Arlington

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Urban Villages Links & Resources

Also see CommuterPage.com links and resources.

Washington, D.C. Area Organizations

Coalition for Smarter Growth, made up of over 40 organizations working to fight sprawl and promote livable communities and transportation choices in the Washington DC region.

CoolTown Studios "Designing and investing in next gen urban neighborhoods." Links to and discussion of cool places for urban living.

Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities advocates transportation investments, land use policies, and community designs that enhance existing communities and the environment of the National Capital Region. WRN's goal is to create and sustain a network of walkable, bikeable communities linked by quality transit, laced with parks, and surrounded by greenspace, with the District of Columbia as the hub of the region.

Making the Most of Metro — Community Building Through Transit (PDF). "It’s time to use Metro to foster a sense of community and provide an alternative to suburban sprawl and traffic congestion....Transit-oriented development (also known as pedestrian-oriented development) around Metro stations provides a mix of housing, shops, offices, parks and plazas in a walkable environment." A brochure by the Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

MetroRiders.Org
Non-profit organization of mass transit users in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, particularly daily commuters on Metrorail and Metrobus. Through public education, MetroRiders.Org. will press for dependable, quality Metro service levels, additional rail and bus capacity to meet Metro’s growth, and for better coordination with other transit systems serving the region.

NewTrains.org is a national organization that promotes new train systems across America. A new train network is the most effective way to curb sprawl, and goes hand in hand with smart growth, creating livable communities, economic sustainability, environmental protection, human rights, and sustainable community design. When planned together with compact, walkable forms of development, trains solve many serious problems facing society.

New Urbanism – Creating Livable Communities. New Urbanism promotes the creation and restoration of diverse, walkable, compact, vibrant, mixed-use communities composed of the same components as conventional development, but assembled in a more integrated fashion, in the form of complete communities. These contain housing, work places, shops, entertainment, schools, parks, and civic facilities essential to the daily lives of the residents, all within easy walking distance of each other. New Urbanism promotes the increased use of trains and light rail, instead of more highways and roads. Urban living is rapidly becoming the new hip and modern way to live for people of all ages. Currently, there are over 500 New Urbanist projects planned or under construction in the United States alone, half of which are in historic urban centers.

One Less Car – Maryland Campaign for Bicycling and Walking."We are your neighbors and friends who want to improve the quality life for us all by helping to reclaim our basic right to freedom of mobility. We are committed to reversing the harm done to our collective well being, the unraveling of our neighborhoods and communities, and the increased risks we face daily due to our focus on the automobile at the exclusion of other modes. We advocate for providing safe and effective cycling and walking for all citizens through education, lobbying, and facilitation between our communities, governments, and state and local representatives.

Fairfax Coalition for Smarter Growth, "...a volunteer non-profit citizens’ organization, [which] believes that urban sprawl and its attendant traffic congestion in Fairfax County have reached a critical juncture. The Coalition advocates action now to implement more sensible transportation and land use policies that will reduce our dependence on automobiles, increase our use of mass transit, create pedestrian-friendly communities in Fairfax County, preserve our remaining open spaces."

National and International Organizations

City of Toronto MOVING THE ECONOMY (MTE) is an initiative that works to promote and develop economic benefits, opportunities, and innovations in sustainable transportation.

Coalition for Alternative Transportation is an educational charity working to improve mobility. Improved walking, bicycling and transit mean a stronger economy and a better quality of life. More transportation choices can prevent congestion, reduce pollution and would mean fewer auto crash deaths, too. Curbing our use of the automobile can fight problems such as suburban sprawl, obesity and high medical costs. (PA)

Congress for the New Urbanism advocates the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the restoration of existing urban centers and towns within coherent metropolitan regions. We stand for the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the conservation of national environments, and the preservation of our built legacy. Rebuilding neighborhoods, cities, and regions is profoundly interdisciplinary. We believe that community, economics, environment, and design need to be addressed simultaneously through urban design and planning. …New Urbanist neighborhoods are walkable, and contain a diverse range of housing and jobs. new Urbanists support regional planning for open space, appropriate architecture and planning, and the balanced development of jobs and housing. They believe these strategies are the best way to reduce how long people spend in traffic, to increase the supply of affordable housing, and to rein in urban sprawl. (San Francisco, CA)

Less Traffic. This site aims to be on the cutting edge of reducing traffic in our cities and reclaiming our streets for play, celebration, community building and economic vitality. It promotes ideas, resources and practical experiments that go beyond 1st generation traffic calming.

Northeast Sustainable Energy Association. "...the nations's leading regional membership organization focused on promoting the understanding, development, and adoption of energy conservation and non-polluting, renewable energy technologies. We work to bring clean electricity, green transportation, and healthy, efficient buildings into everyday use in order to improve the environment, protect human health, and nurture local economies."

Rail-Volution, Inc. The mission of Rail~Volution is to provide a forum that engages the public to build collaboratively a diverse coalition dedicated to building livable communities with transit, through education, advocacy and increasing overall federal, state and local funds available for transit.

Self-Propelled City. Bicycling advocacy site.

Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse's mission is to make the tools, techniques, and strategies developed to manage growth, accessible to citizens, grassroots organizations, environmentalists, public officials, planners, architects, the media and business leaders.

Smart Growth America is a nationwide coalition promoting a way to grow that protects farmland and open space, revitalizes neighborhoods, keeps housing affordable, and makes communities more livable.

Walkable Communities, Inc. is a non-profit corporation organized to help communities of whatever size to become more walkable and pedestrian friendly.

Carfree.com – the web site that goes with the book. Carfree Cities proposes a delightful solution to the vexing problem of urban automobiles.

Cutting Your Car Use – Anna Semlyen, Traffic Reduction Consultant.

The New Colonist explores environmental and lifestyle issues for dedicated city lovers, urban activists, and refugees from sprawl development. Includes feature articles, essays, interactive surveys, and city guides, written with an emphasis on community life and sustainability.

An Illusion of Auto Freedom. Carolyn Lochhead, San Francisco Chronicle, June 4, 2000,

Moving Ahead – The American Public Speaks on Roadways and Transportation in Communities. Last year, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) conducted surveys asking the American public about travel and transportation on the nation's roads. Take a look at the report on what citizens had to say about the nation's highways, transportation in our communities, and roads in and around national parks and forests, as well as how the public wants transportation agencies to focus resources and attention in maintaining and improving the state of transportation in our nation.

Transit Villages are dense urban communities well served by transit and high quality train systems. They make it easy to live without a car - by riding transit and walking through pleasant urban environments. Transit Villages have active, vibrant, and strong neighborhood centers focused around transit. Transit Villages are the coming trend in community planning, and are welcomed by everyone as offering a higher quality of life for all.

Virginia Transit Association (VTA) is a coalition of transit professionals and professionals from public and private organizations who know that public transportation is important to the individual mobility, a clean environment, and livable communities.

World Car Free Days Collaborative. Open Platform for International Cooperation & Support.

Arlington's urban villages are walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods well served by public transportation. People who live in these neighborhoods are able to walk to shopping or to restaurants and hop on Metrorail, Metrobus or ART when they need to go anywhere else in the Washington Metro area. More about Arlington's urban villages.