Reconnecting America has added map navigation to two projects and incorporated feedback forms in both that will allow visitors to help maintain and update the information.

Reconnecting America commends the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) announcement of nearly $96 million in Sustainable Communities grants that will help 29 regions and 27 communities plan for better coordination of housing, land use, economic and workforce development, transportation, infrastructure and other elements that that create strong, healthy and economically competitive places.

Photo by John Robert Smith Earlier this week, Reconnecting America's President and CEO John Robert Smith, who also serves as Co-Chairman of Transportation for America, and James Corless, the Director of Transportation for America, were invited to the White House to participate in a discussion with the executive committee of Transportation for America and White House staff. Accompanying them were Transportation for America partners Arnold Weinfeld, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Federal Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League and Scott Wolf, Executive Director, Grow Smart Rhode Island. The conference call discussion focused on the jobs bill and, in particular, the transportation infrastructure element. During the visit, Smith was interviewed by the White House film crew along with several others about the transportation bill. (Video is embedded below.) Later, Smith, Corless and the Transportation for America partners joined other groups in the East Room, where they heard…

Livability Solutions, a partnership that includes Reconnecting America, is now taking applications for free technical assistance.

Reconnecting America and its partners in the newly formed Livability Solutions partnership will be providing technical assistance to communities seeking to implement sustainable and smart growth development programs under a new federal grant.

John Robert Smith, President and CEO of Reconnecting America and Co-Chair of Transportation for America, issued the following statement in response to today’s vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD):

Building the System We Want Montana’s communities face diverse transportation challenges. Some areas are growing rapidly without the resources to properly plan for and serve new residents. Others are losing people and have high aging and low-income populations that need a variety of reliable transportation options. Many are simply reeling from decades of under investment in infrastructure and are in need of a lifeline.1 Every six years or so, Congress writes the rules for spending federal transportation dollars. In the current drafting of the bill, transportation for America is calling on Congress to reorient our policy toward repairing and maintaining our 20th century transportation systems while building for the 21st century. The current federal transportation program provides scant assurance that our hard-earned tax dollars will be spent wisely and effectively and fails to adequately invest in a variety of travel options. We need federal transportation legislation that addresses…

The President and CEO of Reconnecting America, John Robert Smith, tonight praised President Obama's jobs initiative, the American Jobs Act, as a "bold initiative to create jobs for Americans and at the same time strengthen our nation's infrastructure."