The launch of CNT’s new Housing + Transportation Affordability Index website has lead to news stories from Boston to Seattle and from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Austin. On Monday, NPR did a story on what it costs to commute in the D.C. area. CNT talked to individuals across the country who live in compact transit-rich neighborhoods about why they choose to live there.
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Update! The Housing + Transportation Affordability Index has received lots of attention around the country. From bloggers to the Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal to other industry professionals, here’s what people are saying.
CNT’s new Housing + Transportation Affordability Index interactive mapping tool has just launched; the new website - http://htaindex.cnt.org - will enable planners, policy-makers, housing and transit advocates, and individuals to calculate the true costs of housing and transportation in cities across the United States.
Over the course of the past year, CNT and the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership have held a series of webinars and workshops aimed at educating transportation advocates, government officials, developers, and citizens on the transportation planning process. These have been part of a larger project whose goal is to improve the quality of public involvement during transportation planning.
And you thought Kenosha, Portland, Little Rock and San Francisco had nothing in common.
“Street Smart: Streetcars and Cities in the 21st Century”, published by Reconnecting America, chronicles the rise of the streetcar in such seemingly distinct urban cities like Kenosha and San Francisco, referencing the history of streetcars all the way up to their newfound role in the 21st century. CNT President Scott Bernstein writes the chapter that explains the important role streetcars have played throughout history.
Last week’s “Innovation + Integration” event, presented by CMAP, focused on linking jobs, housing and transportation, and it was evident that Chicago is glaringly behind other U.S. cities in a key component to this: transit planning and funding. Lead speaker, Shelly Poticha of Reconnecting America, put the challenge out to Chicago planners and leaders to take advantage of the enormous asset that transit can be to our city. Speakers throughout the day highlighted how other cities such as Los Angeles and Atlanta are organizing themselves to make the most of their transit systems while it appears that Chicago continues to let its infrastructure fall behind in funding, maintenance and improvement.
A new report CNT released finds that acres of surface parking lots in suburban Cook County located near Metra train stations could be redeveloped to capture millions of dollars in new tax revenue, while also accommodating the growing demand for housing near transit.
As hundreds of transit activists assembled in Chicago for the 2006 Rail~volution conference, which ended on Wednesday, CNT released a new report highlighting the growing demand for diverse housing near transit, in conjunction with Reconnecting America and Strategic Economics –the partners in the Center for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD).
The National Housing Conference hosted its 75th Policy Summit in Chicago Wednesday and Thursday. This year’s theme focuses on future policy with the aptly titled, “Fulfilling the Dream: Shaping Housing Policy for Future Generations”. Much like CNT, the NHC links housing policies to issues like transportation, health and education and this year, the Housing & Transportation Affordability Index, co-developed by CNT and CTOD, is an important linkage presented and discussed at the event by CNT’s Peter Haas, Ph.D, and Reconnecting America’s Mariia Zimmerman.
**UPDATE: New Crain’s Chicago Business article covering the Affordability Index** Over 150 regional leaders gathered on June 29 for the Housing + Transportation: Moving the Region Toward Greater Affordability forum to discuss how housing and transportation affect the overall affordability of the Chicago region. The forum was co-sponsored by CNT and the Chicago Rehab Network. CNT presented new research about the relationship between housing and transportation costs, including a new tool called the Affordability Index to quantify these.
CNT has long been a proponent of transit-oriented development TOD. TOD
seeks to maximize access to mass transit and non-motorized transportation
through the location of relatively high-density, mixed-use development near
transit stops. As a way to build knowledge about TOD, CNT collaborated on
The New Transit Town.
CNT is a creative think-and-do tank that combines rigorous research with the implementation of effective solutions. CNT works across disciplines and issues, including transportation and community development, energy, natural resources, and climate change.
Place Matters! From testifying before a congressional committee and providing the most fuel efficient neighborhoods to Forbes, to updating our Housing + Transportation Affordability Index with current gas costs and expanding I-GO car sharing as a option to owning a car.
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