will need to beef up its existing affordable housing programs and think more boldly and creatively about new programs.
- Don’t leave out tenant rights: Earlier drafts of Thrive 2050 had strong language declaring that housing is a human right — that language has since been deleted. We urge you to add it back in, and the ensuing importance of strong tenant rights and protections. The county must ensure that all households have safe, healthy housing that meets their needs and are not left behind by land use changes that result in higher property values and increased rents.
- Think carefully about incentives: We support public incentives for desirable, transit-oriented development and subsidized, income-restricted housing. However, financial incentives, especially for market-rate development, should be carefully considered. Thus, we recommend the following edit on page 99: “Provide incentives to boost housing production for market rate and affordable housing, especially near transit and in Complete Communities.” Non-financial incentives can include adjustments in the development approval process.
Here is some proposed language to be added, primarily under the third goal of “Promote racial and economic diversity and equity in housing in every neighborhood.”
- “Ensure that every area of the county welcomes an equitable share of income-restricted and social housing, especially in neighborhoods with high incomes, a high concentration of jobs, or high-capacity transit.”
- Add back language from staff working draft: “Continue to promote the policy of mixed-income housing development through the implementation of county policies, programs, regulations, and other tools and incentives.”
- “Identify and allocate additional revenue for the Housing Initiative Fund (HIF), rental assistance program, and other housing programs to meet the needs of low-income households.”
- It was also brought to my attention that the plan does not address the quality and safety of housing. We recommend adding “Enforce and strengthen existing housing code regulations and renter protections to ensure healthy and fair housing.” We’d also support adding back language from the staff draft of the plan: “Protect tenants’ rights, improve living conditions in rental housing, and ensure renters’ contributions to the community are emphasized and valued.”
- Add back language from staff working draft: “Expand housing access through the elimination of fair housing barriers and enforcement of fair housing laws to protect residents from discrimination.”
- Under the first goal regarding production of more housing: “As part of the commitment to the Housing First approach, develop strategies to build deeply affordable housing, provide permanent supportive housing, and legal counsel for evictions.”
- We also concur with JUFJ’s recommendations to add eviction rates and housing cost burden for renters and owners to the metrics section of the chapter. It would be best to see housing cost burden and many of the other currently listed metrics broken down by either planning area or census tract.
CSG News: Join us for fall socials
CSG’s October newsletter was sent out on October 4. Sign up for our email list by visiting smartergrowth.net/signup.
RELEASE: COG’s Initiative for Equity, Smart Growth, Climate
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
September 23, 2021
Contact:
Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director, 703-599-6437
Cheryl Cort, Policy Director, 202-251-7516
CSG Applauds COG’s Initiative for Equity, Smart Growth, Climate
COG Proposal to Focus Development around DC Region’s High-Capacity Transit Stations Vote Scheduled for October 13
Today, the Washington Post reported that the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, composed of the region’s local elected officials, some state legislators, and state and federal representatives, are on the verge of agreeing to focus development around the DC region’s high-capacity transit stations. These include Metrorail, Purple Line, VRE and MARC commuter rail, and bus rapid transit stations. At the same time, COG intends to prioritize transportation, housing, trails, and other investments around stations within equity emphasis areas, which have high concentrations of lower income residents and high numbers of Black, Latino, or Asian residents.
COG also announced preliminary findings that show a combination of smart growth, electric vehicles, and pricing tools will be necessary for the region to slash its greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Focused growth in transit communities is an essential part of this strategy.
“We applaud COG’s proposal which is to be voted on at their October 13 meeting,” said Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “COG’s action is the natural outgrowth of the work and long-time advocacy by our organization and COG’s own studies and vision statements over the past two decades. But now this agreement must be followed by action.”
Founders of the Coalition for Smarter Growth first proposed a “network of livable communities” centered on the region’s transit hubs in reports released in 1992 and 1996, and in CSG’s 2002 Blueprint for a Better Region. It was a vision largely endorsed by the Urban Land Institute’s “Reality Check” conference in 2005, COG’s Region Forward vision of 2010, COG’s follow-on studies and plans, and by many local elected officials who have been approving transit-oriented developments.
“Anyone frustrated by sitting in traffic, or concerned about the growing evidence of climate change including frequent floods in the DC region, should support this COG initiative. Mixed use, mixed-income, walkable, transit-centered communities mean many more people will be able to drive less and reduce the air and climate pollution they generate,” said Schwartz.
“The region’s east-west economic and racial divide, first highlighted in the 1999 Brookings report ‘A Region Divided,” has persisted for too long. Accelerating investment in transit communities in Prince George’s, eastern Montgomery, and eastern Fairfax and Prince William would shorten commutes, reduce vehicle miles traveled, and improve access to jobs and opportunity,” said Cheryl Cort, Policy Director for CSG. “In fact, building out transit-oriented communities on the east side of our region and investing in affordable housing near transit throughout our region are key transportation and climate solutions.”
“But there was also sobering news from the meeting of COG’s Transportation Planning Board (TPB) yesterday,” said Schwartz. “Early findings from their climate scenario study confirm that neither the rate of adoption of electric vehicles, nor land use changes, will be enough to slash our greenhouse gas emissions sufficiently by 2030. We’ll need to move on a number of fronts – much faster adoption of electric vehicles, much stronger action to focus growth and reduce sprawl in order to reduce vehicle trips and vehicle miles traveled, increase telecommuting, and use pricing (congestion pricing or vehicle miles traveled fees, and parking pricing), if our region is going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to do our part to address the climate emergency.”
“Electric vehicles alone can’t save us. We must stop sprawling outward where people have no option but driving, and create inclusive, walkable, transit-centered communities, in order to slash our greenhouse gas emissions. In the process, we will increase access to opportunity and address regional inequity, while improving quality of life for everyone,” concluded Cort.
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