Addressing Traffic Congestion with Passenger Rail to Inland Maine
Efforts to expand passenger rail to Lewiston, Waterville, Augusta, Bangor, and other inland communities have faced resistance, pointing to Maine’s small population as the reason. As more people move to Maine to escape climate issues in other states, suburban development and related traffic impacts continue to erode our regional road system. Maine has an opportunity to think bigger about the future of transit, recognizing the greater return on investment associated with transit-oriented investment in existing community centers, the benefits of locating housing near jobs, and the potential for inter-city rail to support regional and local micro-mobility. Join a conversation with voices from rural Maine to explore how strategic investment in rail can fuel our communities.
George O’Keefe | Town of Rumford
Rhiannon Hampson | Maine State Director, USDA Rural Development
Efforts to expand passenger rail to Lewiston, Waterville, Augusta, Bangor, and other inland communities have faced resistance, pointing to Maine’s small population as the reason. As more people move to Maine to escape climate issues in other states, suburban development and related traffic impacts continue to erode our regional road system. Maine has an opportunity to think bigger about the future of transit, recognizing the greater return on investment associated with transit-oriented investment in existing community centers, the benefits of locating housing near jobs, and the potential for inter-city rail to support regional and local micro-mobility. Join a conversation with voices from rural Maine to explore how strategic investment in rail can fuel our communities.
Matt Wagner
Local businesses are the heart and soul of Main Street, serving as hubs for social connection and economic growth. Learn about the innovative ways that Main Street businesses can overcome the adversity of the on-line economy, whether it’s starting a new enterprise or keeping a multi-generation business alive. This session will also explore how high growth businesses and changemakers can be empowered to start businesses, creating wealth for their families and improving outcomes for their communities. This session will highlight work being done in communities across the U.S. to refocus on quality of place and break down barriers to entrepreneurial opportunity in communities that have been left behind by the global economy.
Chief Program Officer | Main Street America | Washington DC
Local businesses are the heart and soul of Main Street, serving as hubs for social connection and economic growth. Learn about the innovative ways that Main Street businesses can overcome the adversity of the on-line economy, whether it’s starting a new enterprise or keeping a multi-generation business alive. This session will also explore how high growth businesses and changemakers can be empowered to start businesses, creating wealth for their families and improving outcomes for their communities. This session will highlight work being done in communities across the U.S. to refocus on quality of place and break down barriers to entrepreneurial opportunity in communities that have been left behind by the global economy.
Breaking From the Suburban Era to Unlock Housing: Strategies From Maine, New Hampshire + Vermont
Northern New England states are making big moves to shift to a place-based approach to investment by strengthening state and regional support for local planning and coordinating state funding in service of local housing and development projects. Learn about new programs to provide a state-level path to project approvals in New Hampshire, tools to help enable small-scale building types in Vermont, realignment of programs to support planning by Maine communities, and more.Building Small presents an insightful view at what is possible along with the tools needed to make it happen.
Moderator: Representative Traci Gere; Sarah Curran | Deputy Director, Climate Planning and Community Partnerships, Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future; Jacob Hemmerick | Vermont Department of Housing & Community Development; George Reagan | Director, Community Engagement, New Hampshire Housing
Northern New England states are making big moves to shift to a place-based approach to investment by strengthening state and regional support for local planning and coordinating state funding in service of local housing and development projects. Learn about new programs to provide a state-level path to project approvals in New Hampshire, tools to help enable small-scale building types in Vermont, realignment of programs to support planning by Maine communities, and more.Building Small presents an insightful view at what is possible along with the tools needed to make it happen.
Rick Rybeck
Typically, communities create streets and utilities to facilitate development. Yet rising land prices near new or improved infrastructure often chases development to cheaper, but more remote sites. The resulting sprawl is bad for the environment and bad for municipal budgets due to the necessary duplication of expensive infrastructure. While towns and cities create enormous value through public services, they often struggle for funds. Rick Rybeck will share how some communities have overcome these ongoing fiscal challenges while also providing more affordable housing and commercial space.
