Gov. Parris N. Glendening is President of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute (www.sgli.org) and also serves as Senior Advisor for NSI's Energy and Environment team (www.nationalstrategies.com). He completed his second and final term as the Governor of Maryland in 2003. As governor, one of his primary agenda items was Smart Growth. He led the creation of a groundbreaking smart growth initiative that focused on using the entire $23 billion state budget as an incentive for smart growth. Before becoming Governor, Parris N. Glendening was a local elected official for more than 20 years. He began public service in 1973 as a city councilman in Hyattsville and was later elected to the Prince George's County Council in 1974. In 1982 he was elected County Executive of Prince George's County, a post he held for three consecutive terms.
The economic costs and benefits of travel efficiency are generally discussed and understood in long-run macro terms of energy sustainability. These include national security implications and carbon reductions with global climate change implications. Less frequently discussed are the more immediate and micro benefits. The impact on individual health and health costs is immense. Obesity and respiratory illness are dramatically reduced in more walkable, less car-dependent communities. In addition to having healthier individuals, it can also lead to lower health costs for businesses. Smart Growth America has found that productivity goes up when employees arrive at work after a walk or transit ride, or brief automobile commute.… Read more
It is clearly true that both the public and private sectors can learn from one another about financing, building, operating and maintaining our infrastructure. In the tight fiscal times facing the nation today, there are increasing suggestions that the private sector ought to have a far greater role in owning and/or operating infrastructure. The real question, however, is not who learns what from whom, but whether we should we travel much further down this track. The private sector’s bottom line and driving force is profit---an understandable and valid goal. Unfortunately, the public sector has many national and community goals that… Read more
The United States spends a small fraction of what would be considered an average competitive investment in transportation infrastructure. We are far behind other players in the global economy, such as China and Canada, on this issue. To continue to be competitive in a global economy the United States must invest in our transportation infrastructure. A program with a budget that falls under $300 billion will not be enough to maintain the existing infrastructure, let alone pursue new projects. We must reauthorize at least $500 billion over the next six years if we are to fix existing roads, bridges and… Read more
During a recent visit to Martinsburg, West Virginia, it became clear to me many workers are spending nearly as much on gas for the cars they drive to their jobs in Washington, D.C. or Baltimore as they are on their home mortgages. Yet those costs weren’t considered when the loan paperwork was signed. And they should have been. The public sector must understand and communicate that the real cost of housing includes transportation costs. Right now, those are astronomical for folks living any distance from job centers as well as dropping off and picking up kids from school and doing… Read more
Related Link: http://www.sgli.org
