City of Huntsville Wins Competitive Award to Support Complete Streets Workshop
Published on December 3, 2015
Huntsville’s work to make downtown a more walkable, attractive destination has helped us win a national competitive award. Smart Growth America-a national nonprofit that advocates for better cities, towns, and neighborhoods-announced today that Huntsville is among seven winning communities that will receive a free technical assistance workshop in 2016. Through the program, Huntsville will receive hands-on assistance from national experts on Complete Streets.
Mayor Tommy Battle said the grant will help Huntsville realize its vision to have community streets that meet multiple forms of transportation options. “We recognize the need and desire for safe, pedestrian and bike-friendly streets that also serve public transit and motorists,” he said. “The Smart Growth America award is a great opportunity for our community to expand the work we’ve done thus far through the BIG Picture,” said Dennis Madsen, Long-Range Planner for the City of Huntsville. “With their technical assistance, we can help ensure our transportation network is ready to meet future demand.”
The workshops offered through Smart Growth America’s program focus on a range of issues, including transit-oriented development, Complete Streets, smart growth zoning, economic development and fiscal health, parking management and regional planning for small communities, among other topics.
“This award is a testament to the hard work Huntsville has already done,” said John Robert Smith, Smart Growth America’s Senior Policy Advisor. “Our program was more competitive this year than ever before, and Huntsville stood out as a community doing great work. We’re excited to be able to help you continue on to the next stage of this work.”
Smart Growth America received over 68 applications for technical assistance from 34 states for its 2016 workshops. The full list of winning communities includes: the Municipality of Anchorage, AK; City of Seattle, WA; City of Huntsville, AL; City of Kansas City, MO; City of Longwood, FL; City of Royal Oak, MI; and the City of North Little Rock, AR.
About Smart Growth America’s free technical assistance
Smart Growth America offers twelve types of technical assistance workshops that help communities build stronger local economies, protect the environment, preserve sense of place and improve overall quality of life. The technical assistance is funded through a grant to Smart Growth America from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Sustainable Communities under their Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program. The Building Blocks program funds quick, targeted assistance to communities that face common development problems. Through the program, Smart Growth America has already provided free assistance to over 50 communities across the United States, from Hawaii to Maine.
Smart Growth America is the only national organization dedicated to researching, advocating for and leading coalitions to bring smart growth practices to more communities nationwide. From providing more sidewalks to ensuring more homes are built near public transportation or that productive farms remain a part of our communities, smart growth helps make sure people across the nation can live in great neighborhoods. For additional information visit smartgrowthamerica.org.