Director | Just Economics, LLC | Washington, DC
Typically, communities create streets and utilities to facilitate development. Yet rising land prices near new or improved infrastructure often chases development to cheaper, but more remote sites. The resulting sprawl is bad for the environment and bad for municipal budgets due to the necessary duplication of expensive infrastructure. While towns and cities create enormous value through public services, they often struggle for funds. Rick Rybeck will share how some communities have overcome these ongoing fiscal challenges while also providing more affordable housing and commercial space.
“How we raise funds for infrastructure is just as important as how much funding we raise. Different funding mechanisms have different incentives and disincentives. Using the right tools, communities can harmonize economic incentives with public policy objectives for job creation, affordable housing, and sustainable development to become more prosperous, equitable and financially self-sustaining.”
Andrew Howard
Team Better Block temporarily re-engineers auto-dominated urban areas into vibrant centers. Their iterative approach is both scalable and hyper-local. Having been used in over 200 cities, The Better Block approach provides elected officials, leaders, and citizens with a greater understanding of the urgent need for more permanent change. Andrew, the principal of Team Better Block, will share lessons learned from an all-hands-on-deck approach to urban design.
Co-Founder/Director | Team Better Block | Dallas, Texas
Team Better Block temporarily re-engineers auto-dominated urban areas into vibrant centers. Their iterative approach is both scalable and hyper-local. Having been used in over 200 cities, The Better Block approach provides elected officials, leaders, and citizens with a greater understanding of the urgent need for more permanent change. Andrew, the principal of Team Better Block, will share lessons learned from an all-hands-on-deck approach to urban design.
“What I’ve realized through Better Block is that every community already has everybody they need. They just need to activate the talented people who are already there, and shove them into one place at one time, and that place can become better really quickly.”
Jenifer Acosta
With a focus on downtown neighborhoods, energy efficiency, and sustainability, Jenifer Acosta revitalizes communities through targeted community investment. An affordable housing advocate turned real estate developer, Jenifer will shed light on her approach to building community trust, collaborating regionally, and resurrecting buildings on the precipice of demolition.
Developer | Bay City, Michigan
With a focus on downtown neighborhoods, energy efficiency, and sustainability, Jenifer Acosta revitalizes communities through targeted community investment. An affordable housing advocate turned real estate developer, Jenifer will shed light on her approach to building community trust, collaborating regionally, and resurrecting buildings on the precipice of demolition.
“The advice I would give to anyone working to break into real estate development would be to pick a specific neighborhood and serve it. Being dedicated to a community will foster greater cumulative impact.”
Blair Humphreys
Blair is overseeing the design and development of Wheeler — a mixed-use New Urbanism development on the Oklahoma River. Blair will share the benefits of designing his project with the community at the table, as a way to generate long-term buy-in. He will also explain why it’s so hard to build great places, and what municipalities can do to help change the game.
PRincipal | Humphreys Company
Blair is overseeing the design and development of Wheeler — a mixed-use New Urbanism development on the Oklahoma River. Blair will share the benefits of designing his project with the community at the table, as a way to generate long-term buy-in. He will also explain why it’s so hard to build great places, and what municipalities can do to help change the game.
Marcus Westbury
Is your town struggling to fill empty shopfronts? Marcus Westbury, author of Creating Cities, is the founder of Renew Newcastle and Renew Australia, efforts that helped launch more than 300 creative and community projects in empty and abandoned buildings and reopened more than 100 vacant shops and offices across Australia.
Urbanist, Writer, Media Maker, Author, and Festival Director | Contemporary Arts Precincts Ltd
Is your town struggling to fill empty shopfronts? Marcus Westbury, author of Creating Cities, is the founder of Renew Newcastle and Renew Australia, efforts that helped launch more than 300 creative and community projects in empty and abandoned buildings and reopened more than 100 vacant shops and offices across Australia.