Projo photo / Frieda Squires
The plight of pedestrians in an auto-centered culture
Jennifer LaPointe climbs the snow bank as she makes her way around a police car that is stopped to help school children cross Cumberland St. in Woonsocket. Following a 12/13 storm, a pedestrian was struck and killed in this location early Wednesday morning, 12/19 as he walked to work. Another pedestrian was struck and killed the previous evening, 12/18 by a snowplow in Blackstone, MA.
Read more in Projo.com
|
|
Board of Directors
Deming E. Sherman
Chairman of the Board
Susan Arnold
William Baldwin
Rebecca G. Barnes
Samuel J. Bradner
Kenneth Burnett
Joseph Caffey
Robert L. Carothers
Jen Cookke
Trudy Coxe
Dennis DiPrete
Stephen Durkee
Stephen J. Farrell
John R. Gowell, Jr.
Akhil C. Gupta
Michael S. Hudner
Stanley J. Kanter
Howard M. Kilguss
Dennis Langley
James Leach
Roger Mandle
The Rev. James C. Miller
Thomas V. Moses
George Nee
William M. Pratt
B. Michael Rauh, Jr.
Gary Sasse
Richard Schartner
Pamela M. Sherrill
Curt Spalding
James F. Twaddell
Directors Emeritus
Arnold "Buff" Chace
Louise Durfee, Esq.
J. Joseph Garrahy
Michael F. Ryan
Frederick C. Williamson
W. Edward Wood
Board Listing with
Affiliation
Help us achieve our year-end fundraising
goal
Be listed as a supporter in next month's
newsletter!
Staff
Scott
Wolf
Executive Director
Sheila
Brush
Director of Programs
John
Flaherty
Director of Research &
Communications
Katrina
Deutsch
Land-Use Training Coordinator
Leslie
Denomme
Executive Assistant for Finance
Dorothy
Dauray
Office Assistant
|
Grow Smart RIPower of Place Summit May 2, 2008
Check out our Smart GrowthResource Directory
Browse e-brief archives and press releases
Visit CommunityConnectionRICalendar
|
|
Dear John,
You're among the 3,460 civic leaders,
state & local officials, development professionals,
journalists and visionary citizens getting the latest
news, happenings and trends in the smart growth
movement from Grow Smart
Rhode Island.
|
|
|
|
Grow Smart Board of Directors approves 2008 workplan |
|
Five broad obectives will focus on promoting high
quality mixed-use, mixed income development;
improved public transit; a comprehensive farm
preservation strategy; aggressively promoting the
smart growth agenda as critical to Rhode Island's
future well being and sustainable prosperity; and
diversifying Grow Smart's funding base to deliver
maximum results
At its December 13th meeting, the Grow Smart Rhode
Island Board of Directors, under the leadership of its
Chairman Deming Sherman, set the organization's
work plan agenda for 2008. "This year's plan aims to
mobilize greater support for policies that take full
advantage of Rhode Island's compact and efficient
size, historic charm and enviable quality of life", said
Sherman.
Among the plan details is an aggressive outreach and
education effort as well as initiatives to influence
public policy in the areas of neighborhood and
economic renewal, housing, transportation, land and
energy conservation and water management and
supply.
Click HERE to
view the complete work plan
To help us implement this ambitious plan, please
consider and end of year contribution to Grow Smart
Rhode Island. You can make a donation by clicking
HERE
.
|
|
|
|
Wolf Op/Ed: Time to play to RI's strengths and stop beating ourselves up |
|
Published in the 12/7 edition of the Providence
Journal, column aims to highlight Rhode Island's
many underreported assets and untapped potential
Defying the drumbeat of negative headlines about
everything from budget deficits and political corruption
to Rhode Island having a bad business climate and
balkanized local government, Grow Smart Executive
Director Scott Wolf offers a more optimistic
point of view about the future of our dynamic, beloved
and quirky state.
Apparently, many other forward-thinking people agree.
The response from community leaders and other
concerned citizens has been overwhelmingly positive.
The extensive Op/Ed puts Rhode Island's current
problems in perspective by juxtaposing them with our
many strengths and urges our state and local leaders
to capitalize more aggressively on these strengths to
advance a path to sustainable prosperity.
