Newsroom

Dec 16, 2010

How can we meet RF’s goals and targets to reduce VMT while maximizing accessibility and affordability ? There are a number of creative approaches to making communities more livable and accessible and according to a new US Census analysis done by The Washington Post more people are choosing to ditch their cars and live more accessible lifestyles that liberate them from automobile ownership and provide them more transportation choices.

Dec 15, 2010

Over at Switchboard the NRDC’s exceptional blog on the connections between transportation land-use and the environment Kaid Benfield recently pondered about the future of smart growth. After recognizing past achievements in the field Benfield argues that the current definition of smart growth is not sufficient to meet the challenges that we face in this century.

Dec 15, 2010

Region Forward includes some very ambitious air quality and climate targets such as exceeding federal standards for air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% below 2005 levels by 2020 and reducing them by 80% by 2050. These targets align with the general scientific consensus on the levels of emissions necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Meeting these targets won’t be easy and everyone has to be involved. Here’s a chance for RF followers to do so.

Dec 14, 2010

$58.8 million in grants will create jobs while easing congestion in the region

Dec 14, 2010

Last week in Chicago Brookings hosted a Global Metro Summit: Delivering the Next Economy a program that unveiled a powerful vision for the post-recession economy. This vision is characterized as export-oriented low carbon innovation-fueled opportunity rich and led by metropolitan areas.

Dec 13, 2010

Passenger rail accounts for a very small percentage of travel in the United States though this was not always the case. Passenger rail was the primary mode of intercity travel in the U.S. until the 1950s. Thereafter the car became king for shorter trips and airplanes for longer voyages. Passenger rail’s travel share may start to rise with the administration’s push to begin to bring American trains closer to the high-speed systems found in Europe and Asia. However this push will take time and persistence if it is to have a real impact on travel share and by extension help meet RF targets on reducing auto dependency and greenhouse gas emissions.

Dec 10, 2010

The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson recently compiled a photographic slideshow of the 30 most dynamic cities in the world using data from Brookings on growth in employment and income. Austin Texas is the only U.S. city to make the cut with the vast majority coming from Asia and Latin America. Montreal is the only other North American city on the list. What do you think of this listing? Is this the best way to measure dynamism?

Dec 10, 2010

Rushern Baker Prince George’s County’s new County Executive and Chuck Bean Executive Director of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington discuss Region Forward at “One Region Moving Forward” the 2010 Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG):

Dec 9, 2010

Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker [pictured left] and Nonprofit Roundtable Executive Director Chuck Bean discuss Region Forward at COG Annual Meeting.

Dec 9, 2010

Maintaining a sense of community in light of new investment and lots of new residents can be tricky. In most instances where a neighborhood is severely blighted by high crime poor education appalling housing and inadequate access to health care it can be argued that a functioning community does not exist. In such cases it’s easy to see how investment aimed at improving these indicators will be beneficial for the neighborhood’s current residents as long adequate safeguards are put in place to