As Philadelphia continues its renaissance into a 24-hour city and its surrounding suburbs become more urbanized, working with developers to add pedestrian amenities to new construction (while filling in the missing pieces of existing pedestrian infrastructure) is the new norm. How are planners and municipal staff succeeding in filling in these gaps? And how can good design make walking easier for all of us?
Walking is something that nearly everyone does daily. Not only is it our most reliable form of transportation, it's good for our collective health, has little impact on the environment, and is practically free. It makes sense that as a region we’d do all we could to make it as easy as possible to get people out and about—from our youngest (and most vulnerable) pedestrians to our seniors (who may not always feel as steady on their feet).
Transportation needs always exceed funding. At the same time, transportation projects are expected to do more than ever -- move cars, trucks, transit, bikes and pedestrians safely and efficiently. Transportation for America works with transportation agencies to find ways to make money go farther and to identify ways to make better move all users of the system safely.
As communities look to measure sustainability in a world of proliferating indicators and rating systems, planners find that some metrics are easier to measure – and manage – than others. Dive deeper into the topic of sustainability metrics with speakers from Audubon International, STAR Communities, New York State, and SUNY Binghamton, who will share real world examples and recommendations for measuring sustainability.
With limited budgets, communities must prioritize options for addressing flood hazards and the costs of those options. Coastal green infrastructure is a strategy for reducing impacts from storm surge, sea level rise, and precipitation and includes approaches across different scales.
A powerful new reality and a profound demographic transformation is an aging America. That baby boomers are swelling the ranks of older Americans is well-documented. This profound demographic transition is challenging communities struggling to maintain the status quo, and, is overwhelming to government and community policymakers at all levels. Preparing for this wave is viewed as a political and economic liability - impacting social security, healthcare costs and services..and placing an added burden on the young.
We live in aworld with much uncertainty about federal level transportation legislation andsufficient funding to maintain existing infrastructure in our communities. With this level of uncertainty about policy and funding, it can be difficult at thelocal level to think about projects like bike share, which can take years toplan and large capital investments to fund.