by Tanya Snyder, DC Streets Blog<\/p>\n
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Yesterday, a bipartisan group of six governors and ex-governors celebrated the new support of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities<\/a> \u2013 the collaboration of HUD, DOT, and EPA \u2014 for the Governor\u2019s Institute. This kind of collaborative work, among federal agencies and with the states, is \u201ccommon sense writ large,\u201d said U.S. DOT Deputy Secretary John Porcari at the event. \u201cBut it wasn\u2019t done in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n States are where the rubber hits the road, he said, and the federal government needs to help them take smart action.<\/p>\n The Institute\u2019s staff advises states on everything from agriculture and economic development to transportation and housing. They hold workshops in states, hosted by the governors themselves, to give specific advice tailored to the needs and particularities of that places.<\/p>\n Its prescriptions are well grounded in the smart growth philosophy. For example, the Institute\u2019s 14 policies for transportation<\/a> include strategic planning<\/a>, a \u201cfix-it-first\u201d approach<\/a>, and complete streets<\/a>. They evaluate communities based on street grid connectivity and transit-oriented development, not old-school criteria like vehicle level-of-service<\/a>.<\/p>\n …<\/p>\n But the economic question goes far deeper than just temporary construction jobs. As William Fulton, vice president for policy and programs at Smart Growth America and former mayor of Ventura, California, blogged this week on CNN.com<\/a>, \u201cWhere businesses go, where houses go, where roads go, where sidewalks go, where farms and natural spaces go \u2013 all of these things collectively affect a community\u2019s economic performance and the cost of providing services there. Put things closer together, the services cost less. Put things farther from each other, the services cost more for the jurisdiction and its taxpayers.\u201d https:\/\/dc.streetsblog.org\/2012\/08\/02\/governors-get-on-board-with-smart-growth\/<\/a><\/p>\n
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