Editor's Note: Location, location, location is the mantra of the real estate industry. This excerpt from Are We There Yet? explains why being able to leave the car at home and walk to nearby amenities can be the pivotal element that creates a desirable location.
Visit the Are We There Yet? home At the same time that the interest in driving has been declining, the interest in walking — or at least in living in a walkable neighborhood — has been increasing, and this interest is reflected in an increase in land and property values in walkable neighborhoods. A number of recent studies have shown that cities and neighborhoods with the highest land values are those where people can easily interact and connect both within neighborhoods and to destinations outside, and they have held their value even in the recession. Several of these studies are based on the Walk Score website, which measures walkability by calculating the…

In January, Transportation for America released Making the Most of MAP-21, a 109-page handbook that explains the many changes in federal transportation policy — positive and negative — and outlines how local officials and advocates can help get involved and urge states to make sure that MAP-21 — Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century — money is used for the priorities of local communities. On Feb. 27, Transportation for America held a webinar focused on helping rural communities to take advantage of the MAP-21 changes. Among the speakers was Reconnecting America's President and CEO John Robert Smith.

A trio of reports have been added to the Resource Center best practices database.

Two reports by Professor Gary Pivo that explore compact and complete communities have been added to the Resouce Center best practices database.

Visit the Are We There Yet? home Hey gridiron junkies! This week we see the Houston Texans head to the Meadowlands in New Jersey to take on the New York J-E-T-S JETS! New Jersey transit serves the stadium and fans will be rocking the trains to MetLife Stadium. It’s certainly fitting that the Texans stadium sponsor is Reliant Energy with the region’s focus on oil and gas and New York’s is MetLife, with a heavy representation of financial services. In the city showdown, Houston has a tough time competing with the juggernaut that is the New York region. Not only does New York lead the nation in the number of fixed-guideway transit stations (800+), they have twice as many opportunity areas as any other region in the US. Unsurprisingly, this means that New York has more people living and working near transit and living and working in opportunity areas than any other region in the country. However, Houston isn’t just…

A pair of bus-focused studies have been added the Resource Center best practices database.

A 2007 study that estimates the impact that a healthy lifestyle that includes light rail transit ridership will have on health care costs has been added to the Resource Center's best practices database.

"Going the Distance Together: A Citizen’s Guide to Context Sensitive Solutions for Better Transportation," originally released in September 2011, has been added to the Resource Center best practices database. The report, a National Cooperative Highway Research Program document, explains how to become a full collaborator in all aspects of transportation planning, from national, state, and local policy to operations and maintenance. The guidebook provides context-sensitive solutions (CSS), a consensus-building process.