Public Outreach/Response

The Ohio Kentucky Indiana (OKI) Regional Council of Governments, which represents Greater Cincinnati, has released the findings from its 2012 "How Do We Grow From Here" survey. The results show strong public support for compact, walkable communities, UrbanCincy reports. OKI has authority over federal transportation funds in the region, and thus has substantial power in influencing future growth patterns. The organization got a larger than usual response from its survey — 2,474 responses and 1,200 commments. Large majorities responded that "It's important to have the option in my community to safely walk or bike," and "urban revitalization and redevelopment efforts are paying off," but only 38 percent said the region is growing in a sustainable way.

We need to get better at community outreach and engagement because we still have a lot of traction to gain at the local level.

In the first regional, comprehensive study of mixed-use urban centers, Christopher Leinberger coins a clever term, WalkUPs (walkable, urban places). Leinberger examines 43 WalkUPs in the Washington, DC, region, most of which have been created in the last two decades. Although they only occupy 1-2 percent of the DC land area, they account for 29 percent of the income-producing property and they generate tax revenues far out of proportion to the land they consume. Since 1990, WalkUPs have steadily gained a larger share of commercial development in the region, and Leinberger, research professor of urban real estate at the George Washington University School of Business, argues DC is a model for how the nation will develop in the coming decades. MORE.

Portland, Oregon, is going through an apartment construction boom. Forty projects are underway, and 25 of them have no parking, according to Oregon Public Radio. No minimum parking requirements allows developers to increase density on sites and create more affordable units. “Parking a site is the difference between a $750 apartment and a $1,200 apartment. Or, the difference between apartments and condos,” says Dave Mullens of the Urban Development Group. Most of the sites are in walkable neighborhoods well served by public transit. Yet in some parts of the city, parking-free projects are generating controversy, because residents fear more competition for on-street parking spaces. Streetsblog also reported this story.