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  Community Clips Smart Growth News for the Washington, DC Region April 13, 2007 In this issue:
Melissa Bondi Joins Coalition for Smarter Growth as New Housing Director We are pleased to announce that Melissa Bondi has joined our team as Housing Director, a new position that is part of the Equitable Development Campaign resulting from our merger with the Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities. Melissa will work with communities to secure policies and funding that create more housing choices people can afford near their jobs. She can be reached at the Coalition’s office at: (202) 244-4408 x123 or via email: Melissa(at)SmarterGrowth.net. Welcome aboard, Melissa! Global Warming Rallies – The Smart Growth Connection What did Al Gore overlook in An Inconvenenient Truth? His documentary, which has helped propel Global Warming into the national spotlight, missed the connection between our nation's land use patterns, transportation policies, and Global Warming. How we design our communities has a tremendous impact on our environment, from the amount of land used for development to the pollution generated by a drive-everywhere layout. As thousands of people around the country take part in the National Day of Action April 14, we need to make those connections clear. Learn about Saturday's rallies in Arlington and Annapolis, and help spread the word that smart growth is a "cool" idea! DC Announces Citywide Retail Strategy While DC is enjoying a resurgence of condo development and bustling streets (have you been to Gallery Place lately?) much of the city lacks such basic retail as grocery and hardware stores. What does that mean for folks trying to live a walkable life? Many of them are driving to the suburbs to shop, leaving their tax dollars behind. Mayor Fenty and new Director of Planning Harriet Tregoning have announced an initative to study retail needs citywide and help boost business development to meet residents' shopping needs close to home. Read the city's press release for more. Ensuring Housing Opportunities for Fairfax's Lowest Income Families According to a report sponsored by CSG and Tenant and Workers United, most Fairfax County working families earning below $50,000 a year have virtually no affordable housing options today. Future projections are even more dire -- adding to longer commutes, traffic, family stress and workforce shortages. Targeting Fairfax’s landmark One Penny Fund for Housing to create housing for Fairfax working families with incomes below 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI) would make a real difference. Read the release and access the report. A Talk Not to Miss – “Making Tysons Work” Dr. Robert Cervero, nationally renowned expert in transit-oriented development will give a talk on April 17th at Capital One in Tysons Corner. He will share his insights on the steps we need to take to transform Tysons Corner from soul-less “edge-city” to a vibrant and transit-oriented community. Learn more. Community Visioning Updates – Presentations Illustrate Innovative Planning and Design Processes For those interested in community planning and design, you can learn a great deal from posted material about recent community planning efforts for Tysons Corner and the City of Fairfax. Over 300 people rolled up their sleeves for the six planning and design sessions for Tysons Corner. They dealt with varying scenarios for mixed-use, street networks, public spaces and density. Our Tysons webpage provides links to PB Placemaking’s opening presentation and their report-back. The next series of public meetings is tentatively planned for June. Meanwhile, the City of Fairfax has embarked on its own redesign effort for Route 50, Fairfax Boulevard. About 150 people spent a recent Saturday morning enthusiastically generating ideas to redesign Fairfax Boulevard into a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use community. These ideas were consolidated into a preliminary plan by Dover-Kohl Town Planners available at http://www.fairfaxva.gov/Boulevard/. Look for future updates on community planning around the region. Montgomery County Growth Management Speaker Series In conjunction with updating the county's growth policy, the Montgomery County Planning Board is hosting a speaker series featuring a host of national known experts in growth issues. Topics to be covered include balancing growth and public services, fostering high-quality communities, developing vibrant urban areas, and creating pedestrian-friendly environments, among others. Visit the MontgomeryPlanning.org for the schedule. Coalition Expands Walking Tours and Educational Forums Have you gotten a chance to join us for a smart growth walking tour yet? Even inclement weather couldn’t deter enthusiastic turnouts for our walking conversations with experts around the region. You will be thrilled to learn that we are planning to do many more tours this year in neighborhoods as diverse as Rockville Town Center, H Street NE and Reston Town Center. Recent tours have included Gallery Place, U Street, Columbia Heights and the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor. When we merged with WRN in February, we also knew we wanted to continue their stellar tradition of community discussions and expert presentations. The great news is that we are expanding our discussions of design, policy and community visions for where and how we grow. For a full and continually updated list of planned events, visit the Forum & Tours page on our website. Upcoming Events
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