Please accept these comments on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington, D.C. region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Our mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish.
Category: Resources
H St: Past & Future (& the streetcar)
Materials from our H St walking tour on June 7, 2014
Testimony on DDOT regarding the Transportation Reorganization Act of 2014 (B20-759)
The Transportation Reorganization Act of 2014 (B20-759) proposes to radically reorganize DDOT by separating out and isolating transportation functions into a set of individual agencies. While the TRA is a provocative conversation starter on how to better integrate transportation functions, improve customer service, and increase capacity to focus on implementation, we worry that the cure is worse than the disease. The kind of segmentation proposed in the TRA creates silos that make coordinated, cost-effective and comprehensive solutions hard to deliver.
Pentagon City: More than a Mall
Tour program from “Pentagon City: More than a Mall” walking tour on May 31, 2014
Welcome to the Montgomery County Council Candidates Forum
Welcome everyone! Welcome to our Montgomery County Council Candidates Forum! I am Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, one of your hosts this evening. Kelly Blynn, CSG’s Next Generation of Transit Campaign Manager, is here tonight as well, and is familiar to many of you.
Support for Bill 20—707: Land Disposition Transparency Act of 2014
We wish to testify in support of Bill 20-707, the Land Disposition Transparency Act of 2014. We have tracked public land dispositions for several years and applaud the significant public benefits that have been delivered as a result of them. As laudable as many of these public land dispositions are, the process for how a public subsidy is provided to a private development to accomplish public goals is opaque. The process has often left the public wondering if it received the best deal.
Testimony before the Hon. Mary M. Cheh, Chair, Committee on the Environment and Transportation regarding the Performance Oversight Hearing of DDOT
We want to commend the committee and the Mayor for the advances we are making in transportation to ensure that our streets, transit, walk and bicycling facilities help make our city a healthier, safer, more sustainable, and more attractive place to live and work. New services and improvements to offer better access and travel choices such as expanded Capital Bike Share, sped up limited-stop bus service, routine curb extensions in streetscape designs, extensive use of leading pedestrian intervals – demonstrate there is much to commend about the advances we have made in just a few years. Given the tremendous growth our city is experiencing, it’s clear that we cannot accommodate this growth unless we continue to increase the attractiveness of alternatives to driving and car ownership. Our city’s growth and vibrancy cannot be predicated on how many more cars it can jam onto its already congested roads.
Support affordable housing in public lands, B20-594 & Amend bill to shorten affordability terms B20-604
Please accept these comments on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG). The Coalition for
Smarter Growth is the leading organization working locally in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region dedicated to making the case for smart growth. Our mission is to promote walkable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities, and the land use and transportation policies and investments needed to make those communities flourish.
Twinbrook: Placemaking in Progress
The Twinbrook Metro Station opened in 1984 surrounded by 26 acres of parking lots for Metro commuters. Join us to learn how a walkable, mixed-use community is taking shape on the site of those surface parking lots.
Tour speakers:
- David Levy, Chief of Long Range Planning and Redevelopment, City of Rockville
- Lori Shirley, Planner Coordinator, Montgomery County Planning Department
- Stan Wall, Director of the Office of Real Estate and Station Planning, WMATA
- Jamie Weinbaum, JBG
- Joe McClane, President of Cambridge Walk I HOA
Resources:
Amend B20-604, “Affordable Homeownership Preservation and Equity Accumulation Amendment Act of 2013”
The “Affordable Homeownership Preservation and Equity Accumulation Amendment Act of 2013,” Council Bill 20-604, over time could reduce the amount of resources available for future housing needs by shrinking how much of the public’s investment in affordable housing is preserved. While the bill currently proposed would make several changes that would exclude many current affordable homeownership organization’s efforts, amendments to reverse these proposed changes have been agreed to by the key supporters of the bill with the Coalition for Non-Profit Housing and Economic Development (CNHED).