Weymouth, MA
Smart Growth America has ranked the communities with the best new complete streets policies created & adopted in 2015. Massachusetts took seven of the top 16 spots:
1. Reading, Pennsylvania
2. West Hartford, Connecticut
3. Park Forest, Illinois
South Bend, Indiana
Longmeadow, Massachusetts
4. Weymouth, Massachusetts
5. Omaha, Nebraska
6. Vincennes, Indiana
7. Ashland, Massachusetts
Natick, Massachusetts
Norwell, Massachusetts
8. Little Rock, Arkansas
9. Lynn, Massachusetts
Portage, Michigan
Framingham, Massachusetts
10. Battle Ground, Washington
So what makes Complete Streets?
A Complete Streets approach creates an integrated transportation system that supports safe travel for people of all ages and abilities. This approach redefines what a transportation network looks like, which goals a public agency sets out to meet, and how communities prioritize their transportation spending. A Complete Streets policy is one of the best ways to set this approach into motion.
In 2015, communities passed a total of 82 Complete Streets policies. These laws, resolutions, agency policies, and planning and design documents establish a process for selecting, funding, planning, designing, and building transportation projects that allow safe access for everyone, regardless of age, ability, income or ethnicity, and no matter how they travel.
“According to the coalition, there are now 899 complete streets policies in place in the U.S., including 664 in municipalities,” Kelsey Thomas points out at NextCity. “Just a decade ago, there were only 32 such policies.”
Serve more people, save commuters money, cut pollution, and build a stronger & healthier community at little to no additional cost. With all those benefits, why wouldn’t communities get on board?