Click HERE to read
the Op/Ed in its entirety.
|
|
|
|
Grow Smart playing key role in bolstering Tax Increment Financing (TIF) law click image to right to view a larger version |
|
Redevelopment financing tool seen as critical to
several pending economic development projects in
Rhode Island
Concerned that Rhode Island municipalities will lose
the effective use of an innovative tool for financing
public improvements in connection with the
redevelopment of blighted areas, Grow Smart and the
Rhode League of Cities and Towns are leading a
group calling for the legislation early in the 2008
General Assembly to exempt Tax Incrementing
Financing (TIF) revenue from the property tax levy cap.
The Tax Increment Financing Act (RIGL 45-33.2), enacted in
1984 enables municipalities to use TIF to finance
public infrastructure improvements necessary to
attract private investment.
Grow Smart is actively seeking organizations and
municipalities to join in the effort. You can do so by
signing on to the Statement of Principles in the link
below.
[Read More]
|
|
|
|
A "Growing" interest in mixed-use design |
|
Workshop draws diverse stakeholders for insights on
building well-designed and mixed-use urban, town
and village centers
How do municipalities, landowners and developers
overcome restrictive and outdated zoning standards
to build vibrant, attractive and efficient neighborhoods
they way they evolved naturally a century ago?
Thirty-one individuals from several communities
throughout Blackstone Valley turned out last Tuesday
for a workshop in North Smithfield to find out.
Attendees included municipal planners, developers,
architects, and interested citizens all coming together
for an insightful program sponsored by the Grow
Smart Rhode Island Land-Use Training
Collaborative. Funding for the development of the
workshop and workshop manual was provided by the
John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National
Heritage Corridor Commission.
Presented by leading planners and architects, the
workshop examined the elements that contribute to
the livability of our Rhode Island town centers, design
strategies for successful mixed-use development,
green design, parking considerations, and how
to make the most efficient use of limited sites.
Speakers included Sheila Brush, Program
Director at Grow Smart RI, Elizabeth Debs, an
architect and consultant in housing and community
design, Donald Powers, AIA, CNU, of Donald
Powers Architects, Inc., Ross Speer, AIA, of
Mostue & Associates, Inc., and Scott Millar,
Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Management. Read more from the program flyer.
Watch for a details on a future presentation of this
workshop on Aquidneck Island.
|
|
|
|
Woonsocket commuter rail feasibility study now available online |
|
A passenger rail feasibility study for a link from
Woonsocket to Providence and Boston has been
completed by the City of Woonsocket. The study
concluded that a potential passenger rail line between
Woonsocket and Providence holds more promise
than a Woonsocket-Boston connection. The study
includes ridership demand and potential station sites.
The City has now partnered with the Providence
Foundation and the RI Association of Railroad
Passengers for the next phase of this project. Under
a new Planning Challenge Grant from the RI Division
of Planning, a rail study will be completed that focuses
in on the commuter rail potential of the P&W line from
Woonsocket to Warwick. This next phase will look
more closely at the possibility of commuter rail
between Woonsocket all the way down to the airport,
via the Warwick Intermodal Station, with the
opportunity to connect to Boston via the envisioned
MBTA stop in Pawtucket/Central Falls.
Click HERE to download the
study
|
|
|
|
Search underway for executive director at Providence Preservation Society |
|
Resumes accepted through January 23, 2008.
The Providence Preservation Society (PPS), founded
in 1956, seeks an Executive Director. The candidate
must be a proven advocate and spokesperson for
preservation principles with leadership, strategic
thinking, and management skills; fundraising,
marketing, and public relations experience;
demonstrated success in budget development and
management, staff leadership and development, and
fundraising and grantwriting; and cogent public
speaking and written communication skills.
Click HERE to learn more
|
|
|
|
CALENDAR Highlights: |
|
Click here
b> to let us know if you would like your
land-use/water resources related conference or
workshop listed on our CommunityConnectionRI
Calendar.
Thurs., Jan. 10, 2008
(7p - 9:30p)
Greening your Congregation. Presented by
Rhode Island Interfaith Power & Light.
Bishop Henricken High Scool
Warwick
Friday, Jan. 11, 2008
(10a - 3:15 p)
LEED for Neighborhood Development: Reports from
New England Projects. Sponsored by:
Sustainable Development Committee of the
Massachusetts Chapter of the American Planning
Association, Congress for the New Urbanism, New
England Chapter US Environmental Protection Agency
and The Green Roundtable.
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Boston, MA
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
|
|
|
|
'Growth & Development' in the news |
|
Send
us Your News
We want to know what's happening in your
community.
National
|
|
|
|
|